Examples Of Resistance In Abu Ghraib

Human rights disempowers resistance but ‘we’ have to have them. Critically discuss with relation to a ‘terrorist’ case study from the course.
‘Do not await anything from us but Jihad, resistance and revenge’ (bin Laden 2002, pp. 3); whilst this quote, along with the attack towards the American people can be perceived as shameless and immoral (Ruddock 2003, pp. 4), resistance can ultimately be deemed necessary if employed by the righteous ‘us’. The Abu Ghraib torture scandal provides sufficient evidence to confirm that some notion of opposition was ingrained in the minds of soldiers and officers when instigating acts of barbarity. Whilst such scandals can be identified as isolated occurrences, they are complemented by correlating incidents which

This is emphasised in the case studies of the Abu Ghraib and CIA scandals; the physical and psychological torture inflicted upon detainees is stated to have been ‘brutal’ (Senate Select Intelligence Committee 2014, pp. 3) and at times, even ‘inhuman’ (Gouveritch & Morris 2008, pp. 8-9). As well as the underlying notion of Ideology, Freud proposes that it is in the nature of mankind to present a violent disposition (Freud 1927). It is stated that the ability to ‘love thy neighbour’ (Freud 1927, pp. 110) will constitute a society in which all humans can live harmoniously. However, the naturally violent inclinations of humans will not allow this notion to prevail, as ‘man is a wolf to man’ (Freud 1927, pp. 111). Ultimately, this conception is perceived to be unrealistic (Freud 1927). The soldiers and officers involved in the Abu Ghraib and CIA scandals were able to condone acts of violence which were not necessarily permitted by the nation-state. Whilst Bush was able to excuse the actions of servicemen by referring to them as ‘just a few bad apples’, the reoccurrence of such actions imply that there is more to resistance than the mere notion of what is lawfully just. This provides that Lockean and Hobbesian theories will not

As identified in the case studies of the Abu Ghraib and CIA scandals, resistance will continue to be excused as a necessary means of protection (Locke 1689 & Hobbes 1998), and the abuse of resistance as an isolated or unlikely incident. Whilst Locke and Hobbes provide a potential framework for why terror may be deemed acceptable, the vague outline of what constitutes justice presents issues when these theories are applied to the Abu Ghraib and CIA scandals. The excessive enactment of violence can be deemed as both ineffective (Senate Select Committee on Intelligence 2014) and ultimately, a breach of state policies. Finally, it becomes clear that Ideology at both a conscious and unconscious level, as well as man’s natural inclination to be violent, will constitute why ‘we’ must have resistance. Whilst this notion will not necessarily be bound by what is just or reasonable, it will continue to prevail on account of the traits that humankind will naturally