Troops Bomb Ethics Test

U.S. troops in Iraq flunked a survey on battlefield ethics, according to a Pentagon report published yesterday. Of the 1,767 soldiers interviewed, more than one-third endorse torture, two-thirds would not turn in a team member for abusing civilians, and 10% admit to harassing civilians and vandalizing property—all policies that violate the Army's code of ethics.

An official spun the results positively: ""What it speaks to is the leadership that the military is providing, because they're not acting on those thoughts. They're not torturing the people." The study also found that longer deployments contribute to increased mental healht problems, and recommends longer pauses during and between combat tours. (More Iraq stories.)