Abu Ghraib Film: Too Soft on Abuses?

Documentary-maker Errol Morris has often spoken truth to power, but his new film about the Abu Ghraib prison scandal may tread too lightly, Geoffrey Macnab writes in the Guardian. Though Standard Operating Procedure explores the infamous prison photos in gritty detail, Morris’ interview style—focusing mainly on implicated American soldiers with an almost sympathetic attitude—has drawn criticism as well as acclaim.

The Oscar-winner defends his approach on this film—winner of a jury grand prize at the Berlin film festival—and can't understand why people expect him “to get someone to confess or apologize. It is almost a Christian idea of the interview.” As for accusations his film compounds old humiliations by re-airing the images, he sees them as critical evidence: "The country, in its foreign policy, has gone stark raving mad." (More Abu Ghraib stories.)