Senate Armed Services Committee Report on the Treatment of Detainees

The Senate Armed Services Committee Report on the Treatment of Detainees did not come out until 2008; five years after the abuses at Abu Ghraib occurred. The report was assembled by the Armed Services Committee, which held an eighteen month investigation of Abu Ghraib and those involved who promoted the abuse. This Senate committee has legislative oversight and is a powerhouse itself. Carl Levin, democratic senator from Michigan, headed the inquiry.

One particular discovery made during the investigations was the use of SERE techniques. SERE stands for Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape. It was a training series for US soldiers to undergo in case they were captured by an enemy and became prisoners of war (POW). It is interesting to note that there was a psychologist present during the trainings for US soldiers who might take the form of teaching to a psychological internal level.  

"During SERE training, U.S. troops --- in a controlled environment with great protections and caution --- are exposed to harsh techniques such as stress positions, forced nudity, use of fear, sleep deprivation, and until recently, the waterboard. The SERE techniques were never intended to be used against detainees in U.S. custody.” 

SERE was first used by US interrogators at Guantanamo where prisoners, who were suspected of terroristic acts,  were subjected to SERE procedures. These interrogative techniques were cruel according to General Alberto Mora and needed to cease immediately. He thought they had but Rumsfeld secretly sent memos and promoted SERE usage on suspected terrorists, although the report states that other divisions in the military clearly had concerns with this measure and were concerned that it would violate the Uniform Code of Military Justice. 

Rumsfeld and Miller were actually the ones to promote SERE procedures to be used on Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib. Cheney, Bush, and Sanchez tooted the use of more useful interrogation techniques, even going as far, as to call the Geneva Convention “quaint”. However, Levin found out from a senior intelligence officer in Afghanistan that such procedures are counterproductive and do not produce more information, but less. Because al Qaeda has been told to expect torture, they are more apt at not revealing pertinent intel. The abuse which occurred at Abu Ghraib angered fellow Islamists and numbers in the taliban increased to fight the Americans.