Secret government cover-ups, gruesome torture, scapegoated underlings, scorned lovers, war and murder. If this were a feature, it would be riveting. But Standard Operating Procedure, Errol Morris’ newest documentary, shows it is all too real; still riveting, but a great deal more depressing.
Morris is a master documentarian. His body of work spans three decades of award winning, boundary pushing and genre defining films. He was one of the first to use reenactments in a documentary, created true first-person cinema and his work in The Thin Blue Line saved an innocent man’s life. Morris continues his tradition of films with real world consequence in the investigative Standard Operating Procedure.
The film explores the abuses that went on at the Abu Ghraib detention center. Composed mainly of interviews from those implicated in the scandal, the narrative is tied together by the criminal investigation led by special agent Brent Pack. Pack was directed to analyze the now infamous photos in order to decipher which actions constitute criminal acts and which were, as the military puts it, standard operating procedure. For the record, stripping someone nude, covering their head with panties and convincing them they will be electrocuted if they fall asleep is A-OK.
The only non-military personnel to appear in the film is contract interrogator Tim Dugan, who offers some of the most candid and contextual commentary in the film. As with every interviewee, Dugan’s internal conflict over the grey, moral murk of everyday life in Iraq is painfully clear. Recounting his discomfort with some of the tactics being used at Abu Ghraib to his superior, he’s basically told to keep his head down. Discomfort turns to anger as he watches young, inexperienced military intelligence officers ruin good sources of information with tactics of ridicule and torture. Despite the ludicrous Jack Bauer-brainwashing and nearly fictitious ticking time bomb scenarios played up by empty talking heads and misguided politicians, Dugan (as will any actual professional) is quick to point out that in 20 years of experience, he has never known of a situation where torture produced accurate or useful information.
The emotional grit of the film is within the interviews with the soldiers who appeared in the photographs from Abu Ghraib. This is really the first opportunity to see these men and women as people, not pictures. The underlying theme of the film is the idea that a photograph paints a complete picture of a situation, an imprint of the truth. Morris argues it doesn’t. It doesn’t show the context of the situation, what is happening outside the frame or when it was taken. It’s easy to make a snap judgment of these people and comforting to accept the Whitehouse argument that these were just a few “bad apples” and didn’t constitute systematic policy. Morris however, isn’t interested in easy comfort, just the truth.
The truth of the matter is this was an impossible situation and it’s well worth considering what one’s own choices would be. Imagine being 19 years old. You are told to guard extremely dangerous potential terrorists at a ratio of 100 prisoners to one soldier and everyday people outside the prison are trying to kill you. Superior officers are supporting practices which are, at best, morally questionable. Do you refuse orders in the middle of a warzone, only to be court marshaled and thrown in prison? Ignore it? Help make detainees more cooperative? Now, throw in a romantic relationship with a superior officer, as was the case with the most well-known face of this scandal, Lynndie England (leash girl). This is the picture Morris paints in the words, letters, video and photographs of these men and women.
The film makes no attempt to exonerate the participants of wrongdoing, but it does add context to their actions and argues one very important point: these soldiers were not punished for torture; they were punished for being in embarrassing photographs. Even the worst of the photos (and the film shows many that were not broadcast on the news) don’t depict what went on behind the closed doors of interrogation cells. 
Capturing the sadistic irony of this entire situation, Sabrina Harman was court marshaled in part for appearing in a photo next to the corpse of Manadel al-Jamadi. While the photo received widespread churn in the media maw, the fact that al-Jamadi was killed during an interrogation at Abu Ghraib was embarrassingly underreported. Not a single criminal charge has been levied over his murder.
In fact, not a single person above the rank of Staff Sergeant has served any jail time. To give that some context, imagine a handful of junior accountants being held responsible for the Enron/Arthur Anderson mess. To put it lightly, that doesn’t seem right, particularly in light of recent news that a secret cabal of senior Whitehouse officials gathered to approve, in excruciating detail, exactly how suspects would be interrogated.
No doubt, some will take issue with Standard Operating Procedure. Some will probably take issue with this review. But Morris is interested in truth, not politics. This story has been irresponsibly told by the media at large. It’s complex, morally gut wrenching and multi-faceted. Morris’ telling does justice to its enormity and he should be commended as a patriot and an artist.
Editor's Note: To hear Zoom in Online's On the Circuit podcast interview with Errol Morris click here.
Background Buzz
A round up of related content from across the web including fan blogs, podcasts, analysis, news, magazines, and more.
- Errol Morris' New York Times photography blog
- Video interview of Errol Morris and Philip Gourevitch on Abu Ghraib and their forthcomming book
- IFC's text interview with Errol Morris
- Comingsoon.net's text interview with Errol Morris
- Slate's review
- Film trailer (available in HD!)
- Facebook page with lots of clips
- Participant Productions offers you a chance to make a difference
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