Reply #75: You have a valid point

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but Bush is more at fault than you give him credit for. It is clear from what is coming out now that part of the problem is the involvment of private interrogators. Those are on Bush.

The other place where I tend to disagree with you is on the idea that this is somehow a military problem. Sadly people can be cruel without the military helping them be that way. I would guess that whoever the ring leader was, had shown signs of cruelty in the past. It is quite possible that the rest got caught up in the moment and didn't have the courage to say no, but someone in that room was familiar with being cruel to people before. Anyone who has watched kids bully each other knows that this kind of thing is in some people. What generally keeps it in check is a combination of supervision and fear of being caught. Here it seems that neither factor was present. The prisoners were thought of as other. Once that line is crossed it is easier to cross the other lines too.