Standard Operating Procedure

Standard Operating Procedure
or
Please don’t ‘Be All You Can Be’

“I wouldn’t recommend a vacation to Iraq anytime soon”.
- Tim Dugan, civilian interrogator, CACI Corp.

I won’t bury the lede on this one.
Standard Operating Procedure is Errol Morris’ finest film since The Thin Blue Line.
It deals with the same themes as 2003’s The Fog of War; recalcitrant war mongering, the unrepentant natures of those that can commit atrocities in the name of good, the effect that war and its violence can have on the human thought process and America’s continual wrong-headedness in regard to conflict resolution.
The deliberate irony Morris uses for the titles of both films speaks volumes to those condemnations.
The “We had to burn the village in order to save it” mentality.
Most of the events discussed in the film happened at the now infamous Abu Ghraib military prison complex in Iraq before the tapestry of lies for the basis of that war had been revealed.
The soldiers were getting shelled by mortar fire daily. They were seeing their comrades coming back mutilated or in body bags. They were often dealing with very bad and very dangerous men close-up, within the walls of the prison. But they were also dealing with innocent people picked up in the mass roundups of random Iraqi males.
Nothing points out these abuses more clearly (or quiets the chickenhawks quicker) than the hypothetical of being a male between the age of 12 and 60 in the United States. You are, say, a grocer who lives with his family in Charleston, South Carolina. You have never had any relationship with a terrorist. You have never even met one. A military force from another nation has routed your army, seized control of the reins of power, destroyed your infrastructure so that water, electricity and food become scarcities. They walk through your streets fully armed alongside armored vehicles and claim they are there to help you. Then, in the wee hours one morning, these armed men kick in your door, terrorize your wife and daughters (perhaps rape them there or place them in detention), scream threats and obscenities at you, order you and your teenage sons down on the floor, handcuff you, place hoods over your heads, maybe strike you, maybe not, depending on how you “cooperate” during the arrest and drag you off to a dank, smelly, filthy prison cell. You are not told why this has happened or what laws you have violated. You are denied a right to counsel or interaction with anyone from the outside world.
This has been your introduction to the liberating, freedom fighting forces of the army which now will occupy your land for the next five plus years. All to keep their gas stations open and their military industrial complex well greased.
Now, pretend you are an Iraqi and make sure to welcome these liberating, freedom fighting forces of the United States of America.
And a large portion of our populous thinks these measures combat terrorism and reduce our risk of being attacked in the future.
And these habeas corpus nightmares are still taking place in the shadows of American military prisons all over this world.
Cue a country music anthem here about ass-whoopin‘, the flag, a boot and the price of freedom.
Standard Operating Procedure is a gaze into this disconnect from the reality of what Americans preach and what they actually do. A testimony from the pawns themselves about what went on at a prison named Abu Ghraib. And how in their eyes, the only real crime was in the way they took the brunt of the country’s incredulous anger and suffered all of the sentencing in regard to the abuses. Their remorse is left only to their Nixonian documentation of the crimes, not the actual wrongdoings they committed.
Of course, the military higher ups who authorized the criminality, the “OGA’s” (other government agencies) who killed and tortured people and our lovable band of war criminals who went by the name of “The Bush Administration” were ultimately responsible. And they should suffer even harsher punishment. You can help by getting loud here, here and here.
But the absolute lack of shame and regret on the part of the “soldiers” interviewed for this film is telling indeed of our nation’s culture, its ethos and its willingness to disregard or pass blame in the face of horrible guilt. It all starts from the bottom on a personal level.
But the core of the problem is in the puzzlingly blind reverence and respect we afford every member of our military. When did army enlistment entitle someone to everlasting sainthood in the eyes of the Republic?
Just wait until you glimpse the Lynndie England interviews. It’s like watching a painfully dim molester priest (as played by Roseanne Barr) blame the Vatican for their transgressions. All done in a cringe-inducing West Virginia accent. Agent Clarice Starling with a head injury.
When anyone is deified and considered beyond reproach (think: the church), their behavior is known to become a bit, well, ethically suspect. See “The Obama Presidency” for examples worth consideration from the right.
Rationally, you can assume that like any collective entity, the military will have its relative percentage of psychos, morons and freaks. I would argue, given its modus operandi, a significantly greater ratio.

