Oh, but it's an academic listserv. Our foreheads slope a bit less than that of the average American. (joke)
Has anyone considered the possibility that we USians are still in a state of shock? It's true for me, at least. I just don't know what to think. I've been a soldier in Military Intelligence, and my ex-husband was/is an interrogator, so I don't jump to the conclusion that this is common behavior that usually gets covered up--that hasn't been my experience. On the other hand, my experiences in the military are 20 years out of date, and this current administration has set a course that makes behavior like this seem almost inevitable, and possibly tacitly condoned.
Everyone I've talked to about this (I live in Kansas and go to school in Oklahoma) not only condemns it but is somewhat tongue-tied. How does a nation or its soldiery make up for something like this? It's not possible; the damage is probably permanent, and I think Bush and Rumsfeld et al will discover this soon.
How do we citizens assimilate the evidence that our own soldiers have been doing the same thing in that prison that Hussein's people had been doing? Even those of us who never supported the war feel complicit in this, or at least as if those soldiers have abused our trust as much as they've abused those human beings. I know people under stress can do upsetting things. But this seems so calculated and cold.
So. It's not carefully constructed academic prose, but it's some words from an American.