Abu Annotated edition

The American people have a right to know what happened, Why it happened and what their government did about it.

This is not an incident involving 5 young soldiers. This incident struck at the moral conscious of our nation. Two presidents have spoken publicly about this incident.

I present the facts as annotated in investigations, letters home, spot reports and a personnel account. Rumors also played a role in what happened at Abu. What was the state of mind of the soldiers involved? What were we going through? I look at the events that lead up to the abuse, from the combat actions outside of the compound to the combat inside of the compound. What was going through the heads of the soldiers on a personnel level? Did they deserve the punishment that they received?

Once the abuses occurred, the Army moved quickly to make changes. Was it enough? I present enough information for you to decide these questions for yourself.