Customer Reviews
Excellent book that weighs heavy on ones mind. - By: Mr. D. J. Brindle, 28 Dec 2008 
This book is difficult to review subjectively, purely because it's subject matter - the activities undertaken at Abu Ghraib before an after the fall of Saddam's regime - is such an emotive one.
It's supremely well researched & written, the authors interviewing hundreds seemingly of soldiers & people involved with the system, so to speak, & throughout you're attacked by hard fact, after hard fact. After a while it's hard not to become either angry, or overjoyed, or both. But one thing is guaranteed, you will *feel* when reading this book. Appalled? Possibly. Enraged? Probably. But then, that's the whole point of the book.
Ultimately though you need to view your feelings about it through a simple question, as leastin my eyes, & that is; do two wrongs make a right?
Do the barbarisms of the Saddam regime, & Middle Eastern extremism justify the barbarism of Abu Gharib?
That's for you to decide when you've read the book. Something I'd definitely recommend you do...
Far from standard - By: C. Brown, 27 Dec 2008 Before reading this book, my only understanding on the Abu Ghraib situation was the (in)famous photographs which shocked the world. I, like many others took the pictures for what they were: a visual reference of `Uncle Sam' taking the proverbial & once again getting away with it as we all stand around & wonder until the next time.
We all know that the media can sensationalise & distort the truth for their own gains, but the Abu Ghraib situation made the president come out & apologize for what had happened there. I don't think that the brass could have ever thought that what went on could be kept under wraps indefinitely, but the wayin which the news broke seemed to take many off guard.
In the aftermath that followed, the US government needed a number of people to take the blame. These people were those that had `starred'in the pictures & those who had taken the shots. It's worth mentioning that not one person above the level of sergeant has served jail time as a result, meaning those that made the rules, however grey & misinterpreted they were, were never held accountable for what happened. Nor was anyone charged with torture, or war crimes or any violation of the Geneva Conventions - the list goes on & on.
Whatever your take on the warin Iraq, there's no denying that the fog of war had a big part to playin what happened. The fact that the American military were incarcerating anyone who wasin the wrong place at the wrong time led to massively overcrowded jails & 3 out of every 4 prisoner never being charged with any crime.
This book is not a sensationalist dig at the American military machine; it is a factual account of what went onin Abu Ghraid, how any why it got out of control & how the world found out. The photographs (although they don't appearin the book) are the reason why any of us know what happened. Without them there would have been no visual proof & no story.
The truth behind the photographs? - By: R. Lawson, 24 Dec 2008 
This is the stroy of Anu Ghraib, the prisonin Iraq made infamous when phtographs of priosner mistreatment reached the world's press & became icons representing US hypocrisy. The book is carefully researched & comes from countless hours of interviews with the protoganosists. It self-conciously recognises that the photographs themselves only represent an instant. It attmetps to penetrate down to a deeper truth, looking at people's motivations, & the context within which they worked. It raises uncomfortable questions; how far is it permissible to bend the rules? If ethical & moral behaviour is being breached at what point would we do something about it? How far do we bend our standards of behaviour to fitin with the norms of behaviour around us? To an extent we understand that some of the behaviour we reject ourightin our normal placesin society might become all too possilbe if circumstances were changed. Could we trust ourselves to uphold standards we would normally hold dear when others we have to trust with our lives behave as if other values are acceptable & normal? This is a good effort to avoid the purely sensational or cliched & ask the important questions about ourselves & the societies these that soldiers represent.
Nothing unsurprising. - By: Ian Wantling, 23 Dec 2008 
I ordered this book expecting to be shocked/astounded at its contents & "disclosures" - but there was nothing extraordinary revealed after reading through it. Yes, the U.S. werein violation of the Geneva convention - but hey, so were most of those they mis-treated. I'm not anti- anything, just a level headed reader who comes to a level conclusion & althought his book examines & describes the actions of a minority, it's not thought provoking or contentiousin any way. If this subject is of interest to you then yes, buy the book, but otherwise don't expect anything out of the ordinary.
Everyone should read this - By: zenadox, 23 Dec 2008 This well-written book presents the war from the eyes of those who actually lived through it. It's refreshing to see the details without emotive, circulation-focused newspaper headlines gettingin the way.
The war was claimed to be a "war on terror". It was a stupid strapline then & it remains an idiotic strapline today. "Terror" is not a person, place or thing that can be attacked. The war was against a nation & against the guys on the horrendous conditions of the front-line who were as much a victim as the others.
The book does give interesting psychological insight into explaining the brutality by the US soldiers. It's quite disturbing & distressingin places but essential reading.
Supporters of the war will find this a hard book to read. There's a certain lack of the jingoistic war cryin it. I wish it was an essential text-book for wannabe politicians.
