It's like a dream

For my money, this might be the best thing Obama's done so far:

All departments and agencies of the Federal Government shall provide the International Committee of the Red Cross with notification of, and timely access to, any individual detained in any armed conflict in the custody or under the effective control of an officer, employee, or other agent of the United States Government or detained within a facility owned, operated, or controlled by a department or agency of the United States Government, consistent with Department of Defense regulations and policies.

There's been a lot of talk about how much of a change Obama will actually be, and this is the proof of the pudding or some other bad analogy.

The ICRC is what we call "third-party verification". It's the end of the "trust us" government. It's not even the hackneyed "trust, but verify" government. This is the "don't trust us, we'll prove it to you" government.