VIDEO: Torture Policy Architects Testify

By TWI 6/26/08 4:18 PM

White House officials who crafted the Bush administration’s torture policies, David Addington, chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney and John Yoo, a Berkeley Law School professor and formerly of the Justice Dept.’s Office of Legal Counsel, defended their positions before a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing Thursday. The American News Project captures key moments in their highlight reel. TWI reporter Spencer Ackerman covered the hearing on The Independent Streak.

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poeticjustice 6 months ago 1 point
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The above post is spot on. It is fascinating to me how the "news cycle" of the day (ie the other stories) effectively buried this event. In a twisted sister sort of way, one has to admire the demonic deviousness of the OVP...this should be studied.

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danv 6 months ago 1 point
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I wrote a comment before but didn't know if it went through, so here goes again:

Neither David Addington nor John Yoo answered the questions put to them by the House Judiciary subcommittee. Addinton looked quite arrogant and Yoo looked like a simpleton. The questions wereactually simple "yes" or "no" questions. The framework of all the questions: Does the President have the power to command torture? Both Addinton and Yoo must be so afraid of a perjury charge that their responses leaned more toward "yes" than "no".

America always wants to believe the best of their President, so when no one will answer direct questions, they are extremely disappointed. After all, if these guys won't directly defend their President, why should we?

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danv 6 months ago 1 point
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These men did NOT answer the questions. Besides the House Judiciary subcommittee, The American public needs to know these answers. The are quite simple: what powers does the president have? If they can't answer the questions because they don't know, then they reveal themselves to be incompetent in their fields. If they are not answering the questions because they think the president HAS the power, then they are guilty of contempt of court and subversion of the facts. Does the president have the power is a "yes" or "no" question.

Addington looked arrogant and Yoo looked, well, nervous and stupid. Both testimonies now beg the question: "Did George W. Bush and/or Dick Cheney ever order torture or did they O.K. torture of detainees or relatives of detainees? It still comes down to YES or NO. Unfortunately, the American public would like to think NO but assumes YES from lack of testimony. I hope this gets more attention. I hope the answer shocks the public more than Abu Graib.

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National Security, Torture,

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