The Senate Armed Services Committee Report on Treating of Detainees in December 2008

The leaders of the Senate Armed Services Committee released a report about the abuse committed by American troops and included Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay along with other military centers. In the report blame was placed heavily on Donald Rumsfeld for the abuse. In "Report Blames Rumsfeld for Detainee Abuse" Senator Carl Levin and Senator John McCain "explicitly rejects the Bush administration's contention the tough interrogation methods have helped keep the country and its troops safe." Donald Rumsfeld was accused of knowing what was going on and reiterates, as other reports do, that there was no way the soldiers at Abu Ghraib were acting alone. The report goes on to state how the MPs were following top officials' messages of the pressures and techniques they were using were appropriate. One of the main opponents of the harsh interrogation was Senator John McCain, who himself was a prisoner of war in North Vietnam.

What is SERE? - Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape
SERE was designed as a program and training techniques for soldiers to "resist interrogation by enemies that refuse to follow the Geneva Conventions and international law."- Senate Armed Services Committee Report on Treatment of Detainees.  During these trainings the U.S. troops would be in controlled environments but exposed to things such as: stress positions, forced nudity, use of fear, sleep deprivation, etc... These would later be the same techniques used at Abu Ghraib. The SERE techniques were put into place but never meant to be used against detainees in U.S. custody.  The report also point out that the abuse that went on in these facilitates could not have "chalked up to the actions of a few bad apples. Attempts by senior officials to pass the buck to low ranking soldiers while avoiding any responsibility for abuses are unconscionable.