Many people throughout the world felt the Abu Ghraib prison scandal was an embarrassment to the officers directly involved, as well as high-ranking military officials far removed from the actual events. But one group of people largely ignored during the scandal was the medical team in Afghanistan that witnessed the abuse.
In a lecture titled “When Good Men and Women do Nothing: Doctors at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo,” Dr. Leon Eisenberg, a Harvard Medical School professor, addressed the ethical issues raised because of doctors’ involvement with prison torture.
Eisenberg said abuses at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo were the intentional result of U.S. policy, not isolated incidents, as U.S. officials have said.
“They knew what was happening, they arranged for it to happen and they still don’t want to give up on (the policies),” he said.
He spoke about Army Capt. Ian Fishback, who wrote a letter to Sen. John McCain (R