The Trial of Donald Rumsfeld: A Prosecution by Book

by Michael Ratner, Center for Constitutional Rights (Compiler)

The Case Against Donald Rumsfeld lays out the evidence that high–level officials of the Bush administration ordered, authorized, implemented, and permitted war crimes, in particular the crimes of torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment. Using primary source documents ranging from Rumsfeld's "techniques chart" and Iraqi plaintiffs' statements to the testimony of whistleblowers and key pieces of reportage, the book sets forth evidence of a torture program that took place throughout the in Afghanistan, Iraq, Guantánamo, secret CIA prisons, and other places unknown. The accused are accorded a defense drawn from their memos and public statements. Readers are allowed to judge whether the Bush administration has engaged in torture and whom among the administration to hold responsible. Reminiscent of Christopher Hitchens's bestselling The Trial of Henry Kissinger , The Case Against Donald Rumsfeld constitutes one of the only attempts to hold high–ranking Bush administration officials criminally responsible for their actions.

242 pages, Hardcover

First published September 2, 2008

About the author

Attorney and President Emeritus of the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), a non-profit human rights litigation organization and president of the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) based in Berlin.

He was co-counsel in representing the Guantanamo Bay detainees in the United States Supreme Court, where, in June 2004, the court decided his clients have the right to test the legality of their detentions in court.

Reviews

[Luna M · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book in the wake of the Al Shimari court decision to hold military contractors accountable for the torture of Iraqi men at Abu Ghraib. The book provides detailed context on the first few years of the so-called war on terror and the abhorrent justifications used to torture people held in US custody. It was an emotionally difficult read even after having worked on some of the cases highlighted in the book, but a necessary one nonetheless. The rhetoric used in the early 2000’s to rationalize the most unthinkable and cruel practices against Muslims abducted by the US mirrors today’s
mainstream narrative regarding the ongoing Gaza genocide. So little has changed.

[Madeline "Fisch" Fischer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, the title of the book was a little misleading. Way less focus on Rumsfeld than I thought.