| Monstering: Inside America's Policy of Secret Interrogations and Torture in the Terror War Contributor(s): McKelvey, Tara (Author) |
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ISBN: 0465005462 ISBN-13: 9780465005468 Publisher: Basic Books OUR PRICE: $22.76 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: April 2008 Annotation: On April 28, 2004, the Abu Ghraib photos of prisoner torture and humiliation appeared on 60 Minutes, setting off an international scandal. Less than seven weeks later, Susan L. Burke, a Philadelphia attorney, field a landmark lawsuit on behalf of the detainees, presenting a case against two private contractors, CACI International and Titan Inc. Burke set out to prove that contractors, soldiers, and officers worked together, or "conspired," to torture and kill detainees. McKelvey examines how it is that many of the abusers can never be brought to justice, operating as they do outside the US system of criminal laws. Along the way she has tea with Saddam Hussein's mistress, meets with suspected terrorists, including a "ghost detainee," and interviews victims from American detention centers, all the while uncovering vital sources touched upon by no other journalist. Following Burke's lawsuit through the courts, and drawing on interviews with current and former military personnel, translators, and interrogators, as well as listening to the harrowing personal stories of numerous detainee plaintiffs, McKelvey examines the many underreported, under-investigated crimes of Abu Ghraib. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Social Science | Conspiracy Theories - History | Military - Iraq War (2003-2011) - History | Military - United States |
| Dewey: 956.704 |
| LCCN: 2007297082 |
| Physical Information: 0.81" H x 5.7" W x 8.82" (0.93 lbs) 320 pages |
| Themes: - Cultural Region - Middle East - Chronological Period - 21st Century |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: In April 2004, the Abu Ghraib photographs set off an international scandal. Yet until now, the full story has never been told. Tara McKelvey -- the first U.S. journalist to speak with female prisoners from Abu Ghraib -- traveled to the Middle East and across the United States to seek out victims and perpetrators. McKelvey tells how soldiers, acting in an atmosphere that encouraged abuse and sadism, were unleashed on a prison population of which the vast majority, according to army documents, were innocent civilians. Drawing upon critical sources, she discloses a series of explosive revelations: An exclusive jailhouse interview with Lynndie England connects the Abu Ghraib pictures to lewd vacation photos taken by England's boyfriend Charles Graner; formerly undisclosed videotapes show soldiers Robotripping on cocktails of over-the-counter drugs while pretending to stab detainees; new material sheds light on accusations against an American suspected of raping an Iraqi child; and first-hand accounts suggest the use of high-voltage devises, sexual humiliation and pharmaceutical drugs on Iraqi prisoners. She also provides an inside look at Justice Department theories of presidential power to show how the many abuses were licensed by the government. |
