Implausible deniability

–“The No. 2 general at the Pentagon indicated that interrogation techniques used in Iraq violated the Geneva Conventions and said he did not know who had approved them.
“Marine Gen. Peter Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he was unaware of any U.S. military guidelines for interrogating prisoners that would have allowed them to be put in stressful positions,… ”
(Article Emphasis added)
This zeroes right in on Rumsfeld, as criminally liable.
–“Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on Wednesday had defended the military interrogation techniques used in Iraq, rejecting complaints that they violate international rules. Rumsfeld said Pentagon lawyers had approved the methods and said they required that prisoners be treated humanely at all times.”
If this is indeed what was promulgated, it is far worse than if they had not mentioned “humane treatment” at all, because it reassures subordinates that the items on the list are “humane.”
–So another consideration in replacing Rumsfeld is they need someone willing to sit on all of this culpable material we know about and no doubt much worse that has not come out–which, among other things, would make them some kind of “accessory after the fact.”