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Review
aHere, author and journalist Gourevitch and documentary filmmaker Morris have compiled the complete story of Abu Ghraib, from Iraqi prison to prison of occupying American forces, and the crimes its walls concealedaonly some of which were revealed in photographs that hit the global media in 2003. Drawing from Morrisas lengthy interviews with the soldiers who photographed and participated in prisoner abuse, the authors render in clear detail the horror and inhumanity of Abu Ghraib, for prisoner and guard alike: aInexperienced, untrained, under attack, and under orders to do wrong, the low-ranking reservist MPs who implemented the nefarious policy... knew that what they were doing was immoral, and they knew that if it wasn't illegal, it ought to be.a From the squalid conditions to the lack of regulations to the appalling acts that jolted the world, this chronicle of unconscionable behavior, and the political maneuvering that took place in its aftermath, is as much a page-turner as any fictional thriller. Companion to Morrisas documentary film of the same name, this deft piece of reportage will stir readersa anger, at both the actions and the consequences; not only was the torture purposeless (aNobody has even bothered to pretend otherwisea), but ano soldier above the rank of sergeant ever served jail time... [and] Nobody was ever charged with torture, or war crimes, or any violation of the Geneva Conventions.a A thorough, terrifying account of an American-made abedlam, a the latest from Gourevitch is as troubling, and arguably as important, as his 1998 Rwanda investigation "We Wish to Inform You that Tomorrow We Will be Killed with Our Families,"a
a"Publishers Weekly" (starred review)
aThis book has to be read.a
a"Newsweek"
aA tightly knit and damning narrativea] one of the most devastating of the many books on Iraq.a
a"New York Times Book Review"
aPhilip Gourevitchas exemplary book will take its toll for years.a
a"The New York Observer"
aFascinating.a
a"The Economist"
aGourevitchas eye for telling detail evokes the best of "The New Yorker" traditionaCapote's "In Cold Blood," Hersey's "Hiroshimaa] Standard Operating Procedure" is essential reading for our time.a
a"The Tennessean"
aAs much a page-turner as any fictional thrillera] A thorough, terrifying account of an American-made abedlam, a the latest from Gourevitch is as troubling, and arguably as important, as his 1998 Rwanda investigation "We Wish to Inform You that Tomorrow We Will be Killed with Our Families,"a
a"Publishers Weekly"
a[A] gut wrenching morality checka
aNPRas "Talk of the Nation"
aAdmirablea] remarkable powera
aMichiko Kakutani, "The New York Times"
aA compelling storya] [Gourevitch] is a master of looking more closely, which means both more sympathetically and more criticallya] Gourevitchas account takes us outside the frame, giving us the chance to understand the dynamic of the unit in which violence and romance were S.O.Pa] The book shows how lawlessness became the law.a
a"The Los Angeles Times"
aRemarkable.a
a"The Denver Post"
aGourevitcha]brings to this study of the Abu Ghraib scandal the same graceful balancing of reportage and insight that marked his extraordinary book on the Rwandan genocide, "We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families"a] the shocks arrive throughlanguage alone.a
a"Time Out NY"
a"Publishers Weekly" (starred review)
aThis book has to be read.a
a"Newsweek"
aA tightly knit and damning narrativea] one of the most devastating of the many books on Iraq.a
a"New York Times Book Review"
aPhilip Gourevitchas exemplary book will take its toll for years.a
a"The New York Observer"
aFascinating.a
a"The Economist"
aGourevitchas eye for telling detail evokes the best of "The New Yorker" traditionaCapote's "In Cold Blood," Hersey's "Hiroshimaa] Standard Operating Procedure" is essential reading for our time.a
a"The Tennessean"
aAs much a page-turner as any fictional thrillera] A thorough, terrifying account of an American-made abedlam, a the latest from Gourevitch is as troubling, and arguably as important, as his 1998 Rwanda investigation "We Wish to Inform You that Tomorrow We Will be Killed with Our Families,"a
a"Publishers Weekly"
a[A] gut wrenching morality checka
aNPRas "Talk of the Nation"
aAdmirablea] remarkable powera
aMichiko Kakutani, "The New York Times"
aA compelling storya] [Gourevitch] is a master of looking more closely, which means both more sympathetically and more criticallya] Gourevitchas account takes us outside the frame, giving us the chance to understand the dynamic of the unit in which violence and romance were S.O.Pa] The book shows how lawlessness became the law.a
a"The Los Angeles Times"
aRemarkable.a
a"The Denver Post"
aGourevitcha]brings to this study of the Abu Ghraib scandal the same graceful balancing of reportage and insight that marked his extraordinary book on the Rwandan genocide, "We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families"a] the shocks arrive throughlanguage alone.a
a"Time Out NY"
The Guardian
'an extraordinary book...Although Gourevitch lets the soldiers speak for themselves, his few analytical forays are invaluable.'
