January 12, 2006-(responding to charges of abuse at the U.S. base in Cuba) “What took place at Guantánamo is a matter of public record today, and the investigations turned up nothing that suggested that there was any policy in the department other than humane treatment.”-Rumsfeld (O)

January 19, 2006- Scott McClellan, was asked about a Human Rights Watch report that the Administration had made a “deliberate policy choice” to abuse detainees. He answered that the organization had hurt its credibility by making unfounded accusations. (O)

February 2006-The United Nations Human Rights Commission called for the U.S. to shut down the detention center at Guantánamo, where,it said, some practices “must be assessed as amounting to torture.” The U.N. report, which the White House dismissed, described “the confusion with regard to authorized and unauthorized interrogation techniques” as “particularly alarming.” (O)

July 2006-Human Rights Watch issues “a fifty-three-page report on the “serious mistreatment” of detainees at Camp Nama and two other sites, largely based on witness accounts from Special Forces interrogators and others who served there.” (Q)

June 2006-The Supreme Court rules that Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions applies to all American detainees.” (AA)

November 2006-“Congress passes the Military Commissions Act, which makes illegal several broadly defined abuses of detainees, while leaving it to the president to establish specific permissible interrogation techniques.” (AA)

January 2007-In January 2006, Taguba is told to retire in January, 2007, after thirty-four years of active service (Q)

May 2007-“Our values and the laws governing warfare teach us to respect human dignity, maintain our integrity, and do what is right. Adherence to our values distinguishes us from our enemy. This fight depends on securing the population, which must understand that we - not our enemies - occupy the moral high ground.”-General David Patreus, Letter to Troops (DD)

July 2007-“Mr. Bush signs an order that allows the CIA to use some interrogation methods banned for the military interrogations but that the Justice Department has determined do not violate the Geneva strictures.” (AA)

October 4, 2007-NYT publishes “Secret U.S. Endorsement of Severe Interrogations” (AA)

White House response: “This country does not torture. It is a policy of the United States that we do not torture and we do not.”-Dana Perino, WH spokesperson. “But she did confirm the existence of the key memo in the Time’s report” (The Lede, NYT)

February 5, 2008- “CIA Director General Michael Hayden stated in public testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee on February 5, 2008 that waterboarding was used by the CIA.” (DD)

February 14, 2008- “Steven Bradbury, the current Assistant Attorney General of the OLC, testified before the House Judiciary Committee on February 14, 2008 that the CIA’s use of waterboarding was “adapted from the SERE training program.” (DD)

May 13, 2008-“ Pentagon announced in a written statement that the Convening Authority for military commissions “dismissed without prejudice the sworn charges against Mohamed al Khatani.” The statement does not indicate the role his treatment may have played in that decision.” (DD)

September 2008-“in testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Colonel Steven Kleinman, an Air Force Reservist who was a member of the interrogation support team sent by JPRA to the Special Mission Unit Task Force in Iraq [see September 2003], described abusive interrogations he witnessed, and intervened to stop, during that trip. [Details in report] (DD)

December 11, 2008-Senate Armed Services Committee publishes Inquiry into the Treatment of Detainees in US Custody (DD)

**********************

(O)The Memo, by Jane Mayer

http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?060227fa_fact

(W) Torture’s Paper Trail-Joann Mariner, 10/10/2007

http://writ.lp.findlaw.com/mariner/20071010.html

(Q) The General’s Report, by Seymour M. Hersh

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/06/25/070625fa_fact_hersh?printable=true

(Y) When will Fredo get Whacked? Frank Rich, March 25, 2007

http://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=F70A14F63E540C768EDDAA0894DF404482

(AA) Secret U.S. Endorsement of Severe Interrogations NYT, 10/4/2007

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/04/washington/04interrogate.html?hp=&pagewanted=print

(DD) Senate Armed Services Committee Inquiry into the Treatment of Detainees in US Custody

http://media.mcclatchydc.com/smedia/2008/12/11/14/EXEC-SUMMARY-CONCLUSIONs.source.prod_affiliate.91.pdf

I won't be around for a couple of hours. If there are any corrections/additions please let me know. I am already planning on adding the "Tapes Timeline" Jim White linked to at his signature.

and you're quite welcome.