Keep your mouth shut!

The photos from Abu Ghraib prompted, among many other responses, many of us to ask how such a thing could have happened. It is natural to hope that an inherent sense of humanity would have caused someone to question those sorts of actions. Of course, Stanley Milgram's disturbing results show that in situations with high levels of uncertainty, people will behave in an unconscionable manner when directed to do so by an authority figure.

As unsettling as Milgram's results are, they are mediated somewhat by the fact that a small percentage of people end up questioning authority and refusing to go along. It would be nice to think that such behavior would be encouraged. But, the real world isn't a nice place. And, as the story of Captain James Yee shows, often when you question authority, the authorities try to destroy you. Thus, are the atrocities of Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo are perpetuated.