Neil James Mitchell
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780814761441
- eISBN:
- 9780814763377
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9780814761441.003.0008
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This chapter narrates how Donald Rumsfeld denied allegations of being involved in the abusive treatment of captured Iraqis at the Baghdad Central Correctional Facility, Abu Ghraib. This case shows ...
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This chapter narrates how Donald Rumsfeld denied allegations of being involved in the abusive treatment of captured Iraqis at the Baghdad Central Correctional Facility, Abu Ghraib. This case shows that one of the difficulties with explaining the issue as an individually initiated rather than a state-initiated violation was that the Taguba Report linked the abuse to interrogation practices. Mistreating detainees was expected to produce information on the Iraqi insurgency. Moreover, the chapter explains that the evidence of abuse from Abu Ghraib implicated individuals and policymakers. It fitted a wider pattern of ill-treatment and was consistent with a strategic narrative emphasizing the use of violence and humiliation to extract information.Less
This chapter narrates how Donald Rumsfeld denied allegations of being involved in the abusive treatment of captured Iraqis at the Baghdad Central Correctional Facility, Abu Ghraib. This case shows that one of the difficulties with explaining the issue as an individually initiated rather than a state-initiated violation was that the Taguba Report linked the abuse to interrogation practices. Mistreating detainees was expected to produce information on the Iraqi insurgency. Moreover, the chapter explains that the evidence of abuse from Abu Ghraib implicated individuals and policymakers. It fitted a wider pattern of ill-treatment and was consistent with a strategic narrative emphasizing the use of violence and humiliation to extract information.
