Torture and Impunity: The U.S. Doctrine of Coercive Interrogation by Alfred W. McCoy


Torture and Impunity: The U.S. Doctrine of Coercive Interrogation
Title : Torture and Impunity: The U.S. Doctrine of Coercive Interrogation
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 0299288536
ISBN-10 : 9780299288532
Language : English
Format Type : Kindle Edition
Number of Pages : 298
Publication : First published January 1, 2012

Many Americans have condemned the "enhanced interrogation" techniques used in the War on Terror as a transgression of human rights. But the United States has done almost nothing to prosecute past abuses or prevent future violations. Tracing this knotty contradiction from the 1950s to the present, historian Alfred W. McCoy probes the political and cultural dynamics that have made impunity for torture a bipartisan policy of the U.S. government.During the Cold War, McCoy argues, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency covertly funded psychological experiments designed to weaken a subject's resistance to interrogation. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the CIA revived these harsh methods, while U.S. media was flooded with seductive images that normalized torture for many Americans. Ten years later, the U.S. had failed to punish the perpetrators or the powerful who commanded them, and continued to exploit intelligence extracted under torture by surrogates from Somalia to Afghanistan. Although Washington has publicly distanced itself from torture, disturbing images from the prisons at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo are seared into human memory, doing lasting damage to America's moral authority as a world leader.

Torture and Impunity: The U.S. Doctrine of Coercive Interrogation Reviews

  • Royce

    My only qualm was having recently read McCoy's "A Question of Torture" there was a few sections that felt rehashed. Even saying that I really can't recommend this book highly enough. Must read for anyone interested in America/ it's history, Obama's policies, CIA history, Gitmo, the bi-partisanship of American torture, I could go on and on. Just go read it.

  • Bob

    I started reading this and the put it down for awhile & contemplated on what I read before I finally finished. . The book is structured in chronological order from the CIA adolescence during the 50’s , spiraling down to Gitmo & Abu Ghraib.
    The couple of chapters on the Marcos regime described the psychological effects Torture had on the perpetrators as one of the reasons they failed later to overthrow their government 6 times in a row! However, the leading perpetrators would later be regaled & appointed to security positions in the new government, along with whitewashed hagiographic narratives. Impunity.
    Chs 5-7 get into the American reaction to torture fostered by the media, before , during & after
    Abu Ghraib & Gitmo . From 1972, until publication in 2012, 6 different times in 40 years, the public was presented with exposes’ followed by coverups.
    The author described the Bush administration policy as based on Fiction & Fantasy
    The author discussed how torture was introduced to the American public & became normalized. ; the Fox TV series 24 & Jack Bauer being mentioned by Congressman on TV News talk shows. He also mentioned all the video games that featured Torture The notorious names Alan Dershowitz & John Durham also pop up as pundit puppets .
    What wasn’t mentioned were all the blockbuster movies featuring the torture genre
    The author explains how the 8 yrs. Bush Administration created a “Unitary Executive “ designation for the presidency & a third style of justice never before seen in our lifetimes. The author goes on to describe how Obama carried on and expanded Bushes policies.
    Before the 3-4 years of Covid-19, the early 2000’s seem like we were being set up for what was to come.

  • Vin

    Oddly captivating yet thought provoking and horrifying.

  • Nada

    Extremely thorough.

  • Hope Ferdowsian

    Excellent overview of international and US policies on torture, and fairly easy to read, particularly for such difficult subject matter.