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
American journalist Philip Gourevitch documents the combination of bureaucracy, a lack of resources, ignorance and revenge provided the ideal conditions to produce a barbaric regime for the interrogation of prisoners.
The slow descent into barbarity relies as much on good people being prepared to do nothing as much as the acts of the main protagonists. If Gourevitch has any fault in this work, it is that he fails to find anyone guilty at all, since the blame is spread widely and thinly like peanut butter in a sandwich.
The slow descent into barbarity relies as much on good people being prepared to do nothing as much as the acts of the main protagonists. If Gourevitch has any fault in this work, it is that he fails to find anyone guilty at all, since the blame is spread widely and thinly like peanut butter in a sandwich.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
There are many theories as to how men become monsters in times of war.
This is not a theory, it is about reality. Depressingly, it only occasionally hints at the humanity of some officers, and shows how history will record the last decade of operations in Iraq as a dark corner of humanity. We will not be seen as brutal fascists of bygone eras, but just ordinary men, evolving psychologically into a state none of us should aspire to. Men who want to destroy other people mentally rather than physically.
Ultimately, I'm left wondering who oversees the overseers and how could this awful state of affairs arise?
Washington should take this book to heart and learn the lessons contained within.
This is not a theory, it is about reality. Depressingly, it only occasionally hints at the humanity of some officers, and shows how history will record the last decade of operations in Iraq as a dark corner of humanity. We will not be seen as brutal fascists of bygone eras, but just ordinary men, evolving psychologically into a state none of us should aspire to. Men who want to destroy other people mentally rather than physically.
Ultimately, I'm left wondering who oversees the overseers and how could this awful state of affairs arise?
Washington should take this book to heart and learn the lessons contained within.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
This book follows the story of the scandal that emerged following Gulf War 2 of the US treatment of prisoners in Iraq. We finally find out what exactly led to the outcry over Abu Ghraib prison.
We already know that the war was instigated to remove Saddam but also that the US, and her allies, had no actual plan in place for what followed. There was no plan for how the country would be run after "victory" was declared.
Policy appeared to be made either on the hoof, by well meaning but incompetent functionaries with no clue on putting systems in place or by ideologically motivated people with little regard for the Iraqi people.
The war was supposed to be about "freeing" the Iraqi people and instilling "democracy" in the Middle East. What the people ended up with was a new dictatorship that removed their rights, ruled with no regard to international or even US law and with no understanding of Arab culture.
Here we find that what led to the scandal at Abu Ghraib came about because no one would listen to people with experience in running prisons. They had the people set things up but then removed them before they could train the staff effectively. They brought in reservists with no experience of running a modern prison.
Policing was done by squaddies who had no idea about modern policing methods. If they ran into trouble then they arrested everyone in the area, there was no thought as to who was guilty or involved. Instead of using a fishing line they used trawl nets. They ended up with over crowded prisons full of people who shouldn't have been there and with no real records of what people had been arrested for.
