Am catching up on blogs today, including mine. I know you missed me.

So the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment defines torture as

"any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity."
As my international human rights law professor explained, if a public official is "literally a sadist," acting purely from sadistic motives in torturing detainees/prisoners, the torture does not violate the UN Convention against Torture.

My professor's office is across the hall -- literally 5 feet from -- John Yoo's office. When I went by the other day, they both had their doors open.