Steven Shaviro writes a compelling version the plight of Lynndie England. Undoubtedly, it is possible that the crimes that have been uncovered are the acts of individuals acting outside the chain of command. However, it is certainly plausible that these acts of humiliation and torture were encouraged and facilitated by the military if not directly ordered. Figuring this out will be much more difficult than laying the blame for this sensational crime on individual soldiers.

Like the rest of us, I could only speculate on specific facts behind this incident. However, I can understand how U.S. state-sponsored torture would fit into the “logic” and rhetoric that governs our administration. That is, there exists a clear message of the end justifying the means and an unswerving, unquestioning faith in the administration’s own sense of righteousness and patriotism. Torturing prisoners in Iraq is just as logical as abridging civil rights at home: both are unsavory, “regrettable” necessities, but both are justified by the righteousness of the cause.

Nominally, the cause is “justice,” which, in this case, is synonymous with freedom. How can justice be served by injustice? freedom by incarceration? Justice is injustice. The question we need to ask is not the Platonic, philosophical one, “what is a just war?” The question is not whether our invasion of Iraq can be judged as “just” or not. We need to recognize instead that justice is torture.