The system was now run by a woman who had led the torture of prisoners captured in Afghanistan - she'd won medals for this. So the culture she instilled in those under her command. What made it worse was that the culture was encouraged by senior people in the civil administration in Washington.
You really need to read this to discover what our governments are doing in our name. This is what the "War on Terror" has brought us to - illeagal torture, rendition and the suspension of international law.
We already know that the war was instigated to remove Saddam but also that the US, and her allies, had no actual plan in place for what followed. There was no plan for how the country would be run after "victory" was declared.
Policy appeared to be made either on the hoof, by well meaning but incompetent functionaries with no clue on putting systems in place or by ideologically motivated people with little regard for the Iraqi people.
The war was supposed to be about "freeing" the Iraqi people and instilling "democracy" in the Middle East. What the people ended up with was a new dictatorship that removed their rights, ruled with no regard to international or even US law and with no understanding of Arab culture.
Here we find that what led to the scandal at Abu Ghraib came about because no one would listen to people with experience in running prisons. They had the people set things up but then removed them before they could train the staff effectively. They brought in reservists with no experience of running a modern prison.
Policing was done by squaddies who had no idea about modern policing methods. If they ran into trouble then they arrested everyone in the area, there was no thought as to who was guilty or involved. Instead of using a fishing line they used trawl nets. They ended up with over crowded prisons full of people who shouldn't have been there and with no real records of what people had been arrested for.
The system was now run by a woman who had led the torture of prisoners captured in Afghanistan - she'd won medals for this. So the culture she instilled in those under her command. What made it worse was that the culture was encouraged by senior people in the civil administration in Washington.
You really need to read this to discover what our governments are doing in our name. This is what the "War on Terror" has brought us to - illeagal torture, rendition and the suspension of international law.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Emotional roller coaster
Shocking, horrendous, pitiable, inhuman, frightening, distasteful... but very strangely compelling. I wanted to put this down, to throw it away, burn it... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Mike Eccles
A thoroughly depressing, but essential read...
This book is about what happened at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, not when Saddam Hussein was in charge, but rather after Iraq was "liberated" by the Americans, with token... Read more
Published 13 months ago by John P. Jones III
A shock and ore read
All it takes for evil to flourish is for good men to do nothing.
This challenging and thought-provocking book really leaves you with a sense that it was never just one... Read more
This challenging and thought-provocking book really leaves you with a sense that it was never just one... Read more
Published on 28 May 2010 by Pen Name
Usually not my cup of tea but this time interesting...
I dont normally rate this sort of book as they usually sensationalise or denegrate the subject matter but this time I found it to be quite interesting... Read more
Published on 21 Jan 2010 by Mr. Darren P. Hammond
It feels terrible to be so enthusiastic about such subject matter
The war in Iraq and its endless tessellation of subaltern topics is a subject freighted with anger, dogma and conjecture. Read more
Published on 24 Nov 2009 by ghandibob
SOP for the naive
I always find reading about events like this both reinforces my view that 1. people are stupid because they never think they'll get caught.... Read more
Published on 15 Oct 2009 by Eve
Inside the nightmare of Abu Ghrahib
Standard Operating Procedure is the soldiers' story of what happened at Abu Ghrahib, the notorious Iraq prison where US soldiers and military police were photographed abusing... Read more
Published on 2 July 2009 by J A C Corbett
Interesting, and rather different from the media discussion
A lack of care, a lack of attention to detail, but processes started by people who seem to have genuinely hoped to make things better. Read more
Published on 17 April 2009 by David Burton
Very Disturbing
Perhaps the title of this book tends to obscure the content; I certainly did not know what to expect. "Abu Ghraib: The True Story" may be more apt, and what a story it is. Read more
Published on 17 April 2009 by John Richard
Discomfiting on many levels
I'm not about to discuss the political or ethical issues raised in this book; the can of worms is just too big! Read more
Published on 18 Mar 2009 by H Pedder
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