Why do we allow such barbarism in our name?

books:

	• A Question of Torture: CIA Interrogation, from the Cold War to the War on Terror (American Empire Project) Alfred McCoy Holt Paperbacks, 2006 - 320 pages average customer review:based on 23 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Decent Book With Surprises

This is the second book I have read by Alfred McCoy- the first being The Politics of Heroin. I think it was a decent read. However, I enjoyed his first book much more- perhaps, because I have already read several books that delve into torture by the CIA and military. I think the book is very informative and delineates for the reader the origins and history of torture in the United States leading up to present day psychological (with some physical) interrogation techniques. He argues, backed up by various professional military and FBI sources, that torture does not work and actually leads to more conflict. Furthermore, using such brutal methods of interrogation does not provide the necessary intelligence that establishment sources desire and makes the terrorist threat larger by enraging those who are part of it- directly or indirectly. I think he is spot on in this matter and does a good job of presenting the facts of torture that haunt the military endeavors in Afghanistan and Iraq.

However, I am a bit surprised to find out that Milgram was funded by the CIA (so said according to McCoy). I would definitely would like to know how he was able to come up with this information- is there a source or evidence? It just seems far fetched. However for the time being, I will keep an open mind and wait for a second edition (which I am sure will come eventually) to find out if he details his proof. Recommended but keep in mind that one should take the Milgram piece with a grain a salt until further evidence is available.

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Why do we allow such barbarism in our name?

Halfway thru this book, I found myself asking --- how is it possible that W., Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Ashcroft are not, right now, serving life sentences in jail? There is something HORRIBLY wrong, bordering on psychotic, with an America where such sick, evil, barbaric acts - from people WE voted into office - people who claim to be deeply religious - can go unpunished.

Human beings were beaten over the course of several days, hooded, until dead while in US custody. This went on for years. The only crime of one of those murdered in our custody was that he went to the Americans to find out the status of his son who we also had in custody.

Dr. King, you sacrificed so much for us. But, we have so quickly gone back to our old ways. Instead of lynching negroes in the south, we now murder muslims in the east - but only after torturing them for days, weeks, sometimes even years.

We hide behind our leaders, who order such horrible acts of beastiality, and we pretend we do now know. Just protect us - we tell them. Protect us -- but don't let us know how you do it. Just do it.

We are no better than the monsters who took down the twin towers.

The abuses described in this book are too well detailed and footnoted to pretend the author is lying or confused. He did his research well and provides ample references for anyone wishing to fact check him.

Why do we allow this? Why do you allow it? Why do I allow it?

We are a lost nation. An empire already beaten by its own excesses.

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Why do we torture?

Professor McCoy has done research all over the world, and is the definitive voice on this subject. This book is shocking and disturbing and absolutely essential to an understanding of what should be a major issue in our nation and the world. We should be above such ugly, inhuman tactics - but are we?

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

?An indispensable and riveting account? of the CIA?s development and use of torture, from the cold war to Abu Ghraib and beyond (Naomi Klein, The Nation)
In this revelatory account of the CIA?s fifty-year effort to develop new forms of torture, historian Alfred W. McCoy locates the deep roots of recent scandals at Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo in a long-standing, covert program of interrogation. A Question of Torture investigates the CIA?s practice of ?sensory deprivation? and ?self-inflicted pain,? in which techniques including isolation, hooding, hours of standing, and manipulation of time assault the victim?s senses and destroy the basis of personal identity. McCoy traces the spread of these practices across the globe, from Vietnam to Iran to Central America, and argues that after 9/11, psychological torture became the weapon of choice in the CIA?s global prisons, reinforced by ?rendition? of detainees to ?torture-friendly? countries. Finally, McCoy shows that information extracted by coercion is worthless, making a strong case for the FBI?s legal methods of interrogation. Scrupulously documented and grippingly told, A Question of Torture is a devastating indictment of inhumane practices that have damaged America?s laws, military, and international standing.

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