More fallout from Abu Ghraib

Ana Veciana Suarez writes, in the Miami Herald:

Years and years ago, when other kinds of troops fought for the feminization of the armed forces, they probably never expected something like this. Back then, the public concern was whether our girls would be able to cut it. Too nice, too soft, too civilizing, some said. How would they behave in the trenches?

Well, now we know. As these soldiers have become the poster girls for the Iraqi prisoner scandal, we realize we had it all wrong. Women can be just as cruel as the next guy. All it takes is a war, inadequate training, poor supervision, dehumanizing conditions and the hardening of hearts.

Yet, while acts committed by women are no less — or more — heinous than those by men, our reactions, molded by years of acculturation, tend to differ when we see a woman in the role of tormentor. We're shocked. Appalled as much by the actions as by who has been recorded on film giving a thumbs up signal. How could she? we ask. We want to believe that women, of all people, should know better.