Military officers and politicians have tried to explain these horrifying actions as a “breakdown in command,” and “aberrations.” US Brigadier General Janice Karpinski, former commander of Abu Ghraib prison where most of the pictures originated, asked how could people do this? I want to ask her if she remembers basic training, when the military teaches ordinary people to repress normal feelings and empathy in order to kill. Pictures from Iraq showing the dehumanization and sadistic torture of Iraqi prisoners by US and British soldiers have outraged many, and many are wondering how this could happen. One of the main requirements for taking the life of another is to dehumanize and brand them as inferior, evil, stupid gook, swine, rat, dog, coon, raghead–because the difficulty and psychological pain of killing someone recognizably the same is so great.
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