Offensive Defense is Utter Nonsense

posted by Bill Arnett @ 12:40 PM Permalink

One of the many reasons America is becoming despised throughout the world:

"If a government defendant were to harm an enemy combatant during an interrogation in a manner that might arguably violate a criminal prohibition, he would be doing so in order to prevent further attacks on the United States by the al Qaeda terrorist network," Yoo wrote. "In that case, we believe that he could argue that the executive branch's constitutional authority to protect the nation from attack justified his actions."

Interrogators who harmed a prisoner would be protected by a "national and international version of the right to self-defense," Yoo wrote. He also articulated a definition of illegal conduct in interrogations -- that it must "shock the conscience" -- that the Bush administration advocated for years.

That any idiot bought this line of thinking mystifies me. It is a total bastardization of the self-defense doctrine that allows a person to defend himself or others from imminent harm using reasonable means.

How this so-called "law professor" could equate torturing a person bound, drugged, disoriented, isolated, and certainly outnumbered with "self defense" is an abomination and completely off-the-charts of a decent regard for fellow human beings.

IMHO, this man John Yoo should forever be disbarred and never again allowed to spew such garbage to law students or engage in the practice of law under any circumstances in any jurisdiction of the United States.

I wonder, if enough people petitioned the various Bar Associations for revocation of his license to practice, could he be permanently disbarred?

Labels: big brother, Bush, bush as chimp, bush war doctrine, civil rights, executive orders, flip-flops, foreign policy, Terrorism, Torture