Synopsis
Under the regime of Saddam Hussein, the Abu Ghraib Prison in Bagdad was one of Iraq's most notorious. In 2004, it made world headlines because of the degrading situations in which the U.S. Army put its prisoners. Photos attested to humiliation and torture, often sexual in nature, and a congressional investigation revealed that this was not just an isolated incident. In the way he is known for, director Errol Morris gives the floor to a number of those directly involved, including Brigadier General Janis Karpinski, Sargeant Javal Davis, military intelligence interrogator Roman Krol and Private First Class Lynndie England. The tautly filmed interviews, with the interviewees gazing straight into the camera, are interspersed with the contested photos and some strongly composed dramatizations. The guilty parties have now been tried and look back on their behavior in various ways. Some of them are baffled by their own lapses, while others wash their hands of the situation or play down the scandal. Most of those who refused to participate in the wrongdoing were dishonorably discharged from the army. The question is not only how all of this could happen, but also why the pictures were taken and to what extent a photo can influence public opinion and the course of history. And do we now know everything about the U.S. Army's misconduct in Iraq?