[Cerek]

"Psychological conditioning" of prisoners or detainees is a normal part of any interrogation process. Civilian police often will question a suspect for hours on end without any rest in order to "wear them down". Another technique is to make the suspect believe you know more than you really do.

Military prisoners have always been subjected to various forms of "psychological conditioning" also. Some of it borders on torture and some of it is outright torture. Other methods - such as sleep deprivation - are not torturous, per se, though it is unpleasant for the prisoner in question.

A certain level of "conditioning" is to be expected in any military interrogation, but the events at Abu Gharib obviously went FAR beyond what the superiors would most likely have ordered the guards to do. Then again, that is how superiors escape prosecution. They can give a general order to "soften the prisoner up", then claim they never meant for specific events to occur.

I personally can't imagine that the Iraqi prisoners would have been successfully "softened up" by any of the "normal" methods. Thier hatred for the U.S. is almost inbred and is cultured their entire lives. Being "mean" to them is only going to reinforce this deep-seated hatred and make them more determined NOT to cooperate. Rather, the guards should have broken the mold of what the Iraqi soldiers pictured Americans as being like and shown them unexpected levels of kindness and courteousness.

I'm certainly no military expert, but just on general psychology, it seems that would have been far more effective in getting the prisoners to lower their guard and be more forthcoming with information.

Either way, I'm glad to see steps being taken to prosecute those involved - even though they are most likely nothing more than sacrificial lambs. Still, the world community is looking to us to "do the right thing" and any other verdict would have been unacceptable.