Just Following Orders

Yesterday, Specialist Charles A. Graner, Jr. was sentenced to 10 years for being the "ringleader" of the Abu Ghraib abuses as the NYTimes and presumably many other sources reported. His defense was that he was following orders. I had hoped that his trial would have been the opportunity to investigate this thing up the chain of command. After all, I think he might have expected a reduced sentence if his defense team could have produced evidence that he acted on orders or was encouraged in any way. It was reported that he said that one of his superiors gave him the "advice" that he should do what "military intelligence" told him to do. However, other than that, the coverage I've heard over the last few days (though I've paid attention only NPR, NYTimes, & LATimes) have not described even any new evidence or allegations that have come about as a result of this trial nor have any of the media sources commented on any failure of the defense to produce such evidence.