The Schmidt Report on Guantanamo

From the Washington Post:

A military investigation into allegations of abuse at Guantanamo Bay reported this week that a number of specific interrogation tactics -- such as forced nudity and the use of military working dogs -- were employed at Guantanamo Bay to extract information from a high-value detainee. They were considered 'authorized' by the Army field manual and Defense Department guidance and were therefore not considered abusive. Identical tactics were later used at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison by military police officers who were not authorized to employ them.

Let us be clear about what this means. Last year, when the photographs at Abu Ghraib were published, everyone -- everyone -- expressed shock and horror at the treatment depicted in the photographs. This administration, and the entire military, made clear that nothing shown in the Abu Ghraib photographs was authorized treatment of detainees. This was just a few crazy kids on the night shift, people! Nothing to worry about.

One year later, we are told that not only were the things we saw authorized, they're authorized not by some special authority of the commander-in-chief (which would be disturbing enough), but implicitly authorized by the Army Field Manual itself. That is: something that was shocking and unauthorized one year ago today is not shocking, not extraordinary, and has always been authorized. The only problem with Abu Ghraib was that Lynndie England wasn't in Military Intelligence but in Military Police.

Here is how it happens:
1) We never authorized that!
2) Okay, we authorized that in a few specific circumstances for really bad guys, and it was maybe a little bit outside the law, but the President has the authority to do that.
3) That's always been authorized, for everyone and anyone.

So don't tell me we're investigating everything and cleaning it all up. We're investigating, yes. To clean it up, no. We're investigating in order to normalize.

UPDATE: My original post stated that it has been two years since Abu Ghraib was revealed. RJ Keefe helpfully pointed out that it has not actually been two years, but only one year. So I have modified my posting. It only took a year for Abu Ghraib to become always already legal. Yay for us!