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This Is What a War Criminal Looks Like

Newly released docs show ex-deputy AG's 'depraved criminality'

By Jonas Oransky,  Newser Staff

Posted Apr 2, 2008 5:35 PM CDT

(Newser) – John Yoo, who as deputy AG wrote a crucial memo justifying torture, is a war criminal, Salon columnist Glenn Greenwald bluntly argues: Newly released documents reveal "a government official who, in concert with other government officials, set out to enable a brutal and systematic torture regime, and did so." What's more, Greenwald writes, "the underlying theories of omnipotent executive power remain largely in place."

Laying out the case against Yoo, nonpracticing lawyer Greenwald argues that his status as a legal expert  “reflects the complete destruction over the last eight years of whatever moral authority the United States possessed.” And the administration's contention that "as long as political appointees at the DOJ approve of certain conduct, then that conduct must be shielded from criminal prosecution" is "rancid and corrupt."

Ex-Deputy AG John Yoo, now a law professor at Berkeley.
Ex-Deputy AG John Yoo, now a law professor at Berkeley.   (Getty Images)
John Yoo
John Yoo   (Getty Images)
John Yoo
John Yoo   (Getty Images)
John Yoo
John Yoo   (Getty Images)
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