At Berkeley, John Yoo is in trouble for saying that the president could legally order the army and the CIA to torture--but Berkeley Dean Chris Edley says that John is safe from any form of academic process because he was staff and not line--he did not actually order anybody to torture or tell anybody that they were ordered to torture anyone.Any Questions?
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As I understand things, Cheney and the Bush NSC--Rice and company--went hunting for someone who would tell them (a) waterboarding isn't torture, and (b) the president can legally order torture. They found John Yoo, who told them what they wanted. Then Bush told Rice to order the CIA to torture.
Now as I understand Edley's position, Berkeley cannot proceed against Yoo because he did not do any wrongful deeds--he just gave wrongful advice. And Stanford cannot proceed against Rice because even though she was in the chain of command she did not know that the deeds were wrongful.
A very nice setup indeed.
[ cf Condi Rice and John Yoo ]
So if the president does it, it must be legal.
How can anyone doubt such solid all american faith in the Moral Superiority of Great Leader....
Hum.... so only the line grunts can be prosecuted for 'merely following orders'....
What a Nation....