Tortured: When Good Soldiers Do Bad Things

267 Pages·2010·0.89 MB·English

by  Justine Sharrock

( c o n t i n u e d f r o m f r o n t f l a p ) $25.95 USA / $30.95 CAN
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former friends and neighbors in Cumberland, Maryland, A
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who consider him a traitor to his National Guard unit,
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the town itself, and the nation at large. Sharrock’s
Praise for O
interviews with many of Cumberland’s angry and
C In Tortured, journalist Justine Sharrock brings us an
desperate residents create a tragic and memorable K eyewitness account of what it feels like to torture,
portrait of crumbling small-town America clinging to
revealing a huge chasm between what the headlines
the myth of the nation’s grandeur. Through these highly
say about America’s torture program and what really
personal stories, Sharrock illustrates the larger crisis
happened. Sharrock traveled around the country,
that the country faces in reconciling its torture policy “Powerful and important. Justine Sharrock talks to soldiers whose patriotic duty was warped
talking to the young, low-ranking soldiers who worked
with its national identity.
by the Bush administration, making torturers out of ordinary men and women. A must-read at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo, documenting the
consequences of torture. These soldiers, thinking they
for all Americans concerned by the corrosive impact of the Bush administration’s ‘War on
would be heroes, followed orders from the top with
The soldiers you’ll meet in this regrettably true story
the assurance that those orders were both legal and
Terror’ policies on the U.S. military.”
never waterboarded anyone. They were not involved with
noble. Later, they realized that they had committed war
interrogating prisoners. Thoughts of ticking time bombs
—Andy Worthington, journalist and author of The Guantanamo Files crimes. Their experiences left them feeling disillusioned
didn’t cross their minds. Their job was to maintain a
and profoundly betrayed by the very government they
constant routine of brutality and abuse and to keep
had set out to defend. For too long, these soldiers hid
detainees in a weakened and, yes, terrorized state.
“An extraordinary book that explores the ugliest underbelly of war. Sharrock takes the their reactions and revelations, silenced by family and
These patriotic young Americans joined the service when
friends who were determined to see them as war heroes
their country needed them most, then found themselves discussion of torture and prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo into new territory,
and by the many Americans who think we should have
to be both the villains and the victims in their own worst
delving into the lives of the soldiers on the ground assigned these brutal tasks. Throughout done even more.
nightmares. Should they be tried for war crimes? Or
should prosecutors start at the top, with George Bush, the book, Sharrock maintains a balance between empathy and tough reporting as she
Dick Cheney, and Donald Rumsfeld? Read Tortured, In this shocking and heartbreaking exposé, you’ll
then decide. examines the anguish and denial of men who participated in what can only be described as meet gung-ho Texan Brandon Neely, the fi rst soldier
to beat up a detainee at Guantanamo Prison when it
acts of evil but who do not believe themselves to be evil.”
opened in 2002, who is only now realizing that what
JUSTINE SHARROCK is an investigative
—Thomas B. Edsall, political editor, The Huffi ngton Post he did was wrong. You’ll follow medic Andrew Duffy
reporter whose work has appeared in
on his rounds at Abu Ghraib, where he was ordered to
When Good Soldiers
Mother Jones, Utne Reader, AlterNet,
“rough up” detainees, was ridiculed for trying to save
and San Francisco magazine. Her W
a prisoner’s life, and ended up taking out his anger on
article “Am I a Torturer?” was part Dh
e the prisoners. Through the eyes of nineteen-year-old
Do Bad Things
of a Mother Jones series nominated for a 2008 National on
B G private Chris Arendt, you’ll come to understand how a
Magazine Award.
ao Guantanamo soldier can himself feel imprisoned by his
d
o
Td inability to say no.
h S
io
n
l
Author Photograph: Patrick Hoffmann gd All three of these men now live in the grip of post-
si
Jacket Photograph: © Jupiter Images e traumatic stress disorder. The fourth, Abu Ghraib
r
s whistleblower Joe Darby, lives in hiding. After
turning over the notorious photos to Army criminal
J U S T I N E S H A R R O C K investigators, he received numerous threats from his
( c o n t i n u e d o n b a c k f l a p )
m a t t e f i n i s h
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Tortured
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Tortured
When Good Soldiers
Do Bad Things
JUSTINE SHARROCK
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Copyright © 2010 by Justine Sharrock. All rights reserved
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey
Published simultaneously in Canada
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
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of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to
the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978)
750-8400, fax [phone], or on the web at www.copyright.com. Requests to
the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department,
John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, [phone],
fax [phone], or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.
Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and the author have
used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or war-
ranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and
specifi cally disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fi tness for a particular
purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written
sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your
situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher
nor the author shall be liable for any loss of profi t or any other commercial damages,
including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.
For general information about our other products and services, please contact our
Customer Care Department within the United States at [phone], outside the
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Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that
appears in print may not be available in electronic books. For more information about
Wiley products, visit our web site at www.wiley.com.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Sharrock, Justine, date.
Tortured: when good soldiers do bad things
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-0-470-45403-9 (cloth); ISBN 978-0-470-59281-6 (ebk);
ISBN 978-0-470-59312-7 (ebk); ISBN 978-0-470-59313-4 (ebk)
1. Torture–United States. 2. Iraq War, 2003—Prisoners and prisons,
American. 3. Prisoners of war–Abuse of–Iraq. 4. Prisoners of war–Abuse
of–Cuba–Guantánamo Bay Naval Base. 5. Guantánamo Bay Detention Camp.
6. Abu Ghraib Prison. I. Title.
HV8599.U6S53 2010
956.7044’3–dc22
2009037588
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction 1
PART ONE: BRANDON NEELY
1. Shoot First, Think Later 11
2. You Can’t Just Flip a Switch 29
3. Blowing the Whistle 45
PART TWO: JOE DARBY
4. The Rat 61
5. Torture Town, USA 71
6. The Black Mark 93
vv
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vi CONTENTS
PART THREE: ANDREW DUFFY
7. A Lot of Gray Area 105
8. The Cycle of Rage and Resentment 123
9. The Price of Speaking Out 137
PART FOUR: CHRIS ARENDT
10. By the Book 161
11. An Origami Bird’s Eye View 187
12. Not the Country We Thought We Were 197
13. Seeking Redemption 225
Conclusion: A Nation That Tortures 235
Notes 241
Index 247
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Acknowledgments
T his book could not have been possible without the help of my
parents, Juliet and Nigel Sharrock; my sisters, Emily and Penelope;
and my brother - in - law, Leo. Thank you for your constant support
and encouragement.
I t was Dale Maharidge who helped me with the initial vision of
this project and saw its potential as a book. He pushed me to be a
better writer and, as he put it, kept me climbing that ten - thousand -
f oot wall of ice. Without Dale’ s guidance and mentorship, I would
not be where I am today.
My editor, Eric Nelson, was extraordinary with his feedback,
insight, and encouragement. My agent, Amy Rennert, had faith
in this project when others thought torture was a passing issue.
My eternal gratitude to you both.
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viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I want to thank everyone else at Wiley, including production
editor Lisa Burstiner. My thanks also to Nikki Gloudeman and
Taylor Wiles for their excellent fact - checking.
I am especially grateful to the soldiers themselves, particularly
Chris Arendt, Joe Darby, Andy Duffy, and Brandon Neely, without
whose candor, bravery, and answers to my endless questions there
would be no book. This project was in many ways a collaborative
effort. I am honored to have had the chance to help tell their
stories.
I would also like to thank the many people who welcomed me
into their homes and their lives, especially Kari and Tim Vivoda,
Sarah Schulte, and Wendy Neely.
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