I just heard on the radio that CNN has retracted (albeit quietly) its loudly repeated report which accused Rumsfeld of approving a torture technique called "water-boarding." This involves covering the person's mouth with a cloth and pouring water over the head, thus producing the sensation of drowning.
Most of the mainstream news media have parroted this false news item, and have also misreported the contents of Rumsfeld's memos regarding approved interrogation techniques.
Among the interrogation techniques approved by Rumsfeld, the toughest I heard were:
Use of solitary confinement
Prisoners forced to stand for up to a maximum of 4 hours (In his memo, Rumsfeld commented that he didn't think that was long enough, because he often stood for 8 hours at a time.)
Prisoners fed cold MREs instead of hot meals (MREs are what U.S. troops eat. If it's good enough for our soldiers, what's the problem?)
Use of deception
Keeping prisoners in darkness
Sleep deprivation
Keeping prisoners naked (Approval on this was rescinded one month later.)
The above techniques are categorized as Level I or Level II. More controversial techniques are labeled level III. The Rumsfeld memos show that Level III techniques were explicitly prohibited by Rumsfeld. The approved interrogation techniques are a far cry from what was used at Abu Ghraib Prison.
So why would the mainstream news media and certain politicians lie about the contents of these Rumsfeld memos? The simple answer is they want to regain the White House in November, and are willing to use dirty tricks to do so.