Purchase
CIA Interrogation, from the Cold War to the War on Terror
Metropolitan Books
January 2006
304 pages
ISBN: 0805080414
Hardcover
Add to Wish List
Historical | Non-Fiction
A startling expose of the CIA's development and spread of
psychological torture, from the Cold War to Abu Ghraib and
beyond
In this revelatory account of the CIA's secret,
fifty-year effort to develop new forms of torture, historian
Alfred W. McCoy uncovers the deep, disturbing roots of
recent scandals at Abu Ghraib and Guant�namo. Far from
aberrations, as the White House has claimed, A Question of
Torture shows that these abuses are the product of a
long-standing covert program of interrogation.
Developed at the cost of billions of dollars, the CIA's
method combined "sensory deprivation" and "self-inflicted
pain" to create a revolutionary psychological approach--the
first innovation in torture in centuries. The simple
techniques--involving isolation, hooding, hours of standing,
extremes of hot and cold, and manipulation of
time--constitute an all-out assault on the victim's senses,
destroying the basis of personal identity. McCoy follows the
years of research--which, he reveals, compromised
universities and the U.S. Army--and the method's
dissemination, from Vietnam through Iran to Central America.
He traces how after 9/11 torture became Washington's weapon
of choice in both the CIA's global prisons and in
"torture-friendly" countries to which detainees are
dispatched. Finally McCoy argues that information extracted
by coercion is worthless, making a case for the legal
approach favored by the FBI.
Scrupulously documented and grippingly told, A Question
of Torture is a devastating indictment of inhumane practices
that have spread throughout the intelligence system,
damaging American's laws, military, and international standing.
Comments
No comments posted.
Registered users may leave comments.
Log in or register now!
| 
© 2003-2024 off-the-edge.net
all rights reserved Privacy Policy