A scandal that won't go away

Abu Ghraib simply won't go away. Now new footage of torture there has been broadcast in Australia.

The BBC reported that:

A spokesman for the US defence department told the BBC News website: "The abuses that occurred were tragic and damaged our country's image.
"However, the images portrayed were not part of a legal, authorised interrogation process, but were taken as part of isolated, unauthorised incidents."

And, of course, no major figure has been legally implicated. But who believes that uniformed thugs like Charles Graner and Lynndie England acted as they did without the endorsement of higher-ups? In what way is the US superior to Saddam Hussein?