From The Oakland (Calif.) Tribune — Originally published Monday, March 9

… Thanks to a new and welcome commitment to transparency, Attorney General Eric Holder has released several memos that were written just after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Although not all were followed, the memos laid the foundation for Bush’s policies that trampled on individual liberties.

… OLC attorney John Yoo advised the president that he was free to approve unwarranted searches and seizures for national security reasons. …

Former assistant attorney general in the OLC Jay Bybee said the president had the authority to send detainees to other countries even if they might be tortured there as long as the United States did not intend for a detainee to be tortured.

… The memos were written as if the United States had declared war as a result of an enemy invasion. In the ensuing years, the Bush administration did indeed act as if it was in a full-fledged war on American soil instead of combating terrorism.

… The Obama administration deserves praise for making the controversial memos public.

We hope it will continue to be more open than was the former administration …