This scandal took place at the time of Iraq War from late 2003 to the early period of 2004.This scandal entailed cases of human rights violation by the soldiers and the Central Intelligence Agency of the U.S. The soldiers tortured the prisons in Abu Ghraib prison. The prisoners were tortured, raped, sodomized, physically and sexually abused by the military personnel of the U.S Army. This scandal came to the attention of the media early in 2004 when the Taguba report was released. This attracted the public attention in April 2004.The aspects of torture and abuse by the military of the U.S raised various political and reactions of the media. The various journalists and politicians responded to this scandal differently.
In the article, Iraqi Victim Says US Torture Worse Than Saddam
Iran News (Iran) - Thursday, January 13, 2005, shows the scandal in a manner that it portrays the u.s torture as more than the way Saddam Hussein tortured people in Iraq. This article shows how the prisoners were forced to masturbate in the public. The U.S military also forced the prisoners to go the public while naked. This article shows the inmates testifying the acts of sexual humiliation they went through. This article provided evidence on how the U.S government used abuse and torture in order to obtain information from the prisoners. The cases of abuse and torture by the U.S soldiers on the prisoners were portrayed to be worse than the torture Saddam Hussein inflicted on them. Some victims claimed that they were forced to consume pork and alcoholic drinks which are not allowed by the Islamic religion. Sexual humiliation is demonstrated by the video of group masturbation and a women forced to display her breasts.
The abuse at Abu Ghraib occurred from the top down
Daily Star, The (Beirut, Lebanon) - Thursday, October 14, 2004
This article shows and claim that the Abu Ghraib Scandal is facilitated from the senior officials in of the U.S government. The author presents information and evidence that the senior officials directed the military personnel to torture the prisoners in order to get the necessary information pertaining to the war in Iraq. The soldiers were just doing what they were directed to do by the op security officials. The author, therefore, claims that the U.S government was aware that the torture and abuse of prisoners. The scandal of Abu Ghraib is shown an intention and act of the U.S government so as to get the information relating to security of the U.S.
Pentagon blues
Jerusalem Post, The (Israel) - Friday, May 28, 2004
This article responds to the Abu Ghraib scandal by showing the drama dealing with the secretary of defense Rumsfeld and the trouble for his removal from the job. The article shows the evidence that President Bush was reluctant to fire this secretary. It is shown that president Bush was reluctant to take action against Rumsfeld because it will be a failure of America in the Iraq War. This also shows that the president supported the torture and abuse of prisoners in order to get information for security. The reluctance of the Democratic politician on the scandal is clearly elaborated in this article. The article, therefore, shows the U.S government was not concerned about the torture of the prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison.
In the article ,Soldier Gets Six Months in Abu Ghraib Case
Iran News (Iran) - Thursday, May 19, 2005,the soldier is reported giving a testimony that the way she mistreated the prisoners .She claimed that her mistreatment on prisoners was her action alone and not ordered from anybody or authority. This article demonstrated that the U.S government claiming that they are against such actions done by their soldiers. This author of this article is just providing claims and justifications for the torture on prisoners by the U.S Army. The article was meant to show that the U.S government was not responsible for the acts of abuse and torture on the prisoners. The author tried to eliminate the bias relating to the responsibility of the U.S government officials in the Abu Ghraib scandal.
In the article,Torturous apology
Jerusalem Post, The (Israel) - Wednesday, May 12, 2004
Abu Ghraib "Ringleader" Found Guilty
Iran News (Iran) - Sunday, January 16, 2005
This article shows that the Graner was found guilty of abusing the prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison. The photographs of physical abuse and sexual humiliation were shown where Graner was abusing and torturing the prisoners. This scandal damaged the reputation of the U.S.The ruling made was to sentence Graner for fifteen years in prison. The lawyer defended Graner claiming that he was following the instructions from the senior military intelligence officers.This, therefore, shows that the U.S military was involved in the torture of the prisoners in Iraq.
Op-Ed: So It Wasn't "Jailhouse Rock" at Abu Ghraib Israel National News (Israel) - Wednesday, May 19, 2004
This article shows that the media overemphasized the Abu Ghraib scandal in order to fight against the U.S military. The author shows that sex was presented as a taboo among the Arabs and the Muslims while in reality cases of rape are very common in such places.This, therefore, shows that all the talk on the media was just to victimize the U.S.
In the conclusion, the media responded to Abu Ghraib scandal differently. This led to many perceptions against the U.S military and government. The torture on prisoners was magnified in order to attack the U.S .The rules should be put in place in order to regulate the information sensitization on the media. This will, therefore, help to regulate the harm of the over sensitization of minor offences by the media damaging the reputation of the people.
