"Under combat conditions " - though in the case of the American episode, it wasn't "combat conditions", it was "interrogation conditions", and the pictures seem to indicate that those involved felt that what they were doing was in line with what they were expected to be doing.

Which is consistent with stuff in the diary of one of those accused:January 22,2004...I told the battalion commander that I didn't like the way it was going and his reply was 'Don't worry about it. I give you permission to do it'

With the British example in the news, it doesn't appear to have been interrogation, rather a random bunch of squaddies having fun beating up a lad accused of stealing. And maybe the most chilling thing in the report is where it says: One of the soldiers said: "Basically this guy was dying as he couldn't take any more. An officer came down. It was 'Get rid of him - I haven't seen him'. The paperwork gets ripped. So they threw him out, still with a bag on his head."

And elsewhere: "We got a warning, saying the Military Police had found a video of people throwing prisoners off a bridge. It wasn't 'Don't do it' or 'Stop it'. It was 'Get rid of it.' "

The occasional bunch of thugs in uniform is nasty, but predictable. But when it involves officers, and the Military Police, colluding in this kind of thing, it becomes far more significant.

Most soldiers are decent people - but if they are immersed in a military culture which expects and covers up for, and even encourages sadism, what chance do they have to stay that way?