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January 14, 2005
Graner is to the Torture Scandal What Martha Stewart Was to the Corporate Accounting Scandals
So, Specialist Graner, who appeared in many of the Abu Ghraib photos, is found guilty -- and he faces serious jail time. I had thought that he too would be given a slap on the wrist, just a bit more than the other because he was so obviously enjoying his sadism, but I was wrong. It seems that he is too irresistable a scapegoat. During his closing arguments, the prosecutor argued that the final word on the "abuses" at Abu Ghraib would come with this trial:
"Fortunately," he said, "the accused does not have the final word on the abuses at Abu Ghraib." That, he said, would come from the jury's verdict.
Find him guilty, in other words, and close the Abu Ghraib chapter. Hard to resist.
The defense argued that all of Graner's actions were done under orders, that all this "abuse" was necessary for Iraqi freedom, and even that all those naked human pyramids were done with care so that the detainees did not suffocate:
Interrogators and military intelligence, he repeatedly reminded the jury, had given orders to and consistently praised Specialist Graner and other military police soldiers. Their actions, he said, were done in the name of Iraqi freedom, and ultimately allowing the elections that will happen at the end of this month."Sometimes, when you make an omelet, you have to break some eggs," Mr. Womack told the jury, adding, "You had to use approaches that we would not want to do with our own children."
Mr. Womack did not deny most of the harsh treatment seen in the photographs, or the even the idea that it might seem abusive, calling it the "day to day events" at Abu Ghraib. He cited an explanation from an expert witness he called earlier in the week, who said that the pyramid of naked and hooded detainees was done safely, to make sure they would not suffocate.
"It was an ingenious move," Mr. Womack said. The military police soldiers put the detainees in sexually humiliating positions, he said, because they knew the detainees would be embarrassed, and had been told by military intelligence that this was an effective psychological tool to draw out information.
You gotta admit, his lawyers have a point but it's not a point defense of Specialist Graner, but rather an indictment of the whole system: the evidence is overwhelming that torture has become systematic in most American-run detention centers around the world, and it's very also clear that this "make an omelet, break a few eggs, what's the big deal" approach is official explanation of whatever eggregious practice becomes uncovered.
I'm afraid many people will see this as case closed: the guilty were charged, tried and found guilty. That's likely be the official spin.
So, this is all turning out to be like the Martha Stewart epsidoe in which she was revealed to have dabbled in the insider-"networking" that is part-and-parcel of how corporate America operates. In the middle of all the corporate scandals and corporate crimes that have netted billions of dollars for the corporate barons, she ended up with the jail sentence -- and the quite vicious media coverage. Why? I guess because she was already visible and disliked by many for being annoying, female and rich. She was thus the easiest scapegoat that the public could be fed -- even though the things she was accused of, even if they were all true, were obviously quite minor compared to the rest of the field. So, Martha Stewart's in jail and perhaps Ken Lay will do a few months because he too is so visible, but we hardly hear of the corporate scandals nowadays.
So, it seems, it will be with Graner. He will do time and he will be reviled. At least for a while. In our culture where fame is a valuable commodity, no matter what the origins, Graner just has to hope he gets a short enough sentence that he is still notorious when he gets out. He can always look to Martha Stewart as an example: I hear she is signed up to do a reality show after she gets out.
Posted by zeynep at January 14, 2005 10:24 PM
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Comments
Yeah, Graner's a natural to host Fear Factor.
Posted by: Eli Stephens at January 15, 2005 10:38 AM
Ha, ha, ha, Eli.
Come to think of it, all the sadistic-voyeuristic stuff on television must be having a significant impact on the generation that's growing up with it. By the time Graner gets out, he might find himself too "mellow" to compete.
Posted by: zeynep at January 15, 2005 07:53 PM
Or he might be celebrated by a segment of the U.S. population upon his parole, like fellow criminal and sadist, Oliver North, with a large right-wing following as a "patriot" and a popular radio or TV show.
Posted by: deang at January 15, 2005 09:23 PM