SNIPPET: "Some of the bravest and most distinguished analysts from the Middle East emphasize that region's culture of cruelty." SNIPPET: "That cruelty, usually at a remove from outsiders, became cinematically vivid on April 22, 2009, when ABC News aired a tape of a prince from the United Arab Emirates sadistically torturing an Afghan merchant he accused of dishonesty. No less instructive were the passive reactions of his government and of American officials. The story reveals much and is worth pondering:"