Julie B. reviewed How to Break a Terrorist: The U.S. Interrogators Who Used Brains, Not Brutality, to Take Down the Deadliest Man in Iraq on + 65 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
This book provides a very interesting peek into the hunt for Al Qaeda's head of operations in Iraq, al-Zarqawi. I'm pretty skeptical of "I'm a hero everyone else is a dufus- type" accounts of events like this one, but the book does provide insight into the insurgency in Iraq and the road of compromises that ended in Abu Graib.
gsisk reviewed How to Break a Terrorist: The U.S. Interrogators Who Used Brains, Not Brutality, to Take Down the Deadliest Man in Iraq on + 192 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Interesting reading - I would not call it an "unputdownable thriller", though.
Instead of physical torture, psychological/emotional torture is being used, which leaves a somewhat bad taste in my mouth, but is more acceptable, I guess, than waterboarding etc., especially if you consider the crimes that were committed. What is most fascinating is how the interrogators figure out what makes each guy tick and use that against him. Also interesting to me was how orchestrated the interrogation process overall is - until now I thought that each interrogator acted more or less independently. Very informative.
Instead of physical torture, psychological/emotional torture is being used, which leaves a somewhat bad taste in my mouth, but is more acceptable, I guess, than waterboarding etc., especially if you consider the crimes that were committed. What is most fascinating is how the interrogators figure out what makes each guy tick and use that against him. Also interesting to me was how orchestrated the interrogation process overall is - until now I thought that each interrogator acted more or less independently. Very informative.
Chris L. (skybox2016) reviewed How to Break a Terrorist: The U.S. Interrogators Who Used Brains, Not Brutality, to Take Down the Deadliest Man in Iraq on + 7 more book reviews
I got this book because I was interested in learning more about the "new way" of interrogation. I was a bit disappointed regarding the lack of details on how the intelligence gained was used. I also found myself wanting more detail in about every area that was discussed. The entire book is essentially set in either the interrogation room or interrogator "pit" where that do their administrative work. That being said...I must admit that the author pulled me rapidly through the book despite it's lack of details. He does a great job of building suspense. So, despite it's flaws, I consider the book a quick and good read.
