In December 2004, the Justice Department issued revised opinions of their August 1, 2002, definition of torture. It “withdrew the 2002 discussion of defenses on the grounds that ‘[c]onsideration of the bounds of any such authority would be inconsistent with the President’s [Bush’s] unequivocal directive that United States personnel not engage in torture.’ “ It also replaced the 2002 definition of torture, saying “torture might be broader than ‘excruciating or agonizing pain or suffering,’… It then proceeded to list acts that everyone would agree were torture. The 2004 opinion studiously avoided providing a precise definition of the law. In essence, the Justice Department in 2004 said we had made a mistake two years earlier by trying to interpret the law with any clarity.” [The 15th of the month used for date sorting purposes only.]
– John Yoo, War By Other Means, Pages 182-183