Customer Reviews

The Ballad of Abu Ghraib

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For an American, this is an extremely upsetting book. Actually, for a human being, it is very upsetting, but we Americans have prided ourselves (or at least I was so raised) on being especially civilized, especially humane, and especially respectful of human rights and dignity. Once again, however, we are confronted with our baseness, our inhumanity, our hubris, and our hypocrisy.

I had not followed closely the news as it broke of the atrocities at Abu Ghraib, indelibly and graphically documented via photographs. So STANDARD OPERATING PROCUEDURE is essentially my introduction to yet another disgrace, yet another blot on America's honor. (To cite just one example, which does not figure prominently in the book: how on earth can a decent society condone, much less actually practice on a regular basis, incarcerating ten-year-old children in a vile prison, based not on any suspicion that they were criminals or terrorists, but simply as pawns in the military's effort to capture or break their fathers?)

STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE is reasonably well-written and, from everything I can tell from internal evidence, the product of a scrupulous effort to be objective. And it certainly is sensitive to all aspects -- whether good, bad, or indifferent -- of the personality and character of the central actors.

What the book does not tell us -- something that may well be impossible to ascertain -- is who really is to blame for these atrocities. I am not referring to the everyday political "blame game"; whether or not the war in Iraq was ill-advised and launched with faulty or fictitious intelligence or with unworthy motives, Abu Ghraib cannot be placed solely at the feet of George W. Bush and the rest of his administration. More directly it is the result of staggering and distressing failures somewhere in the Department of Defense and the Army and, broadly speaking, the war organization. And it certainly is a travesty of justice that a few lowly, untrained, ill-equipped, and poorly supervised soldiers have been incarcerated for these incidents (which, given the circumstances and the absence of proper training, facilities, and supervision, were virtually inevitable) while anonymous higher-ups, who are much more responsible, apparently escape both censure and punishment.

The lesson to me is: As long as the United States is one of the military and economic powers in the world, there will be political debates -- legitimate debates -- about whether or not it should undertake military action or intervention. I can only hope that in the future those debates are conducted and the decisions are made honestly and based on information that is as accurate as possible and shared with the American people. (I would think it a bedrock principle of this nation -- so fundamental that it need not even be expressed in our founding documents -- that our elected leaders do not and will not lie to, deceive, or manipulate "we the people".) But if and when we do make the decision to take military action, we need to ensure we do so with a proper organization and properly trained personnel, so that whatever we do in the name of and for the sake of our ideals is in fact done consistent with our ideals. That clearly has been lacking in Iraq and that lack clearly was reflected in the incidents at Abu Ghraib -- to the everlasting shame of this country.

In an ideal (but, I recognize, utopian) world, there would be required reading for all Americans that would include such landmarks as the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, and King's "I Have a Dream" speech. But it would also include such things as "Without Sanctuary" (a photographic documentary of our shameful history of lynching), something on our treatment of Native Americans and blacks, something on My Lai, and, now, something on Abu Ghraib. To me it seems constructive that as a precondition for voting, people should spend some time pondering how it is that representatives of a democracy with such noble ideals can engage in such ignoble conduct -- supposedly in the name of law and order, democracy, and freedom. STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE would fulfill my hypothetical required reading with regard to Abu Ghraib.

It is a credit to the prose that a subject so upsetting could become a compelling work of literature, which is what this is. A harrowing descent into hell, a meditation on moral complexity, and a sad indictment of what's become of us. The book manages the genuine trick of compassion, to be astutely objective and subjective simultaneously. This is not only a story of Abu Ghraib, of American hubris, but also of human aspiration and folly. Truly a great war book. Stunning read.

