A recent gallup poll came to a predictable conclusion:

In the Gallup poll, 8 in 10 respondents said they believed the actions of the soldiers violated United States military policy, while fewer than 2 in 10 said it was accepted policy. More than half, 56 percent of those polled, said the soldiers involved in the abusive acts were acting on their own rather than complying with orders. Thirty-four percent said the soldiers were following orders.

Gallup was obviously not asking the right questions. I would count myself amoung the majority of people who say the actions violated official military policy. I also think the soldiers were not following any direct orders. So according to Gallup, I think the soldiers charged must be the only ones to blame, right?

No. The soldiers were not following direct orders, but they were acting with explicit encouragement from their bosses at the prison and military intelligence. “It would be good if this guy had a rough night, ok?” is not a direct order, it's a hint. Wink, wink. Nudge, nudge.

The soldiers being charged have also reported being told, “You did a good job with this guy last night. He broke down right away this morning.“ If that's not explicit encouragement, I don't know what is.

Do I think torture is against official military policy? Of course it is. The fact that these six or eight U.S. soldiers are being charged with crimes under the uniform code of justice proves that. But that doesn't mean torture wasn't tolerated by high-level military officials at the prison or elsewhere. It's just like speedng, everybody does it but it's still illegal if you get caught.

It's the job of pollsters to ask questions, I know. But then they (and the media) jump to conclusions as if there could be no other explanation. The most likely explanation of this case (the people in care of the interrogations directed the soldiers to make things rough for the prisoners) is still supported by the poll. It wasn't just an isolated case, or a few bad apples.