Republicans Anonymous

Well, now we see why the Bush Administration fought so long and hard to deny the Guantanamo prisoners their day in court. The ACLU caught them (quite literally) red handed. The BBC has this:

Memos between FBI officials detailing abuses, some dated after the Abu Ghraib jail scandal, were released as part of a lawsuit against the government.

Others allege serious abuse of inmates held at the Guantanamo Bay naval base, mostly captives from the Afghan war.
...
Another document said an executive order signed by President George W Bush had authorised techniques such as "sleep management", stress positions, use of military dogs and sensory deprivation.

The White House was quick to respond to this allegation, saying: "What the FBI agent wrote in the e-mail is wrong. There is no executive order on interrogation techniques."
...
Other allegations contained in the e-mails include:

* That military interrogators impersonated FBI agents, apparently to avoid possible blame in subsequent inquiries

* That this method was approved by Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz

* The rape of a juvenile male detainee at Abu Ghraib prison, currently under investigation

* That one Guantanamo detainee was wrapped in an Israeli flag and bombarded with loud music in an apparent attempt to soften his resistance to interrogation.

The Pentagon has not commented on the latest allegations of abuse, but spokesman Bryan Whitman denied that Mr Wolfowitz had approved impersonation techniques.

It will be interesting to see how this affects the federal courts deciding upon the constitutionality of the infamous "military commissions" for trying "enemy combatants."