In case there was any lingering doubt.

From the Human Rights Watch synopsis of its 2006 report:

"In his introductory essay to the World Report, Roth writes that it became clear in 2005 that U.S. mistreatment of detainees could not be reduced to a failure of training, discipline or oversight, or reduced to “a few bad apples,” but reflected a deliberate policy choice embraced by the top leadership.

Evidence of that deliberate policy included the threat by President George W. Bush to veto a bill opposing “cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment,” Roth writes, and Vice President Dick Cheney’s attempt to exempt the Central Intelligence Agency from the law. In addition, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales claimed that the United States can mistreat detainees so long as they are non-Americans held abroad, while CIA Director Porter Goss asserted that “waterboarding,” a torture method dating back to the Spanish Inquisition, was simply a “professional interrogation technique.”

“Responsibility for the use of torture and mistreatment can no longer credibly be passed off to misadventures by low-ranking soldiers on the nightshift,” said Roth. “The Bush administration must appoint a special prosecutor to examine these abuses, and Congress should set up an independent, bipartisan panel to investigate.”

Indeed. But of course, they won't. This White House and GOP controlled Congress will never thoroughly investigate their own.

And for those contrarians tempted to write this off as political accusation, remember that this administration has QUOTED Human Rights Watch's statements against nations that committed human rights abuse- when it served their purposes to do so. When HRW (much like Amnesty International a few months ago) attacks us, though, it becomes partisan lies. Of course.

Fuckers. God, what bullshit.

See also:
HRW Website
New York Times Article