IAP Political Forum

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Although I am not sure what the link shows (my slow connection prevents videos), I know that this experiment (referred to as “the Perils of Obedience”) is a classic in psychology and demonstrated how easy it is to get “average” folks to commit “sadistic” actions with only a tiny amount of  “authoritative” encouragement.

It has been used as an explanation for why our troops in Iraq were so willing to commit “extreme” actions on those incarcerated at abu ghraib.

One can only assume (and hope) that the folks in charge of US military interrogation were more familiar with Stanly Milgram’s experiment than the 20 year old recruits (that had not graduated from college) that were the (US military tribunal’s) victims of it’s apparent application.

Unfortunatly, The tribunal courts seem to have a lower expectation of the folks in charge than I do. :(

Stanley Milgram tried to ascertain why Germans were so willing to obey authority.