Why didn’t the press ask tough questions? Because the press is completely lacking in critical thinking skills. And the fact that reporters probably didn’t actually read the whole report. And because the press isn’t trained in the methodology of such reports, and wouldn’t know what to look for.
This evidence is weak, for the reason NB gave above. Without a reasonable baseline, it’s impossible to tell where these injuries came from or when. And since many of these guys had spent time incarcerated by regimes we know practice torture, we can’t differentiate. At all.
And there’s probably nothing that can be done to remedy this. Medical records are spotty, and as has been pointed out, the alleged victims don’t have any incentive to provide such information.
I’m all for holding people accountable if abuses happened (and I’m pretty sure they did). But there is a certain level of evidence that is necessary before you can make broad allegations. The accusation that the US has broadly used torture as policy in the GWOT remains unsubstantiated. So far, it seems most of the men leaving custody are in better physical shape than when they entered custody. If these are the best examples that administration critics can come up with, it seems that the military is doing their job at least adequately.
