Reply #7: Please note THE DATE of the Executive Order [View All]

It's FEBRUARY 2002. The OLC memo by Bybee that is being "replaced" was dated AUGUST 2002. That means that the White House Counsel went back to OLC, apparently to ask for broader authority. The later Bybee memo (which I have not reread in its entirety) does not appear to be limited to Al Qaeda or Afghanistan or Guantanamo!

"Memorandum for Alberto R. Gonzales, Counsel to the President

"You have asked for our Office’s views regarding the standards of conduct under the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, and Degrading Treatment or Punishment as implemented by Sections 2340-2340A of Title 18 of the U.S. Code <i.e., U.S. Criminal Code>. As we understand it, this question has arisen in the context of the conduct of interrogations outside of the United States <i.e., not limited to Guantanamo Bay>. We conclude below that Section 2340A proscribes acts inflicting, and that are specifically intended to inflict, severe pain or suffering, whether mental or physical. Those acts must be of an extreme nature to rise to the level of torture within the meaning of Section 2340A and the Convention. We further conclude that certain acts may be cruel, inhuman or degrading, but still not produce pain and suffering of the requisite intensity to fall within Section 2340A’s proscription against torture. We conclude by examining possible defenses that would negate any claim that certain interrogation methods violate the statute."

Do you think there might be a SECOND Executive Order -- one that was issued AFTER Bybee produced this OLC opinion in August 2002? Or was the second order/memo issued by DOD in order to protect the White House against the possibility of criminal prosecution under the War Crimes Act?