Tortured by Torture: Book Recommendation

You can turn on the TV today and not hear a story about torture. Since the release of the torture memos that is all the media wants to talk about. And for good reason. It is an important topic that needs to be talked about, but it beginning to get old. It is the same old talking heads giving the same old bullet points.

Now I don't think it would come to anyone's surprise that I am against the use of torture and I am glad that the memos got released. It is important that people understand what is happening and it is also important that we recognize our mistake to the world. Some people won't view are acts of torture as mistakes and that is okay, I can respect that, I just disagree. First off, torture doesn't really work, but more importantly, we can't be a nation that stands up for human rights around the world and punishes countries that don't conform, if we are going around committing acts that are in clear contradiction to human rights laws. There are many arguments against the use of torture that I don't have time to get into, so I must move on.

Anyway, this post isn't for me to rant about my beliefs (too late), it is a book recommendation. I strongly recommend to all of you that you pick up Matthew Alexander's "How to Break a Terrorist: The U.S. Interrogators Who Used Brains, Not Brutality, to Take Down the Deadliest Man in Iraq." This is a story written by the man to go the information that lead to the killing of Abu Musab al Zarqawi. Alexander, which isn't his real name, demonstrates how the use of torture and fear techniques yielded exactly nothing and how he and his team used techniques like building a rapport understanding, and respect to break the one of the greatest criminal rings of our time.

As most of you know this isn't the first time that I have recommended this book, but with the happens of the recent weeks, I think it is important to put it back into the discussion. Whether you think that releasing the torture memos was correct, or even if we should be using torture techniques, this is still an important read. It provides great insight into negotiation strategies, along with demonstrating that even though you might hate the person you are interrogating, it is important to put that aside to get the information you need. It is a quick read and shouldn't take long, so pick it up (or ask me to borrow it) and give it a read.

Also, I would like to recommend my friend's new blog "Who Cares?" It is a fun read and will provide some insight into things that people say and do, that no one else really cares about...http://walksthoughts.blogspot.com/