While the general public in this country is somewhat knowledgeable of the prolonged agonies of the ongoing Iraq War, few of us are as acutely aware of the dark cloud of atrocities accompanying that war. Information about the 'progress' and purpose of that war are parceled out by the somewhat restricted media, the more serious and sad aspects of what is actually happening are scrutinized before the media releases that information, leaving us with a generalized anxiety about conditions and prognostications of the conflict that has so little support from the public at present. Too often this 'protective shield' from the facts allows a certain degree of near complacency, and it takes the intermittent release of data such as the unveiling of the atrocities and prisoner abuse at the hands of American soldiers at Abu Ghraib prison that surfaced through blogs and magazines and newspapers to startle the public and remind us of the grim aspects that war can drive countries and individuals to perform. Yes, similar startle reaction accompanied the My Lai Massacre during the Vietnam War and the books and films that followed that event alerted the public of the realities that can happen in wartime. But it takes an important book such as STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE written by Philip Gourevitch with invaluable insights and interviews from co-author Errol Morris who created the film STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE to bring to our careful scrutiny just what is happening and what is possible under the guise of 'protection' in time of war.

Gourevitch wisely divides this book into three sections - 'Before', 'During' and 'After; - which allows the reader to absorb the events leading up to the creation of the Abu Ghraib prison, introducing the people involved in transforming this dank and pungent edifice housing Saddam Hussein's own grim prison and execution house into a 'redesigned' American prison. We meet the contractors, the military personnel from the officers down to the soldiers assigned to guard the detainee prisoners, to the prisoners themselves, and it is this thorough approach to reportage that engenders confidence in the writing and makes every riveting page of this immensely important and terrifying account sear the reader's eye. Photographs, such as those that flooded the blogsites and media for a brief moment a few years ago, can create a visceral impression, but Gourevitch's choice to exclude the visuals from his evaluation of Abu Ghraib and the inhumane atrocities perpetrated by our own soldiers on the prisoners makes his book even more disturbing.

The use of letters home by the soldiers witnessing and taking part in the torture and 'interrogation techniques', letters and interviews supplied by Errol Morris from his research for his documentary film, allow us to hear about the situation first hand. Gourevitch is careful not to press his thumb on the scales that weigh the balance of 'indicated' and 'not indicated' actions and his doing so makes the reading all the more vivid. He allows us to observe how the situation arose, what actually happened there, and the repercussions and cover-up of the full story once the activities within the walls of that now infamous prison leaked out. This is a book that should be read by all citizens of this country (and of all countries who engage in war) to remind us all just how distorted and tested the state of humanity can become when the umbrella of 'war' alters human behavior that at times only retrospection (such as this book supplies) unveils. STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE is an important document and a fascinating, if grim, read. Highly Recommended. Grady Harp, September 08

This book is about what happened at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, not when Saddam Hussein was in charge, but rather after Iraq was "liberated" by the Americans, with token assistance from some other countries. The infamous photos taken there do not appear in this book, and the decision to exclude them was made prior to writing the book, as Philip Gourevitch says in the section entitled "Notes and Acknowledgments." Those photographs have been burned into the brain of most of the world's sentient beings. This book is the story behind those photographs, capturing the circumstances involved in their taking; that may not be conveyed, or possibly are even distorted by the image itself. This book is not for the "fun read" crowd, and it is certainly not inspirational nor uplifting. Of course no one is more aware of this than the author, who over half way through the book says: "Surely, if you have come this far in this sordid tale, you must crave some relief, some release, from the relentless, claustrophobic annihilation of the dungeon: a clear and cleansing note of sanity, an interlude of avenging justice or an eruption of decency, the entry of a hero. But surely you don't want to be deceived. There is no such solace or sanctuary in this story. Abu Ghraib was bedlam..." And that is the true horror of this tale; there is not even one "uplifting moment." The very heart of darkness, indeed.

