Crime and punishment

EVERYONE knows that even the most civilised countries sometimes break the rules in the stress of battle. But few people, at least in the West, had suspected that things were this bad. All around the world, people have been reacting with horror to revelations of American, and possibly also British, troops subjecting Iraqi civilian detainees to such cruel and inhumane practices that some have died. In Arab countries, the outrage, and mistrust of America, have rarely been greater.