Horrific new images of abuse at Abu Ghraib have been released by an expert witness in the trial of one of the guards involved, but even more disturbing is his claim that we are all capable of such torture.
A grisly slideshow of the new photographs, alongside previously released images, was put together by the psychologist Philip Zimbardo.
The slideshow has been published by Wired alongside a chilling interview with Zimbardo (warning: you may find the images disturbing).
He was an expert witness in the defence of Sergeant Chip Frederick, one of the most senior guards charged with torturing Iraqi prisoners.
In 1971 Zimbardo conducted a notorious psychological experiment about ordinary people's capacity for cruelty. The Standford prison study had to be stopped because of the levels of abuse that volunteers, acting as guards, began to mete out against volunteers acting as prisoners.
Zimbardo tells Wired that the guards in Abu Ghraib were under the same kind of extreme pressure. He says:
"The situational forces that were going on in [Abu Ghraib] - the dehumanisation, the lack of personal accountability, the lack of surveillance, the permission to get away with antisocial actions - it was like the Stanford prison study, but in spades."
Dylan Tweney, a senior editor at Wired, says it was one of the most difficult pieces he has edited.
He says he doesn't recommend looking at the images, but the interview is a must for its "insight into just how badly people can behave".
