Yoo's Views Make Philly News

The Philadelphia Inquirer, one of that
city's two major daily newspapers, is in the news itself these days
after hiring controversial former Bush administration lawyer John Yoo
as a monthly columnist.

Letters and e-mails critical of the
Inquirer are pouring in. "How in the world could John Yoo's legal
analysis of anything be informative?" wrote Lisa Ernst of Philadelphia.
"What next? An investment advice column by Bernie Madoff?" Will Bunch
of the rival Philadelphia Daily News wrote, "It's not about muzzling
John Yoo from expressing his far-out-of-the-mainstream opinion in the
many venues that are available to him, but whether a major American
newspaper should give Yoo, his actions, and the notion of torture
advocacy its implied endorsement by handing him a megaphone."

Yoo served from 2001 to 2003 as a deputy
assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Counsel in the Bush
Justice Department, where he worked under Jay Bybee. There, Yoo
authored or co-authored "torture memos," the legal advice given to the
Bush White House authorizing harsh interrogation practices. Yoo defined
torture in one memo: "The victim must experience intense pain or
suffering of the kind that is equivalent to the pain that would be
associated with serious physical injury, so severe that death, organ
failure, or permanent damage resulting in a loss of significant body
function will likely result."

Judge Baltasar Garzon of the Spanish
National Court is moving ahead with an investigation of "The Bush Six,"
which includes Yoo and Bybee, as well as former Attorney General
Alberto Gonzales; William J. Haynes II, then general counsel to the
Department of Defense; Douglas Feith, former undersecretary of defense
for policy; and David Addington, the chief of staff under former Vice
President Dick Cheney. These six could possibly face criminal charges
in Spain for enabling torture at Guantanamo and elsewhere. They might
think twice before traveling abroad to Spain or other European nations.
Yoo, Bybee and another Bush Justice Department attorney, Steven G.
Bradbury, face an investigation into their conduct by the Justice
Department's Office of Professional Responsibility. The Justice
Department could forward the report to state bar associations, where
the attorneys could be disciplined, possibly disbarred. Bybee, now a
federal judge, could be impeached.

The disbarment strategy has been embraced
by grass-roots activists as well. The group DisbarTortureLawyers.com
said, "On Monday, May 18, 2009, a broad coalition of organizations
dedicated to accountable government, and representing over one million
members, filed disciplinary complaints with state bar licensing boards
against ... twelve attorneys for advocating the torture of detainees
during the Bush Administration."

Disbarment would certainly be a problem
for many of these people, perhaps costing them their jobs. But the
detention and interrogation practices that gained their official
sanction, from the highest level of the executive branch, have had much
more serious and far-reaching consequences for hundreds, if not
thousands, of people around the globe.

John Sifton is a human-rights investigator
who recently wrote a piece titled "The Bush Administration Homicides."
He concludes that "an estimated 100 detainees have died during
interrogations, some who were clearly tortured to death." He told me:
"These aggressive techniques were not just limited to the high-value
detainee program in the CIA. They spread to the military with
disastrous results. They led to the deaths of human beings ... when
there's a dead body involved, you can't just have a debate about policy
differences and looking forward or looking backward."

Bunch told me: "Philadelphia is a city of
4 million people. John Yoo grew up here, but he doesn't even live here
now. And to think this is a voice that's reflective of the community,
frankly, [is] an insult to true conservatives that the best voice they
can get on the editorial page is somebody who's famous for being a
torture advocate."

I was in Philadelphia this past weekend
and got to hear Grammy Award-winning soul singer John Legend give the
commencement address at the University of Pennsylvania, his alma mater.
He said in his speech: "As a nation and as a world, we need more truth.
Let me repeat that. We need more truth. ... Too often, in business and
in government, people are rewarded for having the answer that the
person they report to wants them to have: 'Yes, sir. We can provide
mortgages to people who have no down payment and can't afford the
monthly payments.' ... 'Yes, ma'am. I can write a legal brief to
justify torture.' " The students listened with rapt attention.

There are many Philadelphians who can write and inspire debate that leads people to action. John Yoo has done enough harm.

Denis Moynihan contributed research to this column.