I freely admit the title is a bit of sensationalism but it's how I feel about a article over at Politico. Just reading the title, Obama lawyers set to defend Yoo, set my mind to ranting all by itself. I read the article and knowing myself I tried to move on to other news of the day. That did not work, not at all, my mind had other ideas.
Some of the random thoughts racing through my head went something like this. How and why would they defend a man who claimed that the smashing of a young boy's testicles to get his father confess to something is not torture because their "intent" was not to cause pain but to get information ? How are they going to defend the author of the Secret OLC Memos allowing torture that have since been withdrawn ? Does this mean the Atty Gen. Holder will be defending the Bybee Memo ? After defending Yoo how are they going to be able to try anyone on War Crimes ?
AG Holder has been quoted on Yoo's ideas in the past.
"I never thought I would see the day when a Justice Department would claim that only the most extreme infliction of pain and physical abuse constitutes torture," Holder said in a speech last year, alluding to a 2002 memo Yoo wrote.
Another problem with this comes straight from the new head of Obama's own OLC, Dawn Johnsen. Ms.Johnsen's statement may show us exactly how twisted this could become.
Other Obama Justice Department appointees have been far more strident in their criticism of Yoo. In an article in Slate just last year, Obama’s pick to head the Office of Legal Counsel, Dawn Johnsen of Indiana University, called one of Yoo’s memos "plainly flawed" and his defense of it "irresponsibly and dangerously false."
At the same time Pres. Obama has made it clear that he want to reduce the amount of secrets kept from the American public. He is going to have to make some hard choices to keep his word as the ACLU is requesting the release of all the OLC's memos that have been kept secret. We can be assured that more dung will hit the fan if they are made public since these amount to Secret Laws and decisions that Bush used to defend so many of what the world sees as blatantly illegal acts. To show the Presidents dilemma let me quote the RawStory article on the ACLU's request.
The ACLU's filing of the Freedom of Information Act request follows President Obama's recent directive to minimize federal secrecy and "usher in a new era of open government." Civil rights group to Obama: Release secret Bush memos
From the same article are these quotes from the ACLU themselves.
The Justice Department continues to withhold many legal opinions, including memos purporting to allow torture and warrantless surveillance. The ACLU has previously sought the memos through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
"Releasing the memos would allow the public to better understand the legal basis for the Bush administration's national security policies; to better understand the role that the OLC played in developing, justifying, and advocating those policies; and to participate more meaningfully in the ongoing debate about national security, civil liberties, and human rights," said the ACLU in the letter.
In its letter, the ACLU called on the OLC to release, at the earliest possible date, dozens of legal memos related to interrogation, detention, rendition, surveillance and other Bush administration policies. Since 2003, the ACLU has filed three lawsuits to enforce FOIA requests seeking the OLC legal opinions and other government records. These lawsuits have resulted in the release of thousands of documents, but most of the key OLC memos are still being withheld.
If the OLC does release these memos they may just find that Yoo has little if any defense left. I imagine that some of the still secret memos are far more damaging than anything we have seen yet. The Bybee Memo, when made public, shocked the conscience of hundreds of thousand around the world. Any new releases will undoubtedly compound the problem. How will the DOJ justify defending War Crimes and Criminals ? The comment section over at HuffingtonPost and other sites show how high emotions are running on this and I'm sure our comment section could run just as hot. So, have at it.