Reply #2: A key author of Bush's torture policy memo is a Mormon- Jay S. Bybee

[Ian David]

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The document, dated Aug. 1, 2002, analyzed how far U.S. interrogators could go to extract intelligence from those captured in the war on terror before being guilty of war crimes. Known as the "Bybee memo," it was signed by then-Assistant Attorney General Jay S. Bybee, who now sits on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and participated in discussions on the use of torture with Gonzales.

Bybee is also an active member of the LDS Church, and his participation in producing what some call the "torture memo" has been debated by both public policy groups and Internet bloggers ever since.

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The memo outlined that to qualify as torture, physical pain must be "equivalent in intensity to the pain accompanying serious physical injury, such as organ failure, impairment of bodily function, or even death." Gonzales and others discussed several abusive techniques that could be used, including "waterboarding," which involves strapping a person to a board, raising his feet above his head, wrapping his face and nose in a wet towel, and dripping water onto the head, simulating the suffocating effects of drowning.

Several bloggers wondered why the LDS Church has never issued a formal statement condemning torture. Bills said he couldn't comment any further than the statement offered Wednesday by the church.

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http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,635163735,00.html