Inside Gitmo: The True Story Behind the Myths of Guantanamo Bay
The U.S. military detention center at Guantánamo Bay—known to the public as Gitmo—has been called the American Gulag, a scene of medieval horrors where innocent farmers and goat herders swept up in Afghanistan and Iraq have been sequestered, tortured, and abused for years on end without access to legal counsel or basic medical services.

Gordon Cucullu, a retired army colonel, was so appalled by these reports that he decided to see for himself. In a series of visits he inspected every corner of the camp and interviewed dozens of personnel, from guards and interrogators to cooks and nurses. The result—coming just as the Obama administration wants to close the facility—is a riveting description of daily life for both prisoners and guards. Cucullu describes the six camps reserved for different levels of compliance, details the treatment of prisoners, and examines their experiences in detail, including the techniques used to interrogate them, the food they eat, their medical care, how they communicate with one another, and the many ingenious ways they contrive to assault and injure their guards.

While some prisoners were indeed treated harshly in the early days, when the hastily built camp was flooded with battlefield captures and fears ran high of another 9/11-style attack, Cucullu finds that these excesses were quickly corrected. Current treatment and oversight routines exceed the standards of any maximum-security prison in the world.

Despite what the public has heard, these are not innocent goatherds but dedicated jihadists whose overriding goal—as they themselves candidly say—is to kill Americans. Should they now be released to return to the fight, perhaps on American soil? Read this book and decide for yourself.

1103372477
Inside Gitmo: The True Story Behind the Myths of Guantanamo Bay
The U.S. military detention center at Guantánamo Bay—known to the public as Gitmo—has been called the American Gulag, a scene of medieval horrors where innocent farmers and goat herders swept up in Afghanistan and Iraq have been sequestered, tortured, and abused for years on end without access to legal counsel or basic medical services.

Gordon Cucullu, a retired army colonel, was so appalled by these reports that he decided to see for himself. In a series of visits he inspected every corner of the camp and interviewed dozens of personnel, from guards and interrogators to cooks and nurses. The result—coming just as the Obama administration wants to close the facility—is a riveting description of daily life for both prisoners and guards. Cucullu describes the six camps reserved for different levels of compliance, details the treatment of prisoners, and examines their experiences in detail, including the techniques used to interrogate them, the food they eat, their medical care, how they communicate with one another, and the many ingenious ways they contrive to assault and injure their guards.

While some prisoners were indeed treated harshly in the early days, when the hastily built camp was flooded with battlefield captures and fears ran high of another 9/11-style attack, Cucullu finds that these excesses were quickly corrected. Current treatment and oversight routines exceed the standards of any maximum-security prison in the world.

Despite what the public has heard, these are not innocent goatherds but dedicated jihadists whose overriding goal—as they themselves candidly say—is to kill Americans. Should they now be released to return to the fight, perhaps on American soil? Read this book and decide for yourself.

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Inside Gitmo: The True Story Behind the Myths of Guantanamo Bay

Inside Gitmo: The True Story Behind the Myths of Guantanamo Bay

by Gordon Cucullu
Inside Gitmo: The True Story Behind the Myths of Guantanamo Bay

Inside Gitmo: The True Story Behind the Myths of Guantanamo Bay

by Gordon Cucullu

Paperback(Large Print)

$26.99 
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Overview

The U.S. military detention center at Guantánamo Bay—known to the public as Gitmo—has been called the American Gulag, a scene of medieval horrors where innocent farmers and goat herders swept up in Afghanistan and Iraq have been sequestered, tortured, and abused for years on end without access to legal counsel or basic medical services.

Gordon Cucullu, a retired army colonel, was so appalled by these reports that he decided to see for himself. In a series of visits he inspected every corner of the camp and interviewed dozens of personnel, from guards and interrogators to cooks and nurses. The result—coming just as the Obama administration wants to close the facility—is a riveting description of daily life for both prisoners and guards. Cucullu describes the six camps reserved for different levels of compliance, details the treatment of prisoners, and examines their experiences in detail, including the techniques used to interrogate them, the food they eat, their medical care, how they communicate with one another, and the many ingenious ways they contrive to assault and injure their guards.

While some prisoners were indeed treated harshly in the early days, when the hastily built camp was flooded with battlefield captures and fears ran high of another 9/11-style attack, Cucullu finds that these excesses were quickly corrected. Current treatment and oversight routines exceed the standards of any maximum-security prison in the world.

Despite what the public has heard, these are not innocent goatherds but dedicated jihadists whose overriding goal—as they themselves candidly say—is to kill Americans. Should they now be released to return to the fight, perhaps on American soil? Read this book and decide for yourself.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780061775000
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication date: 03/03/2009
Edition description: Large Print
Pages: 496
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 8.80(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Gordon Cucullu is a retired army colonel and the author of Separated at Birth: How North Korea Became the Evil Twin. He lives in St. Augustine, Florida.

Table of Contents

Maps x

Preface: Close Gitmo? xiii

Introduction: Guantánamo: Myth and Reality xvii

1 Why Guantánamo? 1

2 Muhammad al Qahtani: A Terrorist Case Study 17

3 In the Beginning: Camp X-Ray 41

4 Camp Delta's Mission: A Work in Progress 71

5 Meet the "Foreign Fighters" 87

6 Maximum Security: Camps I, II, and III 147

7 Compliance Rewarded: Inside the Camp IV Wire 181

8 Segregation and Supervision: Camps V and VI 196

9 Camps Echo, Iguana, and a "Secret" CIA Installation 225

10 Daily Life at Gitmo 245

11 Meet the American Military 272

12 Hunger Strikes: Asymmetrical Warfare in Action 296

13 The Value of Intelligence 335

14 The Future of Guantánamo: Critiques and Recommendations 356

Glossary of Military Terms 385

Acknowledgments 389

Notes 397

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