The New Yorker poses a possible explanation for the seemingly anomalous numbers I commented on yesterday - the extraordinary number of pictures and videotapes of the abuse of Iraqi prisoners, as compared to the number of people charged with offenses:
The government consultant [and former senior intelligence official interviewed for the article] said that there may have been a serious goal, in the beginning, behind the sexual humiliation and the posed photographs. It was thought that some prisoners would do anything—including spying on their associates—to avoid dissemination of the shameful photos to family and friends. The government consultant said, "I was told that the purpose of the photographs was to create an army of informants, people you could insert back in the population." The idea was that they would be motivated by fear of exposure, and gather information about pending insurgency action, the consultant said.Granted, an unnamed informant.
It's a pretty old trick (so to speak), so I wouldn't be at all surprised. It's also likely that the cameras got passed around by more than one person--not everybody would have a nice new digital camera. "Yo, Joe, can I borrow yours?"
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