Press Release:

John Yoo Argues Pres. George Bush Has Legal Power to Torture Children

On December 1, 2005, John Yoo, an architect of U.S. legal policy on torture, publicly claimed that George Bush has the authority to order the torture of children.

Does President George W. Bush agree? Are Yoo's remarks an expression of what is now offical policy and practice?

During a debate in Chicago, John Yoo said that presidential powers include the right to order the torture of suspects, including their children. John Yoo, a key architect for post 9/11 legal policy of  the Bush Adminstration, has continued to advocate White House policies on  torture, wiretapping and unlimited presidential powers.

Listen here to John Yoo's specific response to a question about torture of children.

Here is a longer excerpt of these remarks in context (5 meg. with six minutes of question and answer).

 
This is a text transcript excerpt of this exchange between International Human Rights expert Doug Cassel and John Yoo:
 
Doug Cassel: If the president deems that he's got to torture somebody,  including by crushing the testicles of the person's child, there is no  law that can stop him?
John Yoo: No treaty.
Doug Cassel: Also no law by Congress -- that is what you wrote in the August 2002 memo...
John Yoo: I think it depends on why the President thinks he needs to do that.
 
Some people at the debate compared Yoo's policies to Nazi Germany. He quckly denied this. Yet Yoo then immediately went on to argue that Bush can do anything he chooses to U.S. captives -- even crush the testicles not just of  suspects... but their children. What more evidence is needed that Yoo and the policies he has helped write for the US government are like the Nazis and Hitler?
 
 I was there, heard the whole debate and recorded it all on tape.

Contact me for an interview of the full story.

Philip Watts

pwatts_revolution@yahoo.com
Revolution Newspaper (revcom.us)  
312-927-2650