The Interrogators: Task Force 500 And America's Secret War Against Al Qaeda

<p><P>An unprecedented look at the front line of the war against terror&#58; the inside story of five American interrogators, thousands of prisoners, and the race for the truth. More than 3,000 prisoners in the war on terrorism have been captured, held, and interrogated in Afghanistan alone. But no one knows what transpired in those interactions between prisoner and interrogator&#151;until now. In The Interrogators, Chris Mackey, the senior interrogator at Bagram Air Base and in Kandahar, where al-Qaeda and Taliban prisoners were first detained and questioned, lifts the curtain. Soldiers specially trained in the art of interrogation went face-to-face with the enemy. These mental and psychological battles were as grueling, dramatic, and important as any in the war on terrorism. We learn how, under Mackey's command, his small group of "soldier spies" engineered a breakthrough in interrogation strategy, rewriting techniques and tactics grounded in the Cold War. Mackey reveals the tricks of the trade, and we see how his team&#151;four men and one woman&#151;responded to the pressure and the prisoners. By the time Mackey's group was finished, virtually no prisoner went unbroken.</p> <h3>Raymond Puffer - KLIATT</h3> <p>During these days of controversy about prisoners' rights in Guantanamo, the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, and heated discussions about torture, an insider's view of the Army's detainee centers and interrogation rooms is especially welcome. Author Chris Mackey is, one supposes, as close as anyone can be to a professional inquisitor in America. His book is neither defensive nor accusatory in nature; neither an apologia nor an expose, but rather the straightforward account of a highly specialized US Army Reservist called from his civilian job to serve in Afghanistan. His training background was both extensive and impressive: Army Intelligence School at Fort Huachua, Arabic and German at the Monterrey foreign language school, various courses in arcane subjects, and cross training by British counterparts. Then finally it was off to Afghanistan, interrogating Al Queda suspects on their way to Cuba. Mackey reveals the inside of a tough and controversial business that few outsiders can appreciate or really understand. For one thing, deliberate brutality and torture are shunned by intelligence examiners; not only is it strictly forbidden, but the results can never be trusted anyway. Subtlety and outright trickery are much more effective, and interviewers prefer a wide array of psychological games and incredibly devious techniques they often improvise on the spot. Frequently it is a nimble mind-to-mind struggle with captives who are thoroughly schooled in resistance tactics, and consequently their successes can be few. But if the work is often frustrating, it is nevertheless fascinating and highly rewarding, and their occasional successes can be measured in lives. This book is a rare eye-opener intoan elite world that few people know anything about. Adult readers and YAs from all sectors will find it fascinating. KLIATT Codes: SA*&#151;Exceptional book, recommended for senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. 2004, Little, Brown, 483p. illus., Ages 15 to adult. </p>