Torture memo released by Pentagon

[deminks]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080402/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/torture_memo_8

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon on Tuesday made public a now-defunct legal memo that approved the use of harsh interrogation techniques against terror suspects, saying that President Bush's wartime authority trumps any international ban on torture.

The Justice Department memo, dated March 14, 2003, outlines legal justification for military interrogators to use harsh tactics against al-Qaida and Taliban detainees overseas — so long as they did not specifically intend to torture their captors.

Even so, the memo noted, the president's wartime power as commander in chief would not be limited by the U.N. treaties against torture.

"Our previous opinions make clear that customary international law is not federal law and that the president is free to override it at his discretion," said the memo written by John Yoo, who was then deputy assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Counsel.

(snip)

The memo was rescinded in December 2003, a mere nine months after Yoo sent it to the Pentagon's top lawyer, William J. Haynes. Though its existence has been known for years, its release Tuesday marked the first time its contents in full have been made public.

(end snip)

So, Smirky ordered it so? It's at his discretion. Is it on his hands, too? Can he not wash it off?

[The Stranger]

1. John Yoo should have any legal licenses revoked and academic positions eliminated.

This personifies unethical conduct.