ABSTRACT
On the morning of January 22, 2009, less than 48 hours after being sworn in as president, Barack Obama issued an executive order banning torture by members of the CIA and other government agencies. Obama’s executive order, entitled “Ensuring Lawful Interrogations,” rescinded President Bush’s executive order 13440, interpreting the Geneva Conventions on the conduct of war as permitting enhanced interrogation techniques that many later concluded were torture. Stunningly, President Obama’s executive order prohibited reliance on any legal advice on what constitutes torture issued by the Bush administration between September 11, 2001 (9/11) and the day they left offi ce on January 20, 2009. What was that all about?