And the heart of the story concerns the individuals who took, and appeared in those photos, much, I'm sure to their regret. Most of the aforementioned sentient beings can recall the name of one: Lynndie England. Yes, she is the one who was holding the leash which was connected to an Iraqi prisoner on all fours. Perhaps the iconic image of the war. Though Gourevitch does not make this point explicitly, he did provide all the dots if the reader wants to connect them. The leash was also around Lynndie's neck, held most directly by Charles Graner, and less directly by the society from which she came. One of the "dots" was the fact that she worked in a factory gutting chickens, for very low pay, while she was in high school, in West Virginia. These individuals are ideal prospects for the Army recruiter, who paints the picture of the upward mobility the military can provide. Another dot was when Graner painted the words "Po' White Trash" on the back of his Humvee. Yet another was the fact that she wasn't even 21. So, there is also the dot of being placed in an environment where "everyone is doing it"; where everyone is "nodding and winking" that this is an essential part of the game; that the orders of Military Intelligence, who are seeking to break these prisoners in order to "save American lives," must be obeyed, and all her "chain of command" concurs; and yet another dot is the clouding of judgment that so often comes with "love." It would take an exceptional human being to say "No, this is wrong." Lynndie England was not exceptional. The author chooses a remarkably appropriate epigraph, a quote from Jean-Paul Sartre, for all of us to ponder: "Happy are those who died without ever having had to ask themselves: `If they tear out my fingernails, will I talk?' But even happier are others, barely out of their childhood, who have not had to ask themselves that other question: `If my friends, fellow soldiers, and leaders tear out an enemy's fingernails in my presence, what will I do?'"

The book focuses on the individuals who went to prison; those that received the dishonorable discharges. No doubt, because this is where the court testimony is. But the author also tries focus on the others, that proverbial "chain of command" that led all the way back to the nods and winks coming from the White House, including the proclamations that it is time "to take the gloves off." A few of the higher-ups received reprimands, and the severity diminishes the higher one goes, with only a certain moral condemnation left for the former Secretary of Defense, now comfortably retired three hours to my north, on his farm outside Taos. And Lynndie England, now released from prison, with Graner's baby, but without him, cannot even get her old job back in the chicken plant.

As one other perceptive reviewer said: In a better world, this book would be a standard assignment in every American Civics class, along with the Gettysburg address, and Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech. A very well-written, balanced, and wrenching account of another serious stain on the ideals that many Americans rightly strive for. 5-stars plus.

This is literally a thought provoking work. The authors carefully refrain from judgment and share a dozen carefully interwoven stories: the slapdash way the occupation of Iraq was handled; the deliberately vague guidance given the almost completely untrained national guard platoon; the tragedy that ensues when a group of near-civilians get puffed up with the self-importance that comes from seeing themselves as part of the greatest military machine in the history of the world; the subtlety, beauty and necessity of due process. There are moments -- and I won't spoil them for you, because you will be a better person if you read this book and experience them for youself -- where your jaw will drop as the authors encapsulate all the complexity and moral ambiguity of our current historical conjuncture in a way that is neither superficial nor clicheed. With Roshomonian multiple perspectives, you end up reliving a few very strange hours in the Abu Ghraib prison, but mostly you will have a experience a psychological broadening, as your understanding of the world is widened to encompass the bizarre set of circumstances that produced those photographs. The other reviewer complained because Gourevich and Morris chose not to reprint the photographs; reading this book made me realize that I was carrying eidetic copies of the photographs in my brain, and that those photographs were a unresolved part of my understanding of the last few years. If you were puzzled, appalled or shocked by those photographs, this book is balm for that psychological itch, with the added benefit that it will help you understand our century.

In response to the 3-star review by "Little Teacher on the Prarie [sic]":

I would refer those who are curious or disappointed about the absence of photographs in this book to a NYT op-ed by co-author, Phillip Gourevitch ([...]), from which I have culled the pertinent excerpts that follow.

"... Who are we trying to fool, if not ourselves, if we pretend that we need more photos to know what has been going on?

Crime-scene photographs, for all their power to reveal, can also serve as a distraction, even a deterrent, from precise understanding of the events they depict. Photographs cannot show us a chain of command, or Washington decision making. Photographs cannot tell stories. They can only provide evidence of stories, and evidence is mute; it demands investigation and interpretation.

