More on torture and abuse in Iraq

The US torture scandal has spread to the UK, with the Daily Mirror publishing photographs of a British soldier urinating on an Iraqi prisoner.

The Mirror says the latest pictures were handed over by British soldiers who claimed a rogue element in the British army was responsible for abusing prisoners and civilians.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the soldiers told the paper no charges were brought against the unnamed captive.

They allege during his 8-hour ordeal he was threatened with execution, his jaw broken and his teeth smashed.

After being beaten and urinated on, he was driven away and dumped from the back of a moving vehicle, the soldiers claimed.

They added they did not know whether he survived.

As with the US case, the British army is investigating and promising prosecutions.

In many ways I'm unsurprised by this. A psychology experiment in the 70's graphically showed what people do when given power over one another. Prisons and authoritarian institutions are supposed to prevent this by leadership - by having those at the top lay down the law and tell people very clearly that sadism and abuse are not acceptable. That didn't happen here - which is why the CO of the prison has been relieved and may be prosecuted. But it's not just a failure by authorities to discourage abuse - quite the opposite, in fact. According to the CBS story, other authorities within the prison positively encouraged it. The guards were told by CIA and mercenary interrogators to "fear up" prisoners before questioning. As one of the suspects' lawyers said:

"The elixir of power, the elixir of believing that you're helping the CIA, for God's sake, when you're from a small town in Virginia, that's intoxicating," says Myers. "And so, good guys sometimes do things believing that they are being of assistance and helping a just cause. ... And helping people they view as important."

A second famous psychology experiment showed how far ordinary people will go when "following orders". Mix the two, authority and obediance, and the result is simply toxic. They feed off one another to create worse and worse abuses. Add "justice" into the mix - a sense that what you are doing is right and proper and in the aid of a moral and just cause - and you're staring into the abyss.

None of this is an excuse - but it is illuminating, and it points out that responsibility doesn't rest solely with the abusers. Those who created this toxic situation, who failed to show the required leadership, and who passively encouraged abuse must also be held to account.