“…the Army Surgeon General’s office, in a survey of the mental health and ethical outlook of soldiers and Marines in Iraq conducted the following year [November 17, 2006], found that one-third of its 1,767 respondents believed torture should be allowed if it helped gather important information about insurgents, and even more said they approved of such legal abuse if they believed it would help save the life of a comrade. Also, about two-thirds of Marines and half the Army troops surveyed said they would not report a team member for mistreating a civilian or for destroying civilian property unnecessarily. Ten percent said they personally had mistreated non-combatants. ‘Less than half of soldiers and Marines believed that non-combatants should be treated with dignity and respect,’ the report stated.”
– Thomas E. Ricks, The Gamble, Pages 7-8