I spent more than a year living with the photographs from Abu Ghraib while writing a book about the soldiers who took them and appeared in them. I saw many more pictures than were ever published in the press, including, I believe, many -- if not most -- of the photos that the president would now prefer that you don't see.

Yet in order to tell the story of the pictures most effectively, I decided not to include any of them in the book. I had more than two million words of interviews to work with, and as many words again of government paperwork, and in this way I could show that most of the worst things that happened at Abu Ghraib were never photographed. What those soldier-photographers revealed to us with their cameras was just a hint of what they have to tell us if only we would listen."

I agree that placing such a rationale in an introduction or preface would have prevented questions about the absence of photos, if not their original importance in bringing the atrocities to light, yet I hope this delayed explanation enables prospective readers to focus on the testimonies of those interviewed. The pictures drawn

without aid of visual documentation are far more complete and horrendous than what any of the "missing" photographs might have provided.

As much as the Bush administration would like to have the main photo image of the war in Iraq be the pulling down of Saddam's statue during the initial invasion, the most famous photograph of the war is quite different. It is of a skinny figure, hooded, standing on a box, arms raised and fingers attached to electrical cables. It and the other shocking images from the prison at Abu Ghraib revealed a callous disregard for the rights of prisoners and for basic human rights, and an acceptance of torture as a means for the soldiers in charge of prisoners to soften them up for questioning. The pictures tell a shocking story, but not the whole story; this is the point of _Standard Operating Procedure_ (The Penguin Press) by Philip Gourevitch and Errol Morris. The book was written by Gourevitch, but it comes from conversations with Morris, who had conducted interviews, evaluated pictures, and studied records for his documentary film with the same name as the book. Tellingly, the book has no photographs. Not only are the images available in lots of other places, and not only are they sadly familiar to us all; the book shows that much of what was important at Abu Ghraib was never photographed, and that some of the photos distorted the real story.

There were at one time 5,000 prisoners (actually called "security detainees" to keep them from the legal protection that prisoners might get) in the prison, which was designed to hold 2,500 and certainly no more than 4,000. The military has since determined that three quarters of the inmates were not guilty of any crime; most of them were simply picked up in broad sweeps by the military police. The financing and the manning of the prison was botched. The military took over from the Justice Department later in 2003, and the soldiers assigned there simply did not know what they were doing. They were combat Military Policemen, used to being heavily armed to support front-line operations; they were not the MPs who are trained to be guards, including training in such things as the Geneva Conventions. When the incoming guards were told that their mission was to support Military Intelligence in their quest to get all the information they could from the prisoners, the guards didn't know better. Since the prisoners were not classed as prisoners of war, and since there were no rules to cover how they were to be treated, the guards made up what to do as they went along, including intimidation with dogs, the famous mock-electrocutions, and the pyramids of naked prisoners with grinning American soldiers in the foreground. One guard had sufficient understanding to write home that the prisoners weren't terrorists but because of Abu Ghraib would be the terrorists of the future. When the photos leaked to the outside world, the outrage resulted in some of the soldiers getting long sentences, but exactly zero senior officers were found guilty of serious malpractice. Think about this: There was a prisoner who was beaten to death within the prison (no, the techniques used were not just humiliation). A guard took photos of his corpse, and got six months in jail. The men who beat him to death never got charged.

Such imbalance shows the distorted opinions and actions that can come from these horrid photos. It is probably true that the abuse in Abu Ghraib (and its incalculable damage of infamy upon our nation) would not have come to light had the photographs not existed. They made the crimes depicted sensational and they provoked instantaneous indignation in any viewer (except those predisposed to think that the hilarity depicted was something you might see at a typical fraternity house). Gourevitch and Morris, however, remind us that every picture tells a story, but none of them tell the full story. Every picture shows abuse by low-ranking soldiers, and no picture shows the command or the administration that was responsible for the confusion and lack of discipline that allowed the abuse to occur. No picture shows how a few of the soldiers were real sadists, but most were doing a job and carrying on what the group reinforced. No picture shows that most of the detainees were innocent, and no picture shows the children that were also detained as a matter of pressuring their prisoner parents. No picture shows prisoners being beaten to death. The larger story, what the pictures cannot tell, is what this astonishing, distressing book brings. There is little polemic here, although one could not tell this story without some disgust. The resounding question is one that ends one of the book's chapters: "If you fight terror with terror, how can you tell which is which?"

