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Guantanamo and the Abuse of Presidential Power
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 342.73062
EAN: 9780743286862
ISBN: 0743286863
Label: Simon & Schuster
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 352
Publication Date: July 03, 2007
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Studio: Simon & Schuster
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Editorial Review:
The detention system established by the Bush Administration at Guantánamo Bay Naval Station in Cuba is like no other in our nation's history. Joseph Margulies traces the development of this detention policy from its ill-conceived creation in 2002 as "the ideal interrogation chamber" to its present form, where most prisoners are held without charges in a super-maximum security prison, even though the U.S. government has acknowledged that many have been cleared for release and most of the others are not even alleged to have committed a hostile act against the United States or its allies.
Margulies, who was the lead attorney in the Supreme Court case Rasul v. Bush, writes that Guantánamo and other secret CIA and Defense Department detention centers around the world have become "prisons beyond the law," where the Administration claims the right to hold people indefinitely, incommunicado, and in solitary confinement without charges, access to counsel, and without benefit of the Geneva Conventions. Weaving together firsthand accounts of military personnel who witnessed the interrogations at Guantánamo along with the words of the prisoners themselves, Margulies exposes the chilling reality of a "war on terror" that masks an assault on basic human rights -- rights to which the United States has always subscribed.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Historical First
If only we had had human rights lawyers preserving the rights of German, Italian, and Japanese prisoners of war. That would have advanced the war effort during WWII. FDR and Truman must be characterized as war criminals too given the narrow criteria of the author. It is merely mincing words to describe the detainees as somehow different than prisoners of war. The UN has failed to create a category for insurgents and militants in regards to combat and capture. They are not common criminals deserving ... Read More
Rating:  - eye-opening look at Guantanamo
This book made me sad. Because it is so well-written about subject matter that was beyond my belief, I have been shaken out of my idylls. Worse still it is so well documented that every item can easily be looked up and confirmed.
What brought me to this book was my reading in German the book by Murat Kurnaz, "Five Years of My Life: An Innocent Man in Guantanamo" in July of 2007. Not a detail of the legal matters mentioned by Margulies is in conflict with Mr. Kurnaz's first-hand account of ... Read More
Rating: - Confronting a black hole of injustice
The author was the lead counsel for Rasul and other detainees in the noted Supreme Court case of 2004, Rasul v. Bush. The question in that case underlines the whole bitter debate with the Bush Administration: whether detainees at Guantanamo have the right to challenge their indefinite detention in a fair way. The other big issue in this book involves torture and how the detainees are treated.
The author notes that the United States has always been at the forefront in upholding the Geneva Conventions. ... Read More
Rating: - A powerful and important book
This book deserves a much wider audience. No matter how bad you think things are in Guantanamo, this book makes clear that the reality is ten times worse. Margulies is extremely knowledgeable about the issues, and he's a fine writer. It is hard not to feel ashamed -- and outraged -- by the injustices that are occurring under our flag. Let me add that I do not know (and have never met) the author, Joseph Margulies.
Rating: - Extremely well-written, intelligent arguments.
One of the few books I've read about any controversial topic that resists the temptation to start name-calling, insult-slinging and obvious political agendas.
Dr. Margulies succeeds in explaining legal arguments in a way that is engaging and not condescending. He addresses every question you could have about torture and then some. He does something many authors fail to do: he argues his point in a greater context than the argument itself. That is to say, anyone can argue torture in the context ... Read More
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