I haven't read the entire thread yet, but there may well be a very simple explanation for why the prisoners preferred American guards. Keep in mind that the scandal there broke in April '04, but the Americans were still running the prison till August '06. That's a two year gap with a veritable Eye of Sauron gazing pretty steadily at the place.

My guess would be that the U.S. Army was veeerrrryyy careful in that intervening time how they treated the prisoners there...another horror story coming out of the same location on the U.S. watch would be an unstoppable public relations disaster.

So I would think that in actuality yes, the prisoners at Abu Ghraib under the Americans between 04 and 06 were probably MUCH better treated than they are currently under the Iraqis, if for no other reason than political expediency.