Well in advance, at the highest levels: almost every vile interrogation technique you saw in Abu Ghraib was approved by the president in the White House. I know that's not as newsworthy as an off-the-cuff remark at a San Francisco fundraiser, but it does seem to me to be a huge story:
See web-only content:
http://www.theatlantic.com/daily-dish/archive/2008/04/how-bush-approved-abu-ghraib/217995/
Imagine if we had known this in the week the scandal broke.
This article available online at:
http://www.theatlantic.com/daily-dish/archive/2008/04/how-bush-approved-abu-ghraib/217995/
