Originally Posted by andygrif

Without wishing to in any way defend the mis-treatment of prisoners - I would think that there is a fine line between abuse and investigation.

Although this douesn't appear to be the work of military inteligence (if that's not a contradiction in terms) during conflict, sometimes you need to find out answers. And sometimes you don't get answers just by asking someone a question.

That doesn't give carte blanche to anyone who feels like abusing a prisoner, but I think we don't yet know the full story enough to comment properly.