Customer Reviews

Torture: Does It Make Us Safer? Is It Ever OK?: A Human Rights Perspective

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This was a decent and informative read, but it is maybe more activist that academic. Most of the essays come from Human Rights Watch, which is a fine organization, but it does tend to make the book a little one-sided. The finest sections were from independent authors, with the exception of the final chapter written by HRW's general counsel which was a great essay. Of course, the book's biggest shortcoming is that it fails to conclusively answer its own questions: does torture ever make us safer? Is it ever okay? You can draw some conclusions from the authors, but without being able to read some of the other side of this debate, the answers are at least somewhat superficial. I recommend this book as an accompaniment to others on the subject.

This is the type of literature we need to read to remind ourselves of the atrocoties of war. I will recommend this book to anyone interested in analyzing the justifications of torture, with the premise that some claim it might save others from harm. Easy to read essays, good for the everyday reader and for the scholar. I would also recommend it to those guys prepping to be deployed.