Phillip Gourevitch earned my trust when he wrote "We Wish to Inform You that Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with our Families on the Rwandan Genocide. In Standard Operating Procedure Gourevitch collaborates with Errol Morris to write a story about the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq where numerous prisoner abuses occurred complete with pictures that flooded the media several years ago. My opinion of this book is very much like what Gourevitch says towards the end about "a picture telling a story." Gourevitch has written a story based upon interviews with persons who where there. What the absolute truth is...we may never know. What I believe is that multiple people FAILED both military and civilian leaders. What we have in Standard Operating Procedure is an account of some person's account of what happened. I was unable to render a verdict myself one way or the other...all I can advise is read the book yourself, and make your own judgment.

This book came out last year in hardcover under a different title (Standard Operating Procedure) and it got rave reviews from the best critics in the U.S.A. and internationally. The Ballad of Abu Ghraib is the paperback, it's exactly the same book, but Amazon hasn't transferred all the review quotes to this page. Check them out:

"A tightly knit and damning narrative... one of the most devastating of the many books on Iraq."

--New York Times Book Review

"[A] gut wrenching morality check"

--NPR's Talk of the Nation

"Gourevitch...brings to this study of the Abu Ghraib scandal the same graceful balancing of reportage and insight that marked his extraordinary book on the Rwandan genocide, We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families... the shocks arrive through language alone."

--Time Out NY

"Admirable... remarkable power"

--Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

"Philip Gourevitch's exemplary book will take its toll for years."

--The New York Observer

"Fascinating."

--The Economist

"Gourevitch's eye for telling detail evokes the best of The New Yorker tradition--Capote's In Cold Blood, Hersey's Hiroshima... Standard Operating Procedure is essential reading for our time."

--The Tennessean

"Remarkable."

--The Denver Post

"A compelling story... [Gourevitch] is a master of looking more closely, which means both more sympathetically and more critically... Gourevitch's account takes us outside the frame, giving us the chance to understand the dynamic of the unit in which violence and romance were S.O.P... The book shows how lawlessness became the law."

--The Los Angeles Times

"This book has to be read."

--Newsweek

A straight forward look at Abu Ghraib. This book is intense, hard-hitting and to be quite honest very difficult to read. It is very thought provoking and really makes one wonder, what has become of us and what has this war on terror led us to? It is a war that we must win at all costs and this book makes us look at the costs. And it is difficult to accept that this is where we've come. One section of the book talks about how George Washington treated Hessian prisoners of war so well in the American Revolution that many eventually moved to America after the war. We have come a long way. It is thankfully a fast read of a book, it is gut-wrenching to read and to really find out what was going on at Abu Ghraib. The book starts with a very brief background of Abu Ghraib(BEFORE) and some of the horrors that took place there under Saddam Hussein and quickly moves to how and why America used Abu Ghraib. Then the bulk of the book (DURING) details the timeline and events that led to the pictures that are seared in our minds. A brief wrapup (AFTER) concludes the book. Note while there are no pictures or graphs or maps of any kind in the book I found it to be more intense because of this. A simple explanation will trigger the picture in your mind. I never spent a whole lot of time examining the now infamous pictures but the images were so clearly invoked in my mind when reading passages of what was going on. The author so clearly states the power of an image and while that image can not tell the whole story it certainly reveals a story of it's own. SOP tells the whole story and if you think this is all because of a couple renegade, out-of-control soldiers then you need to read this book.

Frankly, by the time I was finished I didn't know who to blame or point a finger at. I just felt alot of sadness and despair and disgust.