Review of Standard Operating Procedure (2013) by Josh K — 03 Jun 2008

Documentary that tells the story of Abu Ghraib from the perspective of the soldiers and interrogators who worked in that prison, including the more famous culprits like Lynddie England and Sabrina Harman. The film's thesis is that these soldiers were made the scapegoats for the decisions and negligence of their higher-ups. While I think this is true, the film lets the audience down by not pursuing the question of the complicity of higher-ranking military and Bush administration officials in more detail. Only brief mention is made of Donald Rumsfeld and Ricardo Sanchez.

The interviews with the soldiers are riveting. Many seem in a daze and are dumbfounded by their actions. Occassionally you will hear Sabrina Harman say she felt bad for a brutalized detainee, but the main regret expressed by the soldiers appears to be that they were so stupid to be caught.

There are no interviews with any of the detainees. We never learn any of their names. The film, whether intentionally or not, focuses on the tragedy of these soldiers who lost their innocence. The tragedy of the detainees' situation is more of a backdrop.

Probably the most startling moment occurs in the second half, when a criminal investigator informs us that many of the actions of humiliation captured in the photographs (detainees forced to be in stress conditions, naked) were just "S.O.P." and not criminal offenses.

I question some of Morris's choices, like his playing around with computer graphics to show the array of photographic evidence of the crimes at Abu Ghraib, or the intrusive musical score by Danny Elfman.

I can' say I learned anything new about Abu Ghraib, but I am grateful for the retrospective accounts by the perpetrators. It was fascinating watching these people come to terms (or not) with their crimes.