Blame for Prisoner Abuses

The more I hear from some of my West Point classmates who have knowledge of the abuses at Abu Gharib, the more I am convinced that the unit had terrible leadership and that the majority of blame rests with Karpinski and a select number of her subordinate officers and NCOs. The consensus seems to be that the leaders either knew about the abuses and failed to stop them, or they should have known. I have yet to hear a compelling story that this was a "conspiricy" concocted at the high levels of govt., despite the left's wish for such an outcome.