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The constitution rightly prohibits "cruel and unusual punishment", it is a travesty that so many prisoners in the U.S. are subject to cruel treatment such as extensive solitary confinement, lack of mental stimulation, light on all the time, and I'm sure much worse. Even sadistic thugs such as Mr. Graner should be treated in a non-sadistic way.
As for his higher-ups deserving prison? Of course they do, but that is completely irrelevant to the question of whether or not Graner should be in prison.
A few letter writers have offered up the Stanford Prison Experiment as an excuse for Mr. Graner. I disagree. The Stanford Prison Experiment gave the guards the freedom to mistreat the prisoners, but did not force them to. Afterwards, "One-third of the guards were judged to have exhibited "genuine" sadistic tendencies".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_prison_experiment
Of the general public, would one third exhibit sadistic tendencies if given the opportunity?
Again, according to the Wikipedia article:
"Also, it has been argued that selection bias may have played a role in the results. Researchers from Western Kentucky University recruited students for a study using an advertisement similar to the one used in the Stanford Prison Experiment, with and without the words "prison life." It was found that students volunteering for a prison life study possessed dispositions toward abusive behavior."
If, say only 10-20 % of the general population exhibits "genuine sadistic tendencies", why has the Republican party embraced torture so enthusiastically?
I think the main reason is to garner the enthusiastic support of sadists like Mr. Graner (that not-insignificant percentage of the population). Even if they don't get to torture in defense of their country, they do get to bask in the stories of Abu Ghraib and Gitmo, knowing that they support the party that is tough enough to torture. Hence John McCain naming Jack Bauer as his favorite celebrity, and 24 a favorite among Republican pundits.
There wasn't a big down-side either as they had the cover of the war on terror, and the moral justification of the ever-popular 24 (ticking time-bomb).
The other big reason for the Republicans to support torture, was that if, (as Carl Rove hoped) they managed to achieve "a permanent Republican majority", then torture would be invaluable in keeping their enemies in check. People often say "torture doesn't work", but in actual fact, throughout history, torture has been an essential tool for dictatorships to keep in power. Being threatened with death is one thing, but being threatened with being tortured to death (or worse being kept alive for years and tortured) is a much worse threat.
No matter what our constitution says, no matter who our leaders are, or what our laws say, if a high enough percentage of the general public decides to support torture, then we are all in very big trouble.
