Some context

My own interest in the Abu Ghraib story began on April 29, 2004 – the day after CBS' Sixty Minutes II aired the now famous photos from one shift on November 8, 2003 at Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad. My son was serving at that time as a prison guard in another military prison, Camp Bucca, near Um Qaasr.

The ensuing media storm about Abu Ghraib engulfed not only the seven soldiers who were implicated in the abuse of that night and some officers in the chain of command, but also other guards at Abu Ghraib and all over Iraq. In the end, it is my opinion that the media’s interest in Abu Ghraib was not that some Iraqi’s were abused. Rather, this was the perfect stick with which to beat an Administration that provided disputed information to the media that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

Unlike a more well-known military mom, I will not constantly invoke my son's service to promote my own point of view. As I write, I will attempt to stick to the facts and not play on emotions.

And so, here we go…