What idiot at New York Times wrote this headline:

Report Discredits F.B.I. Claims of Abuse at Guant?namo Bay

First of all, the report in question didn’t “discredit” the FBI’s “claims of abuse”- in most cases, it corroborated them. Here’s a summary from USA Today:

?FBI: Twice prisoners were “short-shackled” to the floor in an interrogation room, meaning they were chained in a way that forced them into a fetal position. Military: Substantiated. There were also allegations that detainees were left in this way for long periods and fouled themselves, but investigators said they could not verify this happened.

?FBI: An interrogator had a military policeman place duct tape over a noisy prisoner’s mouth to quiet him. Military: Substantiated.

?FBI: Military interrogators impersonated FBI and State Department agents. Military: Substantiated, but this was an authorized tactic. Interrogators stopped using it at the FBI’s request.

?FBI: Interrogators used excessive heat, cold and noise to make prisoners uncomfortable. They also disrupted their sleep patterns. Military: Substantiated, but authorized tactic.

?FBI: Interrogators used dogs to threaten detainees. Military: Substantiated but authorized tactic with at least one detainee.

?FBI: Female interrogators used “gender coercion” techniques to make male Muslims uncomfortable. In one case, an interrogator rubbed perfume on a detainee; in another, an interrogator rubbed against a prisoner’s back. In another, an interrogator rubbed fake menstrual blood on a detainee. Military: Substantiated, and these were, in general, authorized tactics. In the back-rubbing case, the interrogator’s supervisor was admonished. In the blood case, the interrogator herself was disciplined. She said she was getting back at the detainee, who had just spit on her. Another allegation, that an interrogator gave a detainee a lap dance, was not substantiated by military investigators.

?FBI: Military personnel interfered with FBI interrogations. Military: Unsubstantiated.

?FBI: Military interrogators denied food and water to prisoners. Military: Unsubstantiated.

So the only allegation of abuse that the report found “unsubstantiated” was that prisoners were being denied food and water. Reports that prisoners were chained to the floor until they crapped themselves “could not be verified,” but were not explicitly denied. Do the FBI’s allegations sound “discredited” to you?

What’s more, Bloomberg News directly quotes the Schmidt report as citing instances of “degrading and abusive treatment.” The fact that the report found “abusive treatment” at Gitmo kinda contradicts the idea that the report “discredited” allegations of abuse, don’t you think?