An Acrobatically Deceptive SpIn

To my ear, this whole article from the NYT gives the overall impression of a clean slate for higher ups at Abu Ghraib.
At Abuse Hearing, No Testimony That G.I.’s Acted on Orders NYT 8/06/04
“Witnesses…,have described…[p]risoners were left naked for long periods as punishment and were at least occasionally abused, in one case leading to a death from what investigators called trauma to the head….
“Yet no one has said there were direct orders to carry out the treatment seen in photos….”
Get the distinction? Yes, blatantly criminal abuse was command-authorized and accepted as routine, but not the criminal abuse in the pictures.