Violence All Around
Product ID: 14692687
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A human rights lawyer travels to hot zones around the globe, before and after the September 11 attacks, to document abuses committed by warlords, terrorist groups, and government counterterrorism forces. Whether reporting on al Qaeda safe houses, the mechanics of the Pentagon’s smartest bombs, his interviews with politicians and ordinary civilians, or his own brush with death outside Kabul, John Sifton wants to help us understand violence―what it is, and how we think and speak about it. For the human rights community, the global war on terror brought unprecedented challenges. Of special concern were the secret detention centers operated by the CIA as it expanded into a paramilitary force, and the harsh treatment of prisoners throughout Iraq and Afghanistan. In drafting legal memoranda that made domestic prosecution for these crimes impossible, Sifton argues, the United States possessed not only the detainees but the law itself. Sifton recounts his efforts to locate secret prisons and reflects on the historical development of sanctioned military or police violence―from hand-to-hand combat to the use of drones―and the likelihood that technology will soon enable completely automated killing. Sifton is equally concerned to examine what people have meant by nonviolent social change, and he asks whether pure nonviolence is ever possible. To invoke rights is to invoke the force to uphold them, he reminds us. Ultimately, advocates for human rights can only shame the world into better behavior, and their work may involve advocating the very violence they deplore. Review: A sober account of our capacity for violence, our ... - A sober account of our capacity for violence, our legitimizing of it and our need to keep it hidden. The author doesn't theorize or speculate; he reports on his observations and interviews with the victims of our violence as well as other human rights workers and journalists. Review: Ya Gotta Read It! - A true must read to understand the nefariousness of our spook agencies and how they have screwed up Middle East (as well as other) relationships and fostered terrorism for decades to come.
| Best Sellers Rank | #4,245,749 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #2,658 in Foreign & International Law #2,736 in Human Rights Law (Books) #3,568 in Violence in Society (Books) |
| Customer Reviews | 4.2 out of 5 stars 10 Reviews |
J**N
A sober account of our capacity for violence, our ...
A sober account of our capacity for violence, our legitimizing of it and our need to keep it hidden. The author doesn't theorize or speculate; he reports on his observations and interviews with the victims of our violence as well as other human rights workers and journalists.
X**R
Ya Gotta Read It!
A true must read to understand the nefariousness of our spook agencies and how they have screwed up Middle East (as well as other) relationships and fostered terrorism for decades to come.
S**R
Enduring Relevance
<i>Violence All Around</i> provides its reader with an expanded perspective on the subject of violence, examining its character, history and expressions in politics, war, rebellion, revolution and in common everyday life situations. As a human rights attorney, Sifton was an embedded researcher for Human Rights Watch (sometimes a private investigator or authoritative consultant for the ACLU) active in the Middle East and Eastern Europe before, and for many years, after, the September 11 attacks. He shares in-depth inside knowledge and detail as a focused backdrop for what evolves into an extensive treatise on violence as well as the workings of international intelligence agencies and the difficulties involved in attempting to influence those in power. Although detailed attention is given to the period prior to publication, its select examples don’t make the book dated. References are sometimes made to ancient history as samples of enduring relevance. This thorough treatise on the subject is a must read for anyone wishing to have a well-rounded view.
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