Jim's review
Fear Up Harsh: An Army Interrogator's Dark Journey Through Iraq
by Tony Lagouranis, Allen Mikaelian
Jim's review
Fear Up Harsh: An Army Interrogator's Dark Journey Through Iraq by Tony Lagouranis, Allen Mikaelian
Jim's review
rating:
recommended for: Anyone interested in the current debate over our government's use of torture
I read so many books as part of my job. Most of them I don't really need or want to talk about here.
But this was an extraordinary book. It is a very honest and soul-searching account by a young man who, through his fascination with languages and his desire to learn Arabic, ends up becoming an army interrogator. He is sent to Iraq.
His is an insider's view of all the dark stuff we hear about in the news these days. He has to realize, finally, that he himself has a fascination with what his army buzzword labels as "enhancements" of the interrogation experience.
Starting with Fear Up Harsh, a series of aggressive threats that are supposed to scare the prisoner, he slowly starts trying tougher and more inhumane tactics. As long as he understands that the "enhancements" he adds to his interrogations are approved by some higher up, he eventually drifts into using them on maybe one especially tough prisoner. Soon, though, he is using them on ALL prisone...more
But this was an extraordinary book. It is a very honest and soul-searching account by a young man who, through his fascination with languages and his desire to learn Arabic, ends up becoming an army interrogator. He is sent to Iraq.
His is an insider's view of all the dark stuff we hear about in the news these days. He has to realize, finally, that he himself has a fascination with what his army buzzword labels as "enhancements" of the interrogation experience.
Starting with Fear Up Harsh, a series of aggressive threats that are supposed to scare the prisoner, he slowly starts trying tougher and more inhumane tactics. As long as he understands that the "enhancements" he adds to his interrogations are approved by some higher up, he eventually drifts into using them on maybe one especially tough prisoner. Soon, though, he is using them on ALL prisone...more
