Selective indignation

But did the Interior Ministry extract any useful intel?

Iraqi and U.S. officials disclosed Tuesday that more than 170 malnourished Iraqi detainees had been found in a weekend raid at an Interior Ministry detention center and that some appeared to have been tortured.

U.S. and Iraqi forces discovered the inmates when they went into the facility suspecting that individuals there may have been mistreated, the Pentagon said.

In Washington, State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said the administration found the reports troubling.

"We don't practice torture. And we don't believe that others should practice torture," he said.

"So when there are cases of people being accused of torture, we take that seriously; we view it with concern. And we think that there should be an investigation and those who are responsible should be held accountable."

The State Department's view, of course, depends on who is being accused.