The Torture Debate in America (Paperback)

~ (Editor) "THE MATTER OF TORTURE AT THE HANDS OF AMERICANS HAS BEEN ON public display for more than a year now as this book of essays..." (more)
Key Phrases: United States, Geneva Conventions, Abu Ghraib (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"With this superb collection of documents, we can begin to see the contours of our new post 9-11 world." The Washington Post on The Torture Papers

"...a block of granite on the path of any forgetfulness. The book is a true public service, compiled by two U.S. lawyers, which brings the whole twisted story into the public domain, and let us hope into every library and many personal hands." Toronto Globe

"an excellent and thorough introduction ot the legal and institutional arrangements of the contemporary minority rights regime in the Western world. A great value of that book is precisely that it positions questions of minority rights and self-determination right in the analytical propinquity to democracy, and as such it manages to address an important lacuna within the rights-oriented literature of today." - Andrew Goldmsith, Law and Politics Review

Product Description

Widely acclaimed as a publishing milestone, The Torture Papers (Cambridge, 2005) constitutes the definitive book of public record detailing the Bush Administration's policies on torture and political prisoners. In the process of assembling the documents, memoranda, and reports that comprise the material in The Torture Papers, a vital question arose: What was the rationale behind the Bush Administration's decision to condone the use of coercive techniques in the interrogation of detainees suspected of terrorist connections? The use of these techniques at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo has sparked an intense debate in America. The Torture Debate in America captures the arguments on torture that have been put forth by legislators, human rights activists, and others. It raises the key moral, legal, and historical questions that have led to current considerations on the use of torture. Divided into three sections, the contributions cover all sides of the debate, from absolute prohibition of torture to its use as a viable option in the War on Terror.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 436 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (November 28, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521674611
• ISBN-13: 978-0521674614
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #191,446 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars critically important intellectual material, December 2, 2006

By	Bruce D. Wilner "Bruce David Wilner" (Alexandria, VA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Few questions are more relevant to our times than that of the resurrection (as if it had ever actually died!) of judicial torture. No longer safely able to stand tall and insular on its humanistic pedestal, America must face this issue NOW. People think of screws and boots and wedges and coals, but such medievalism is no longer remotely relevant: far more reliable (not to mention quicker) results are obtainable from pharmaceuticals (perhaps--like the death penalty--another issue where the Hippocratic oath is [?] at odds with Dr. Smith's specific actions today). Read, absorb, consider, conjecture, believe.