There are essentially six reasons someone enlists in the military:

1.) Poverty (get fed, get shelter, provide for family, get a degree)
2.) Criminal liability (avoidance of jail time)
3.) Tribalism (nationalism, patriotism, jingoism)
4.) A sadomasochistic personality (love of authority/father figure and/or dispensing of violence)
5.) Familial indoctrination (son of a son of a …)
6.) Ignorance (general stupidity or political naiveté)

None of these are mutually exclusive. And “benevolence”, “boredom”, or “forthrightness” are simply not legitimate candidates for the list.
Also, few of these reasons provide a warm, fuzzy feeling that the protection of this nation from enemies foreign and domestic is in the most capable and rational of hands (or minds).
That is where Morris’ film succeeds; in the increasing outrage of the audience toward the heinousness of the prisoner’s treatment contrasted with the inurement in the minds of the soldiers who incrementally allowed the abuse to crescendo to the horror of those now infamous photos.
It can’t be that bad if it stops there.
Surely, it can’t get any worse.
I never did anything that wasn’t policy.
Rinse, repeat.
Morris uses stylishly re-enacted scenes, bizarre close-ups (the shaving of a general‘s eyebrows is quite disturbing), computer generated imagery and the original photographs/videos to weave a tale of terror (that pesky word again) and shame.
Of good intentions gone mad from boredom, fear, egoism and the thousands of ghosts (from Saddam‘s legacy) who haunted the prison.
In pointing out through their own words how lost and deranged these people were, Morris nails the utter frustration and lunacy of the situation. What dupes these poor soldiers became in the hands of manipulative and malevolent people, both politically and militarily.
And what a cop out it is for them to blame the orders from on high.
You do not have to be complicit in atrocities. The choice is always yours.
You can say no if you find an order to be illegal. You may never make Sergeant (you may even serve a little time) but there you are. Private Eddie Slovik in 1945 anyone? And that was for desertion.
The most frightening thing is that, as Americans, we do have historical benchmarks to warn us of this type of behavior. Perhaps the crimes committed in Vietnam might assist in guiding one’s moral compass. Or the time and time again knowledge that when someone in authority asks you to do something that you‘ve never seen them do or you think is reprehensible, you should automatically question the source.
But that’s not how military systems function. At least not the effective ones. Unquestioning loyalty and obedience are of absolute necessity.
Jailed Specialist MP Sabrina Harmon, who took many of the incriminating photos at Abu Ghraib, said that given the same circumstances she would do the same thing all over again. The only thing she would change, she offered, was never joining the military in the first place.
Bing-fucking-go!
So don’t bitch after you have committed immoral acts and blame the big bad men and women who outrank you for your punishment. Think of this shit before you enlist in such a rigidly authoritarian system. It’s not an adventure. It’s not a lark. It’s not fun and war games. It’s the fucking armed forces. And you better be ready to eat all the shit on your plate and ask for seconds. You also better be ready to kill without conscience and view your enemy as a subhuman monster.
And you better understand that your worldview and humaneness will be forever altered, typically for the worse and only if you survive.
When you are asked to serve in the army of the U.S. of A., know that it will not be to bring peace and justice to the rest of the world or protect our citizenry from acts of terrorism (military actions only increase that probability). It will be to promote the United States’ financial interests abroad, excuse the bloated defense budget, guard the gates of empire on foreign soil and, like I said before, keep the gas stations open. If you’re still willing to serve after weighing those decisions, more power to you. Best of luck.
Now, before I am labeled a traitor, a pinko, a commie, a coward or whatever other term lockstep reactionaries can conjure for those who prefer to think before they act, please know that I appreciate the service that our enlisted men and women provide. I simply hate how they are being misused. I have true sorrow in my heart for the casualties and their families. Even more sorrow when I know that their dedication and sacrifice was for an ignoble purpose. That is the ultimate waste of life. And that is what has been happening all too frequently to our military personnel since WWII.
Remember that for all that is decent and noble and good in the American character, there is a dark and violent arrogance as well.
That is what Errol Morris is getting at.
And why all of us should take a good, long look at Standard Operating Procedure and realize that the irrational monsters we want our military to protect us from may easily be found within ourselves.

Take a look at this short film called Don’t Go. A timeless and relevant message.

Update: I was recently on an airline flight which highlights one of my points. During our approach for landing one of the stewardesses got on the intercom and made note that we had some military personnel on board and how much she (and Delta) wanted to thank them for their service. The cabin immediately burst into a round of applause for people whom they did not know, whose actions during their service were unknown and who have been implemented in a continuing illegal war of aggression and occupation perpetrated by our government. Wouldn’t pity or wariness be more appropriate responses?
But they didn’t think about that. They heard “American Military Personnel” and in lock clap their hands involuntarily began slapping together. This unblinking adulation since 9/11 for anything in a uniform points to our increasingly authoritarian mindset and willingness to forfeit our freedoms for a false sense of security.
Of course, to conservatives, the stimulus package has already accomplished those ends.