Guantanamo and the Abuse of Presidential Power: Margulies, Joseph: 9780743286862: Amazon.com: Books

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Joseph Margulies

Guantanamo and the Abuse of Presidential Power Paperback – July 3, 2007

by Joseph Margulies (Author)

4.6 21 ratings

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The detention system established by the Bush Administration at Guantánamo Bay Naval Station in Cuba is like no other in our nation's history. Joseph Margulies traces the development of this detention policy from its ill-conceived creation in 2002 as "the ideal interrogation chamber" to its present form, where most prisoners are held without charges in a super-maximum security prison, even though the U.S. government has acknowledged that many have been cleared for release and most of the others are not even alleged to have committed a hostile act against the United States or its allies.

Margulies, who was the lead attorney in the Supreme Court case Rasul v. Bush, writes that Guantánamo and other secret CIA and Defense Department detention centers around the world have become "prisons beyond the law," where the Administration claims the right to hold people indefinitely, incommunicado, and in solitary confinement without charges, access to counsel, and without benefit of the Geneva Conventions. Weaving together firsthand accounts of military personnel who witnessed the interrogations at Guantánamo along with the words of the prisoners themselves, Margulies exposes the chilling reality of a "war on terror" that masks an assault on basic human rights -- rights to which the United States has always subscribed.

Print length

352 pages
Language

English
Publication date

July 3, 2007
Dimensions

6.14 x 1 x 9.2 inches
ISBN-10

0743286863
ISBN-13

978-0743286862
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"One of the Best Books of the Year."

-- The Economist

"Reads like a thriller."

-- W. David Myers, Chicago Tribune

"Cogent and pellucid."

-- Jonathan Mahler, The New York Times Book Review

About the Author

Joseph Margulies is an attorney with the MacArthur Justice Center and a law professor at Northwestern University Law School in Chicago. He and his wife live in Chicago.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Simon & Schuster; Reprint edition (July 3, 2007)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0743286863
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0743286862
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 15.9 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.14 x 1 x 9.2 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,208,920 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,948 in Human Rights Law (Books)
- #2,336 in United States Executive Government
- #2,942 in Human Rights (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.6 21 ratings

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Everyone Who Cares About The Rule of Law Should Read This Book

Reviewed in the United States on October 3, 2006

Verified Purchase

"Guantanamo and the Abuse of Presidential Power" is a powerful and extraordinary book about the Bush Administration's attempt to create a law-free zone at Guantanamo, Cuba, where suspected terrorists can be held outside of judicial scrutiny and tortured for information on al-Qaeda. Anyone who cares about the U.S. Constitution, the law of war, our relationship with the Islamic world, or the successful prosecution of the war on terror should read this book. The revelations of Bush Administration incompetence and criminality are shocking.

The book is written from a lawyer's perspective and lays out clearly the history of the Guantanamo prison and the legal battles over the treatment of prisoners there. As the author stresses, the torture tactics have done immense damage to American prestige yet produced little if any valuable intelligence. This failure should not be a surprise, since most of the prisoners are either innocent of terrorist activity or were Taliban small-fry with no connection to September 11 or other attacks on U.S. targets. That hundreds of these pathetic men are still incarcerated speaks volumes about the indecency of the Bush Administration and its inability to admit that it ever makes mistakes.

Fortunately, the Supreme Court and the U.S. Senate have stepped in to curb the worst abuses and to restore some sanity to our detention policies. They have partially rescued America's good name and commitment to the rule of law. However, until officials of the Bush Administration are put on trial for violations of the War Crimes Act and the Torture Act, the stain on our national honor will not be fully erased.

15 people found this helpful

Justin J. Norman

A Thoroughly Researched and Loaded Look at Guantanamo

Reviewed in the United States on December 30, 2009

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Having gone through several books about Guantanamo in my studies on torture, this is definitely the most thoroughly researched and hard-hitting book I have read on the subject. The author draws from a massive amount of research, with approximately one quarter of the book consisting of footnotes. He takes on the arguments for those in favor of "enhanced interrogation techniques" very well, noting that historically, US soldiers captured during the Korean War have themselves been made to confess to plotting to kill large numbers of civilians when psychologically tortured. The confessions they made were obviously lies, and yet these American captives confessed to a goal of "the mass annihilation of the civilian population" due to the abuse by their captors. Margulies sites a marine who was captured, Colonel Shwable, as noting that "I want to re-emphasize that I did not undergo physical torture. Perhaps I would have been more fortunate if I had, because people nowadays seem to understand that better. I didn't have that. Mine was the more subtle kind of torment. That kind is a little bit harder, I am afraid, for people to understand."

The book is filled both with historical comparisons like this, and the author's own experience as a pro-bono lawyer working for Guantanamo detainees himself. I sometimes felt overwhelmed by the amount of rapid-fire information I was absorbing, but I certainly thought it was a very worthwhile read. I am extremely thankful he took the time to share his story in this book, and further than that, make a solid argument against the abhorrent practice of torture - both physical and psychological.

One person found this helpful

Guantanamo and the Abuse of Presidential Power

Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2010

Verified Purchase

I am a 56 year old 1L at the Univeristy of St. Thomas Law School in Minneapolis, MN. I became interested in the United States torture issue when I found out my 2nd semester Con Law professor would be none other than Robert Delahunty who co-authored the memo with John Yoo which denied the applicability of the Geneva Conventions. I am not quite finished with this book, but it is so compelling I am avoiding homework! I have also read Oath Betrayed by Steven Miles and Eight O'Clock Ferry to the Windward Side by Clive Smith, which I also highly reccommend.

It will take many years to regain the high moral ground which Americans once held dear after the unbelievable inroads GWBush and company have made into the Honor we once clung to. When he and his ilk have the gall to trumpet that they have been "protecting" me and my family by their disgusting, depraved, dishonorable acts against humanity through the use of torture - it sickens me. I can only hope that the guilty will be brought to justice and until that day, I will consider it my responsibility and my shame as an American for allowing these atrocities to be commited in all our name.

5 people found this helpful

Excellent review of Administration's detention policies over the past 5 years

Reviewed in the United States on July 5, 2006

Verified Purchase

Hearing much about the myriad court cases running through the system the past several years in regard to Guantanamo, this book did a great job detailing the Administration's position and laying out the misguidedness of this policy. I found much about the book shocking for many of the truths revealed as to how our Administration has allowed the torture of "enemy combatants" at Guantanamo and has encouraged the torture of these people by foreign governments (i.e. Egypt, Pakistan). Margulies does a good job of concisely explaining the history of Guantanamo as well as laying out a very thoughtful and powerful argument against the Administration. He traces back into US military conflicts over the past 50 years to show why the Administration's current policies contradict everything for which our country stands. Most impressive about Margulies' book is the lack of partisan ranting and uncivil discourse heard by other Bush opponents. Margulies succeeds in convincing the reader that from both a Left and Right standpoint the Bush Administration has overstepped its bounds and put our country more at risk, not less.

28 people found this helpful

Top reviews from other countries

ENRIQUE CASTILLEJO

Amazing!!!

Reviewed in Canada on October 7, 2014

Verified Purchase

A very lucid and in-depth discussion in regards to the Guantanamo moral/ethic/philosophical debacle. Excellent exposure of how the US has actually put on hold fundamental democratic principles to advance its "War on Terror" agenda. A must read for all those interested in contemporary world events, sociology, international law, etc.

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