Monthly Archives: January 2006

Yesterday I quoted from what purports to be a transcript of a debate John Yoo took part in on Dec. 1, organized by the Chicago Foreign Relations Committee, and linked to what purports to be a recording of the talk. The opinions expressed are so crazed that I said, “Let us pray this is a fake.” And I meant it.

Perhaps that prayer is being answered. Or perhaps not. I’ve now heard — but only second hand — from an attendee that in fact no such comments were made at the talk. But this debunking is not, I gather, for attribution. So I don’t know what is going on.

More info if and as soon as I get it.

Leaked fax ‘shows Romania helped CIA interrogators’:

An Egyptian government fax intercepted by Swiss intelligence offers the first “real evidence” that the US interrogated suspected terrorists at secret prisons in Eastern Europe, European politicians said yesterday.

The highly-classified fax, purportedly sent late last year by Egypt’s foreign minister, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, to its embassy in London, was leaked to a Swiss newspaper on Sunday.

…

Egypt has not confirmed the authenticity of the fax. But MEPs described it as “a hugely significant step” when angry Swiss authorities confirmed the leak was based on a communication intercepted by a top secret surveillance system, known as Onyx.

…

The Romanian defence ministry “categorically” denied the content of the latest leaked Egyptian fax. According to Swiss media, the fax went on: “There are similar interrogation centres in Ukraine, Kosovo, Macedonia and in Bulgaria.”

Via the King of Zembla:

Witness the following exchange, from a Dec. 1 debate between [UC Berkeley Professor John Yoo] and Doug Cassel, posted at Revolution Online:

CASSEL: If the president deems that he’s got to torture somebody, including by crushing the testicles of the person’s child, there is no law that can stop him?

YOO: No treaty.

CASSEL: Also no law by Congress — that is what you wrote in the August 2002 memo…

YOO: I think it depends on why the President thinks he needs to do that.

(If you doubt the authenticity of the exchange above, as you must if you are sane, streaming audio may be heard heard here; a longer version, including a six-minute Q&A session, is here.)

Let us pray this is a fake. [UPDATE 1/11/06: It might be.] Meanwhile, seems like a question to ask Alito. Surely he wouldn’t say this was something likely to come before the Court? Would he?