Torture Team: Rumsfeld's Memo and the Betrayal of American Values

by Philippe Sands
Torture Team: Rumsfeld's Memo and the Betrayal of American Values
book data
21 ratings, 3.67 average rating, 7 reviews (more data...)
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published
May 13th 2008 by Palgrave Macmillan

binding
Hardcover, 272 pages

isbn
0230603904    (isbn13: 9780230603905)

description
On December 2, 2002 the U.S. Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, signed his name at the bottom of a document that listed eighteen techniques of int...more




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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 96)

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Ed
06/17/09
Ed rated it: 3 of 5 stars

bookshelves: torture
A bit overly detailed, as the author recounts how the civilian leadership of the Rumsfeld/Bush defense department first authorized torturing captives at Guantanamo and then attempted to back away from responsibility for giving the orders. Sands shows how the orders themselves were greater violations of the Geneva Convention, the precedents of the Nuremburg trails and the U.N. Convention against Torture than were the activities of the interrogators at the prison.

He recounts every mee...more
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Emily Flynn
02/12/09
Emily Flynn rated it: 5 of 5 stars

bookshelves: currently-reading
Read in February, 2009
This is soooo good. I usually hate name game books about political anything because I have such a hard time keeping up, but this is really really interesting. For a lawyer, Sands is completely readable without trying to prose it up too much or keep his recounting parched and distanced. I admire his objectiveness regarding certain questions and his methodology makes it so that you're not coming into this pointing fingers all over the place. Obv., if you pick this u, you're brining some heurist...more
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June
03/31/09
fbuser1577326143 rated it: 5 of 5 stars

Torture doesn't work. Information gleaned from such methods is not reliable and will not stand up in court. Also, it makes the prisoner crazy and that means testimony is not valid.

Sounds cool to some because the terrorists are cruel and lack integrity, blowing up innocents. But it's not effective if what you want is to find them guilty and legally punish them.

Amazing that the president was so willing to go outside of the Geneva Convention. Gives one pause. Had no idea a...more
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Jonathan
07/03/08
Jonathan rated it: 3 of 5 stars

bookshelves: contemporary-america
Read in July, 2008
recommends it for: patriots
A measured but forceful book. Philippe Sands, an international law professor, is not shy about his own evaluation of the case; he argues that top Bush administration lawyers are vulnerable to prosecution for human rights crimes. But he makes his case pretty carefully. He weaves together the publicly available facts about the "torture memos," the record of the 54-day interrogation of Mohammed al-Qahtani, and the story of his own investigation of the matter. He interviewed key figures in...more
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Beth639
06/30/09
Beth639 rated it: 3 of 5 stars

Read in January, 2008
Eye-opening and disturbing. I heard Doug Feith talk after reading this. He explains it all away as "you had to be there to understand the pressure we were under" all the while showing a slide show of him with important people to impress us.
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Diane
12/29/08
Diane rated it: 5 of 5 stars

If you want to understand more detail on the issues surrounding the Bush administration's endorsement of torture at Abu Ghraib and Gitmo, read this book, written in a journalistic style.

An eye opener!
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Tom
07/18/08
Tom rated it: 4 of 5 stars

bookshelves: closely-skimmed
I scanned it carefully for work. DISTRESSING.
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Brad Young
06/18/09
Brad Young rated it: 3 of 5 stars


Adm2001
06/09/09
Adm2001 is currently reading it

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Jim
06/06/09
Jim rated it: 4 of 5 stars


Eileen
06/05/09
Eileen marked it as to-read

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David Whitesock
05/19/09
David Whitesock rated it: 5 of 5 stars


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05/12/09
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05/01/09
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04/30/09
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