New President, new Congress, new policy, new rules, new Joint Chiefs, new chairman of the Joint Chiefs.
Same old torture. Same old coverup.

Six months in, this new administration looks a lot like the old, at least when viewed in the spotlights.

In a July 10 memo, Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, wrote the service chiefs and the U.S. combatant commanders around the world that mistreatment of detainees would have a continued and lasting negative effect on the image of U.S. forces.

"Despite our best efforts, a misguided and misled few have managed to tarnish that reputation and breach the very trust we have worked so hard to earn. I am appalled by even the suggestion that someone in an American uniform would behave in such a way," he wrote in the memo. CNN obtained the memo, which was classified as "sensitive."

In May, President Obama ordered that the photos not be publicly released after commanders said the release could put deployed U.S. troops into harm's way by elements seeking retribution.

"We are better than what I saw in those pictures. We must prove it," Mullen said.

The memo was carefully written not to use the word "abuse" referring to what the photos showed, according to a Pentagon official.

Neither official would be identified because they were not authorized to speak on the record.

Admiral Mullen, sir, with all due respect, in an asymmetrical engagement you're not going to find pressed uniforms and battle decorations on the opposition. You identify them as the opposition by their behavior, not their appearance.

The photos Mullen viewed are among thousands now at the heart of an ACLU lawsuit against the administration. President Obama ordered the photos not be released after commanders, including Gen. Ray Odierno, argued that their release could jeopardize the lives of American soldiers serving in Iraq and elsewhere.

And last month, the Senate quietly passed a ban on the release of any detainee abuse photos, preventing Obama from signing an executive order classifying the photos, a move that would have surely inflamed the left after his campaign promises for more "sunlight" in Washington.

Shortly after Obama's May 13 decision not to release the photos, Mullen was shown the first batch of these classified pictures. A few weeks later he was shown another batch. This was a couple weeks prior to a meeting of combatant commanders at the Pentagon.

Aides say Mullen "stewed on it for a little while" and eventually decided to put something in writing to the commanders.

The people in the care, custody and control of the US are POWs. The people interrogated with those methods on those battlefields by US GIs are POWs.

According to a description of the photos, Mullen saw badly beaten detainees and in some cases detainees who had been killed.

What he saw in the photos included signs of "heavy handed physical abuse, beating."

"Some were horrific. He was disgusted by what he saw," a Mullen spokesman said.

Unlike the now infamous photos from Abu Ghraib prison, all these photos were taken during battlefield interrogations before imprisonment. In the memo, Mullen demands his forces be trained so they understand this kind of thing should never happen again.

Calling them "detainees" is disingenuous and lawyerly at the least. As a former enlisted member of the US Air Force, I consider it essentially dishonest. I know it's the style established by the former administration -- but so is ignoring the Geneva Conventions, lying wholesale, abdicating your oath to support and defend our Constitution from all enemies foreign and domestic, and using your office to enrich yourself and your cronies.

Plus we now have a young American in the hands of the Taleban.

At least Admiral Mullen understands you train troops not to torture.

July 10, 2009

Subject: Treatment of Detainees

Classification: SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED

Gentlemen,

I am writing to solicit your support in redoubling our efforts to ensure the proper treatment of detainees.

AS you know, the President opposed the release of photographs depicting a number of unrelated events of mistreatment -- some alleged, some proven. Having seen many of these images, I share his view that public release would only place at higher risk the lives of our servicemen and women in Iraq and Afghanistan, indeed, around the world. And I am grateful for his support in keeping them from the eyes of our enemies.

That the images themselves do not represent the behavior or the values of the great majority of our armed forces goes without saying. You know as I that we lead the finest, most talented and combat-capable troops our nation has ever fielded. They are magnificent, as are their families. This is an irrefutable fact. It's also not the point.

Somehow, despite our best efforts, a misguided and misled few have managed to tarnish that reputation and breach the very trust we have worked so hard to earn. Though I am relieved the visual proof of this misconduct will not serve to inspire future attacks, I am appalled by even the suggestion that someone in an American uniform would behave in such a way.

We haven't all absorbed or applied all the lessons of Abu Ghraib.

We must view this, first and foremost, as a leadership issue. We need officers not NCOs -- at every level -- to understand the full scope of their responsibilities under the law of war and to hold themselves accountable to the highest standards of ethical conduct. The stress of combat, however real, is a poor excuse for casting aside our values.

For Combatant Commander, I ask you to underscore with your subordinate commanders the need to recommit themselves to exercising due diligence in every regard and to ensure adherence to all the dictates of established doctrine, existing regulations and the Army Field Manual -- both at point of capture and in detention facilities.

For Service Chiefs, I ask you to review the training, doctrine and other processes employed for the purpose of instilling and maintaining good order, discipline, and morale. I also ask that you focus specifically on the preparation and training used for units deploying to US Central Command -- with a strong emphasis on detainee treatment.

The message to our people must be clear: the mistreatment of detainees in any way will not be tolerated under any circumstances. It is essential to who we are as a fighting force that we get this right. We are better than what I saw in those pictures. We must prove it.

Please report back with your concerns, suggestions, and actions completed.

All the best, Mike

His reminder to the officer corps, the commanders, is on point, IMO. I'd urge you to follow through on this not just with your Naval (and Marine) officers and personnel, but with the Service secretaries and the Armed Forces Committees.

The negative impact on the image of the servicemembers isn't the real harm done, but the first step in undoing that harm is to stop torture by US troops, now and forever. Investigate the commanders who let or encouraged their troops to commit war crimes, and yes, charge them as appropriate -- start with what the UCMJ can do, and let the example you set of honorable behavior shame the politicians into investigating, indicting, prosecuting -- and if convicted, punishing -- those like draft-dodger Cheney and deserter Bush, Addington, Yoo, and Gonzales whose civilian status insulates them, now, from simple justice. Courts-martialing the handful of enlisted personnel identified from the Abu Ghraib photos and calling the problem solved is like saying you can fix battlefield amputations with a bandaid.