A Washington Post article on June 8, 2004, mentioned “the existence of the so-called Torture Memo, a secret document drafted for the president [Bush] by his Office of Legal Counsel. Written in August [1] 2002, the memo reassessed the executive’s prerogatives and responsibilities under U.S. law and under the Geneva Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The memo reinterpreted the meaning of the word ‘torture’ to give the executive broader license than that traditionally interpreted from the Geneva Conventions and U.S. law. It argued that the administration could engage in ‘cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment’ so long as it did not cause a level of pain ‘equivalent in intensity to the pain accompanying serious physical injury, such as organ failure, impairment of bodily function, or even death.’ ”
– Eugene Jarecki, The American Way of War, Page 229