“Terrible things are going to happen to our troops in any case, so there is no signficiant down-side if we do at least some of these things to our own prisoners.”
If people are really satisfied with this argument, in appears likely that nothing I can say (or more to the point, nothing that’s said by members of the US military who also question these tactics) is likely to change their minds.
Do not mistake my comparison for acceptance of torture.
Favorable treatment of most prisoners has served us in good
stead in past wars and the Iraq conflict in particular.
Some prisoners cannot be handled with kid gloves however.
We have been fortunate in that no numbers of Allied troops
have been captured, for beatings and pyramids would be the
least of the horrors inflicted upon infidels. (As we have
already seen with others held captive by the fanatics.)