Abuses of Abu Ghraib prisoners by Americans can be blamed on the Left

Pro's attempt to blame liberal support for pornography as the primary cause of the prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib is absurd. There is zero evidence that pornography has any effect on violent behavior, and, in any event, the militant lawlessness and anti-Muslim bigotry fomented by conservatives in the wake of 9/11 played a far greater role in the torture that occurred at Abu Ghraib.1. Pornography does not lead to violent behaviorTo support his contention that "pornography... can lead to actions like what happened at Abu Ghraib," Pro cited an opinion column from one college newspaper, devoid of any empirical data. A comprehensive international study by Milton Diamond, however, demonstrates the fallacy of Pro's argument. After showing that a dramatic increase in the availability of in pornography in Japan and the United States over recent decades was coupled with an equally dramatic decrease in violent sex crimes, the study concluded that "if anything, there is an inverse causal relationship between an increase in pornography and sex crime." [1] Similar studies have arrived at identical conclusions. [2, 3]Without Pro's speculative and pseudo-religious premise that pornography causes violent behavior by "degrading" the sanctity of human sexuality, his entire argument fails.2. Conservatives are responsible for the factors that actually lead to Abu GhraibA. The invasion of IraqIf the Bush administration hadn’t decided to invade Iraq in the first place, the abuses at Abu Ghraib would have never occurred. Iraq was an unnecessary war initiated under false pretenses, and the torture at Abu Ghraib was only one of its disastrous consequences.B. The mismanaged occupation of IraqAbu Ghraib was merely one example of the Bush administration’s broader mishandling of the occupation of Iraq. From their erroneous pre-war prediction that Americans “would be greeted as liberators” [4], to the premature declaration of “Mission Accomplished” [5], to the inadequate troop levels used for occupation [6], to the disastrous decision to disband the Iraqi military and police in late 2003 [7], the Bush administration’s numerous mistakes all contributed to the violent instability in Iraq at the time the abuses in Abu Ghraib began in early 2004. By putting too much stress on too few troops, the Bush administration made something like Abu Ghraib inevitable.C. Hostility toward international laws governing the treatment of POWs In waging the "war on terror," the Bush administration put forth a constant resistance to international human rights laws, especially legal prohibitions on the use of torture. [8] Conservative enthusiasm for so-called "enhanced interrogation techniques" contributed to an anything-goes mentality among military interrogators, which ultimately resulted in the torture that occured at Abu Ghraib.My opponent claims that "the Right and the Bush administration disapproved and condemnded of the actions at Abu Ghraib," but this is a stretch at best. Defense Secretary Donald Rumseld refused to acknowledge that "torture" had occurred at Abu Ghraib [9], while Republican Senator James Inhofe said he was "probably not the only [Senator] . . . that is more outraged by the outrage than we are by the treatment." [10] Leading conservative pundit Rush Limbaugh dismissed the atrocities committed at Abu Ghraib as no worse than typical fraternity hazing. [11] As evidenced by their reactions after Abu Ghraib, conservative indifference toward the torture of enemy detainees was certainly widespread before it.D. Anti-muslim bigotry in the wake of 9/11Because much of the torture and humiliation at Abu Ghraib was specifically intended to prey upon the religious convictions of the Iraqi detainees, [12] it is safe to say that anti-Muslim hatred played as big a role in the Abu Ghraib abuses as any other factor. Beginning with President Bush's "crusading" rhetoric in the early stages of the War on Terror, [13], many conservatives today remain under the mistaken impression that the United States is at war with all of Islam. [14] Along with the other factors above, xenophobia also lead to Abu Ghraib.Sources[1] http://www.hawaii.edu...;[2] http://papers.ssrn.com...[3] http://www.slate.com...[4] http://www.washingtonpost.com...[5] http://en.wikipedia.org...[6] http://www.youtube.com...;[7] http://www.guardian.co.uk...;[8] http://www.nytimes.com...[9] http://nytimes.com...[10] http://www.cbsnews.com...[11] http://mediamatters.org...;[12] http://www.soundvision.com...[13] http://www.csmonitor.com...;[14] http://www.time.com...;