A More Potent Presidency

Legal scholar John Yoo says a firmer hand is needed to fight the War on Terror, and in a new book, declares its legal according to the framers of the Constitution. Read this:

IN JOHN YOO'S world, President Bush didn't need to ask Congress for permission to invade Iraq. And if the special forces captured a terrorist suspect who might know of an upcoming attack on the New York subway, Bush could order him placed on a torture rack-regardless of treaties the US has signed or whether Congress had passed laws banning torture.

Yet Yoo, for his part, says he's offering a fresh look at constitutional history that not only reflects the framers' ideas, but also better mirrors the reality of modern history than does mainstream international law. ''There are these areas-war powers, treaties-in which academics all say one thing, and then presidents, Congress, and the courts all do something that is opposite," he said in a recent interview. His book tries to explain why the people he describes as ''my friends in international law" get so many things wrong.

I agree that if we are going to win the war, we need a to get a lot tougher than we are. This crying everytime a terrorist is reported abused, and constant criticism from the left, can only hurt our cause in the long run.