an icepick through the keyhole

The roots, however, of this are cultural, and structural, and are built into the American psychological landscape.

To be fair, this kind of behavior is hardly limited to Americans or the cultural aspects of Americans. This, my friend, is human nature. The fact that we're (collectively) appalled that this went on is a sign that the American psychological landscape is trying its best to overcome that human nature. I'm glad that the vast majority is shocked by this, as it is a sign that such behavior is not considered normal or acceptable and it is in fact shocking. I have no doubt that such horrific treatment of prisoners (or war and otherwise) goes on daily all over the world, but the fact that Americans do it shocks the majority of the American public does give me hope that we're either A) really trying to overcome the aspects of human nature that let us dehumanize prisoners or B) naive to a fault. Call me an optimist but I believe option A is the majority here; sure there's option B types but I think us As are in the lead.