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An excerpt from an Army Field Manual

By scribe, Section Diaries
Posted on Mon Aug 16, 2010 at 09:22:07 AM EST
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Back in the day, when today's colonels and generals were still cadets and young lieutenants, they were taught fundamentals of military law.  It was a part of their curriculum.  Cleaning out a house, I came across a copy of their textbook.  For those who say "no one could have ever anticipated" or "this is totally new" or whatever rationalization they might think is the trendy, latest usage to camouflage torture in some sugar-coated "Enhanced interrogation" wrapper, here is the text from the manual from which those high-ranking officers were taught, as pertains to torture (emphasis added):

Humane treatment of noncombatants - The customary law of war and the Geneva Conventions of 1949 establish rules governing treatment of noncombatants, prisoners of war, sick and wounded, and other detained civilians.  These rules are embodied in one general principle - treat all prisoners of war, civilians or other detained personnel, humanely.  A soldier can fulfill his military mission, such as the requirement to search, segregate, silence, speed to the rear and safeguard prisoners of war and detainees and still treat these people in a humane manner.  Many of these people will be victims of war and some of them may be the enemy soldier imself, but once captured, they are all entitled to the same humane treatment.
What does it mean to treat someone humanely?  If a soldier treats such people as he would lke to be treated were he captured or detained, he would be treating them humanely.  Remember that a PW is in the soldier's protective custody, and he cannot harm him.  ... Furthermore, certain acts are and shall remain prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever.  These include - a.  violation to life and person, and, in particular, murder of all kinds, mutiliation, cruel treatment and torture;  b. taking of hostages;  c. outrages upon personal dignity, particularly humiliating and degrading treatment;  d.  the passing of sentences and the carrying out of execution without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples.  

Illegal means of interrogation - Suppose a soldier captures a wounded and hungry enemy soldier who he thinks knows the location of enemy units in the area.  Can he deny him food and medical treatment until he tells the soldier what he wants to know?  The answer is "no."  The Geneva Convention on Prisoners of War states that prisoners are bound to give certain information, (such as name rank, date of birth, and serial number)  but cannot be physically or mentally forced to secure other informatio