The whole world has seen the photos of American soldiers torturing Iraqi prisoners. The photographs were first shown on 60 MINUTES, then published in the New Yorker and later became available on the Internet. There are hundreds of them – pictures of soldiers riding camels, a female soldier holding a short leash wrapped around the neck of a naked prisoner; a smiling soldier in front of a mosque and a smiling soldier standing over the withered body of an Iraqi man.

The world expressed its outrage. President Bush apologized to the Arab nations and expressed his dissatisfaction with the work of U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. The critique expressed by media, various organizations and individuals focuses on the decision made by the Bush Administration after Sept. 11 to “create a new class of prisoners,” who aren’t covered by the Geneva Convention. Arguments over whether that decision was right or wrong are pointless. No matter which side you are on, prisoners should be treated humanely, with respect for their basic human rights.

Some say that the photos represent only a few sporadic cases, or that they were fabricated, which is possible with today’s technology. Once again, there is no reason to further analyze these disagreements.

However, it’s important to notice a strange quality of human behavior – the desire to immortalize the horrendous. Pictures of smiling Nazi soldiers in the presence of the tortured and humiliated come to mind. (This analogy pertains to the similar human behaviors and not the governing systems. We do not suggest even the slightest similarity or analogy here, even though those analogies are popular among anti-American activists.)

Thanks to the U.S. Army’s control over the Iraqi prisoners, many appalling abnormalities were exposed. The self-regulating democratic system of the United States seems trustworthy. The built-in system of checks and balances makes it impossible for misdeeds to go unnoticed for a long time and therefore makes it superior to others. In totalitarian systems, this type of regulation does not exist and ordered murders often stay unreported. But the strange inclination of humans to immortalize their brutal deeds as if the cruelty they are witnessing or causing directly was something to be proud of, a moment worth of remembrance; not something to be ashamed of and forgotten as soon as possible.

It’s often the case that those who commit crimes are actually very decent people in everyday life, caring and compassionate. It’s still hard to accept the defense that the photographed female soldier was a nice and delicate woman. However, war makes people display their worst characteristics, which under normal circumstances might never surface. Let’s not ask, “How could they do this?” We don’t know what’s inside of ourselves. Despite civilization and the morals we have been taught, it’s hard to trust human nature. We need a democratic system of control. It would be much harder without it.