Title American torture : from the Cold War to Abu Ghraib and beyond / Michael Otterman

Published London ; Ann Arbor, MI : Pluto Press, 2007

Click on the following:
JSTOR eBooks

Copies

Description 1 online resource (x, 285 pages) Contents In their own words -- A climate of fear -- Stress inoculation -- Codifying cruelty -- The phoenix factor -- In America's backyard -- The human cost -- Alive and legal -- The gloves come off, Part I -- Guantánamo -- The gloves come off, Part II -- The dual state Summary -- Exposes the secret history of US torture at home and abroad --George W. Bush calls them an alternative set of procedures, vital tools needed to protect the American people and our allies. These tools include forced standing for up to forty hours, sleep deprivation for weeks on end, dousing naked prisoners with ice water in rooms chilled to ten degrees, and strapping prisoners to inclined boards then flooding their mouths with water. These techniques are torture, and they are used by the United States of America. American Torture reveals how torture became standard practice in todays War on Terror. Long before Abu Ghraib became a household name, the US military and CIA used torture with impunity at home and abroad. Billions of dollars were spent during the Cold War studying, refining, then teaching these techniques to American interrogators and to foreign officers charged with keeping Communism at bay. As the Cold War ended, these tortures were legalised using the very laws designed to eradicate their use. After 9/11, they were revived again for use on enemy combatants detained in Americas vast gulag of prisons across the globe, from secret CIA black sites in Thailand to the detention centre at GuantÁnamo Bay, Cuba. American Torture shows that the road to Abu Ghraib leads back through US military survival schools, Latin American military assistance programs, Vietnamese counter-terror operations and, finally, to Americas Cold War enemies: the USSR and communist China. It traces how the practice was refined, spread and kept legal. Such methods violate more than international law and fundamental human rights. As Michael Otterman reveals, they radicalise enemies, undermine credibility and yield unreliable intelligence. Above all, they do not make us more safe Notes "First published 2007 by Melbourne University Press"--Title page verso Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 249-272) and index Notes Print version record Subject Torture -- United States Torture -- Government policy -- United States Torture -- Government policy -- United States -- History -- 20th century Prisoners of war -- Abuse of -- United States POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Political Freedom & Security -- Civil Rights. POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Political Freedom & Security -- Human Rights. HISTORY -- Military -- General. Prisoners of war -- Abuse of Torture Torture -- Government policy Folter Kriegsgefangener Misshandlung Regierung United States USA Genre/Form History Form Electronic book ISBN 9781849643665 1849643660 0745326706 9780745326702

  Permalink