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My initial reaction was somewhat similar to Zaynab's, that it could be a faulty inference to think that Iraqi's torturing Iraqi's is a direct outcome of U.S. torture in Abu Ghraib and elsewhere during our ill-considered war on terror. I do think that the Iraqi's were culturally and historically capable of independently deciding to engage in torture without our help. But I also think that our government's sanctioning of torture has made it that much easier for them to do it with impunity. If we had set a high standard for respecting the human rights of detainees and prisoners (in Iraq and elsewhere) and made it clear that we not only did not condone torture but that we would also actively pursue and prosecute individuals who did, it might have given the nascent Iraqi government pause and possibly even have prevented the abuses that are coming to light. Once we relinquished the moral high ground, we lost most, if not all, authority to demand humane behavior on the part of the Iraq government, army and police.
