The War On Language

Nicely put in a very useful longer analysis by Marty Lederman:

The Schmidt Summary explains in great detail that certain interrogation techniques approved and employed at GTMO—particularly those used on Mohammed al-Qahtani, which I've previously described, were "abusive" and "degrading," and further reveals that the interrogation of another "high-value" detainee included unlawful threats against the lives of the detainee and his family. And yet then the Report somehow, and without any explanation whatsoever, concludes that all treatment at GTMO was "humane"—indeed, that the investigators found "no evidence" of any "inhumane treatment" at Guantanamo!

Abusive and degrading . . . yet humane. Speaks volumes, doesn't it?

Lederman goes on to note that Schmidt classifies the Guantanamo techniques as within standard military practice even for legitimate POWs. Which means---wait for it---that abusive and degrading treatment is just swell even for prisoners whose Geneva-protected status is not in doubt.