Memo exposes US powers on interrogation

The brief, provided to the Pentagon days before the invasion of Iraq, allowed slapping, poking and shoving without legal consequences

Maiming a detainee, defined as disabling or cutting out the nose, eye, ear, lip, tongue, or limb, was deemed a defensible interrogation tactic if the military could prove it had no advance intention to maim

The 9/11 attacks allowed the military and White House to invoke a broad right to self-defence, the brief argued

"The defendant could claim he was fulfilling the executive branch's authority to protect the federal government and the nation from attack after the events of September 11, which triggered the nation's right to self-defence," read the brief, written by former Bush administration lawyer John Yoo

The memo was revoked nine months after it was sent

Referring to Bush as "the sovereign", Yoo gave him the right to override laws "at his discretion"

assert exemptions from US and international law during interrogations