But when State Department officials saw a draft of the manual earlier this year, they raised reservations about the classified list. They expressed concern that even if the techniques were humane and lawful, some advocacy groups and other countries would assume the worst and insist that by maintaining a secret list, the United States must be allowing torture.
The revision of the Army manual began after an international outcry over the Abu Ghraib scandal, as well as questions over the treatment of hundreds of detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The new language is plain and easily understood -- "designed to be used by soldiers," the military official said.
Military officials say the new manual tries to address the lessons investigators have drawn from Abu Ghraib, including rebuilding the wall between soldiers assigned to interrogate detainees and those who run the prison. Some of the abuses at Abu Ghraib began after officers who had worked at Guantanamo were brought to Iraq and recommended using military police to "set the conditions" for interrogators. Musa, the lawyer for Amnesty International, said the Bush administration had created confusion in the military by establishing different standards of treatment for Guantanamo Bay, Afghanistan and Iraq.
"There was confusion," Musa said. "There needs to be a clear message to soldiers about what is acceptable and what is not."
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julian.barnes@latimes.com
