The BIG LIE: Abu Ghraib torture is "unthinkable".

It's an accepted method of "softening up" prisoners for interrogation. The only thing is, it's supposed to be done by trained professionals, not amateurs from the Reserves or National Guard.

This is the secret they're covering up with their "outrage" at the behavior of the lowly soldiers.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,4919358-103550,00.html

"The sexual humiliation of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison was not an invention of maverick guards, but part of a system of ill-treatment and degradation used by special forces soldiers that is now being disseminated among ordinary troops and contractors who do not know what they are doing, according to British military sources.

"The techniques devised in the system, called R2I - resistance to interrogation - match the crude exploitation and abuse of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib jail in Baghdad."

and the Intel agencies involved.

"Digital cameras on the battlefield fucking everything up! (TM)" MoPaul ;)

SOP.

And part of the reason why I was marching in the streets the last couple of years, protesting against this illegal, ill-advised, wasteful (by every conceivable measure) invasion. We've rushed blindly forward to divest ourselves of our dignity and humanity, playing into the hands of the enemies of freedom and liberty in a way that they could only dream about a couple of years ago.