Torture memo writer is now a freaking JUDGE!

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While at the Office of Legal Counsel, Jay Bybee wrote the "insect memo" to authorize the torture on Abu Zubaydah, an Al Qada operative captured in Pakistan in 2002. His experience became George Bush's prime example for the efficacy of and need for torture. From Bush's 2006 speech:

We knew that Zubaydah had more information that could save innocent lives, but he stopped talking. As his questioning proceeded, it became clear that he had received training on how to resist interrogation. And so the CIA used an alternative set of procedures. These procedures were designed to be safe, to comply with our laws, our Constitution, and our treaty obligations. The Department of Justice reviewed the authorized methods extensively and determined them to be lawful.

...

So, the notion that we got anything of value from Zubayda is dubious -- but if we did, why did the CIA destroy the tapes of Zubaydah being tortured? Wouldn't they want it around as proof?


Bybee cites no medical evidenc for determining whether these techniques were "safe" or not, nor -- as Jane Mayer has documented -- was there ever any research into the efficacy of torture as an effective means of questioning. Bybee had no reason to believe, as Bush asserted, that these techniques were designed to be "safe." And contrary to George Bush's claims, the Red Cross has determined that the methods used against Zubaydah are "categorically" torture, which is illegal under both US and international law.
Jay Bybee's job, since 2003, has been sitting on the 9th Circut Court of Appeals, deciding what is an isn't constitutional. In the wake of the release of these documents, which Andrew Sullivan rightly calls an "unprofessional travesty of lawyering," he ought to resign.MORE

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