So far I've heard several excuses from the right:
It's a war.
It is similar to college pranks.
It's still better than Saddam Hussein.
They were trying to break the prisoners down.
They weren't trained properly.
They have never seen Geneva Convention documents.
It's not as bad as My Lai.
If anyone tries to pass this off in conversation to you, just shake your head in disgust. These are excuses of people that put their party before human decency and, in some cases, their religion. When will they admit that this is a rogue administration that doesn't know what it is doing?