Ghosts of Abu Ghraib

The evening of February 22, I saw Ghosts of Abu Ghraib, a documentary about the atrocities committed in the Iraqi prison.

The film was created by my favorite documentarian, Rory Kennedy and includes interviews with former prisoners, guards and military personnel who were there at the time.

What did I learn? Something I already knew: America should be ashamed of itself. There's really no other way to say it. As this war began, the Geneva Convention was thrown out the window and our soldiers were instructed to torture their captives using the most humiliating and extreme techniques. The photos in the documentary (many of which were seen through various media channels when the scandal was exposed) are still nauseating; the excuses still unacceptable.

What I found to be the most frightening part of the documentary was the nonchalance of the females interviewed, who were all but justifying their smiling photographs demonstrating these horrors. I didn't get any sense of remorse from the women, although all of the men displayed regret and guilt for their actions.

This film should be required viewing in every boot camp training course in every branch of the military.

But that will never happen.