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Is This Man a Monster?

esquire.com — The president asked John Yoo to define torture. He did it. Are Yoo ’s “torture memos” one of the most heinous mistakes in American history -- or could he have been right?

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  • SpillReviews, on 05/12/2008, -2/+2“It’s like pornography,” one student says. “You know it when you see it.” ..interesting way to define war
  • lucidguru, on 05/12/2008, -5/+3I wouldn't say he's a monster, I would say that Yoo's a pretty good lawyer. It was President Bush that was looking for loopholes within the Geneva conventions and it was President Bush that approved torture. Yoo just pointed out the problems with how the laws were worded and pointed out what was "legal" under those laws. All that lawyers do is interpret laws, they are not guilty for that actions of their clients.
    Take a look at the Geneva conventions if you still think this man is evil... The Geneva conventions are worded poorly and are in dire need to be re-written. There is not use in blaming nor killing the messenger.
    • WiseWeasel, on 05/13/2008, -1/+7Anyone who facilitates the torture of humans is a monster. Because he did it with a pen does not make Yoo any less guilty of subverting the spirit of our constitution, and one of the key foundations of this country. He should have known that real people's lives were at stake, and either declined to write the memo, or done whatever he could to protect the intent of the constitution, and any international agreements we've entered into. If he let all this fly out the window just to give his employers what they wanted, then he's no better than they are. Anyone who argues in favor of torture should be shamed, and deserves to have their career ruined. I'm glad that he will have to bear this black mark on his record for the rest of his life, and I wouldn't hesitate to bring it up whenever relevant. Obviously, those who encouraged him to write the memo, and those who oversee and conduct the torture are likely a greater evil, but that doesn't excuse the part Yoo played in this disgraceful act.
  • LucidOne, on 05/12/2008, -1/+6YES, HE IS A MONSTER!
  • iceman0113, on 05/13/2008, -1/+6"who said that the president could crush the testicles of a child to make his father talk" Seriously, what the *****? Disgusting, I'm at a loss for words for this bastard.
  • macwisdom, on 05/13/2008, -0/+2a "suck up", "yes man" , "pansy" ,"wimp" spineless *****, yes! Monster no. All he had to say was no I won't do that, or this is not a good idea.
  • Berkana, on 05/13/2008, -0/+5Here's the obligatory "***** Yoo". May there be no mercy for the merciless.
  • chicofaraby, on 05/13/2008, -1/+3The torture isn't a mistake. It is a crime. There is no defending Mr Yoo. He needs to sit in a jail cell for about twenty years.
  • papipablo, on 05/13/2008, -0/+4War criminal scum.
  • ALyken, on 05/13/2008, -0/+1Who said that this was a mistake? How could torture be a mistake?
  • AgentOmega, on 05/13/2008, -0/+2I am afraid I have to back Yoo up here as much as it shames me to admit it, because the very idea of torture is repugnant, his logic is in fact without flaw. If you accept as a premise that the law is the only limit of government authority which is pretty reasonable for a lawyer to do then his rationale is perfectly reasonable.. We lack the laws to make these issues legal ones instead of moral issues which the law has to ignore. Why aren't treaties legally binding contracts for the president and congress? Why is there secret prisons? Because there isn't a law in place to stop them. Bush is a warmonger and Congress is a "suck up", "yes man" , "pansy" ,"wimp" for not pulling funding. But the worst Yoo can honestly be accused of is conglomerating all of our inadequate and disparate laws on the subject.
    The law is not your friend, its not there to protect you. The law is a weapon for dispensing justice, much like a gun it is indiscriminate and merciless. It is easy to blame the mans interpretation of the law because we don't agree but the real problem is that is not clear enough to prevent these kinds of interpretations in the first place.
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