The Torturer’s Accomplice: Confronting John Yoo in Chicago, San Mateo

Posted on February 12, 2010
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Reports from the Chicago and San Francisco chapters of World Can’t Wait  

The Chicago chapter of the Federalist Society hosted John Yoo on his book tour on Monday, Feb. 8. Yoo spoke at the exclusive Union League Club, together with with Bob Barr, former Republican congressman turned presidential nominee for the Libertarian Party. There were no indications of the event postedBut you wouldn’t have known anything about the event from the schedule posted or the signs in the lobby. They just indicated the room number for the chapter meeting. Stacks of Yoo’s apologia for torture were evident only in the room where he spoke.
 
About a dozen people protested outsidethe Union League Club. Members of the World Can’t Wait, We Are Change, and other anti-war friends—passed out the brochure developed by Fire John Yoo chapter to passersby, most of whom had no idea what was going on inside.
 
See "Protesters Greet Yoo" from San Mateo Journal

 
One World Can’t Waitmember wore the orange jumpsuit that symbolizes the horrors of Guantanamo to millions around the world. Another demonstrator wrote, “I was handing out flyers at the side entrance. Perhaps 40% of the people who entered the building took a flyer from me; one man, probably in his 60’s and most definitely a lawyer, chuckled and said ‘Good. Good to see you here.’  It was funny, just by apparel and the gait of the person as they walked down the sidewalk, you could tell who was pro Yoo – I guess you could call them Yoo-Hoos, right? Some people who were there to listen to him were definitely troubled by his actions in the Bush White House and were there to hear him out.  They were attempting a fairness that was obviously not extended to the torture victims.  It would be too much to hope that Mr. Yoo realized that mercy was being extended to him.”

Inside, were probably about 50 people. I had to sit through lunch first but had some interesting conversations with a couple of young lawyers who thought the Bush regime had engaged in torture and it was illegal but maybe Yoo was ‘just’ a hired hand! I didn’t want to tip my hand completely but I did mention Nuremburg and the fact that the US was becoming synonymous with Guantanamo around the world. One guy agreed that this was a problem and it should be shut down, so even here there was a mix.

Once introductions were over and lunch plates carted off, Yoo was up first so as soon as the applause died down and he started in, I stood up and said he was a war criminal, that he provided legal cover to the torture state of Bush and Cheney and that under US v Altstoetter, a Nuremburg case, judges and lawyers who assist in the commission of war crimes are guilty of war crimes themselves. Everyone has to decide – are you for torture or against it – because the world can’t wait.

I memorized and practiced it so it came out pretty well, but I think I was out of the room by the time I got to "the world can’t wait." There was a certain amount of grumbling but I didn’t hear applause for removing me. All I saw of Yoo was his smirk. Some in the room were more on the side of Bob Barr, who should have been called out for legitimizing Yoo by speaking with him but I don’t think there were any other "moles" in the room. As our email announcement said, Yoo speaks for the torturers, who will speak for their victims?

 
It was great to have our crew there, it was really a group effort, and a sympathetic lawyer was on call in case they decided to get nasty. I was more or less physically removed from the room – two big guys were waiting for this to happen, jumped up and surrounded me and started walking me out – and accompanied me to the coat check room and out the front door with a warning not to come back. I said I didn’t care to associate with war criminals, don’t worry!
 
San Mateo, California
 
Yoo was also protested on February 11 when he spoke at a country club in San Mateo California, near San Francisco. About a dozen people confronted Yoo, protesting Yoo and demanding that the war criminals of the Bush-Cheney Torture team be brought to justice. As the leaflet calling for this action said: “John Yoo, You Have no Business Here? We pledge to confront you at every stop of our book tour’.
 
 
 
 

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