Some views on why they took pictures.

Since the beginning of the Abu Ghraib scandal, I've been mystified by why the abusers were taking photos. First, it's creating evidence that could come back and bite you. Second, I don't see how they could be useful in interrogating prisoners when the identity of those being photographed is obscured.

This article (requires registration) tries to figure it out, but ultimately it can't. There does seem to be a compulsion to document one's own depravity. I saw the evidence in a case where a rapist wrote a confession in ink on the buttock of the victim and signed it. Maybe it's part of the thrill of violating taboos. When people throw off moral restraints, they sometimes do it extravagantly, giving themselves up to every wild imagination. I don't know if this is what happened at Abu Ghraib, but the GIs in the photos certainly don't look as if they're participating against their wills.