Excuses, excuses
The Face of War
Psychological Experts Say Under Stress of Battle, Potential for Abuse Could Surface in Anyone
Daniel K. Hoh
ABCNEWS.com
May 7— Were the abuses of Iraqi prisoners the action of a few "bad apples" in the U.S. military, or the behavior of ordinary soldiers under the extraordinary stresses of war?
The specifics of the incidents at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq remain to be sorted out. But the answer seems apparent for experts in the psychology of war and other mental health professionals contacted by ABCNEWS — such behavior is not uncommon in a time of military conflict and the potential to abuse others may lie in all of us.
"In war, things do happen, often from emotion of the moment, exhaustion, frustration — a buddy killed, a unit hurt," maintains Samuel Watson, a former infantry officer in the Vietnam War who is now associate professor of public health at University of Pittsburgh.
Agrees Garret Evans, associate professor of psychology at University of Florida in Gainesville, "It is not far-fetched to say there is abuse on some level in any war."
So how do you explain the abuse in Brooklyn?
The fact is, all the talk about people without souls and the direct, immanent, non-existing threats have sanctioned such behavior in many people's minds.
