re: Some differences
This story was known to the press after the defense minister took action against the general who tried to cover it up.
In the US, the press got hold of the torture scandals before Rumsfeld could do anything about it.
Alliot-Marie didn't try to cover anything up, Rumsfeld did.
France is in the Ivory Coast under a UN mandate and there were threats against western communities as well (americans too) as a war that could spread to other countries .
Not so in Iraq.