But it is just abuse. The soldiers only abuse the prisoners and then hand them over to the "civilian contractors" who do the real torturing. It's in the Torturers' Union contract with the government that the soldiers aren't allowed to do any of the torturing, only abusing. It's right after the clause that says that they can't be tried in a U.S. military court because they're civilians, but they can't be tried in U.S. civilian courts because they're in Iraq, and they can't be tried in Iraqui courts because they're Americans.   

It's similar to the rule that says the detainees at Guantanamo Bay have no rights under U.S. law because they're in Cuba and they have no rights under Cuban law because the U'S. doesn't recognize Cuban law. And they have no rights as prisoners of war because the entity for which they were fighting is not a state and, hence, not a signatory of the Geneva Convention.

Franz Kafka would have no shortage of book ideas if he were alive today.