Synopses & Reviews
Sergeant Adam Gray made it home from Iraq only to die in his barracks. For more than three years, reporter Joshua E. S. Phillips with the support of Adam s mother and several of his Army buddies investigated Adam s death. What Phillips uncovered was a story of American veterans psychologically scarred by the abuse they had meted out to Iraqi prisoners.
How did US forces turn to torture? Phillips s narrative recounts the journey of a tank battalion trained for conventional combat as its focus switches to guerrilla war and prisoner detention. It tells of how a group of ordinary soldiers, ill trained for the responsibilities foisted upon them, descended into the degradation of abuse. The location is far from CIA prisons and Guantanamo, but the story captures the use and nature of detainee abuse in the US armed forces that was once widespread.
Based on firsthand reporting from the Middle East, as well as interviews with soldiers, their families and friends, military officials, and the victims of torture, None of Us Were Like This Before reveals how soldiers, senior officials, and the US public came to believe that torture was both effective and necessary. The book illustrates that the damaging legacy of torture is not only borne by the detainees, but also by American soldiers and the country to which they ve returned.
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"A masterwork of narrative nonfiction." Chris Lombardi
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"A tour de force of investigative journalism." Guernica
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This shattering book is a journey into the heart of American darkness. What Joshua Phillips makes shockingly clear is that the misbehaviour of some of our best soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan came about because of a failure of military leadership and because political leaders lacked the courage to admit the word 'torture'."" Eamonn McCann Belfast Telegraph
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"An important and revealing book. While US officials closed cases on torture and abuse by American soldiers when the investigation reached a dead end, Joshua E.S. Philips didn't quit. His personal journey and journalistic investigation is a shocking read about a hidden chapter of the U.S. involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan." Deborah Amos
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This book contributes enormously to the struggle to abolish torture in our time by showing how immoral and illegal policies taint institutions that, in every society and for every mission, need the trust and respect of the citizenry to be effective in fighting crime and terrorism." Deborah Amos, Correspondent for National Public Radio and author of 'Eclipse of the Sunnis: Power, Exile, and Upheaval in the Middle East'
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A deeply personal story of a generation of American soldiers plunged into conflict after September 11. Joshua Phillips tells these brave Americans' stories with compassion and vivid detail. None of Us Were Like This Before reminds us why, on some bedrock issues of American values, there should never be any room for compromise. " Juan E. Mendez, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and author of 'Taking a Stand: The Evolution of Human Rights'
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"None of Us Were Like This Before details the wrenching journey that American soldiers and officers faced trying to report and halt abuse and torture during the 'war on terror.' The stories contained in this book reveal how brave American service members tried to stop torture and abuse--often at the expense of their careers, and their lives. Their sacrifice, and the losses that they incurred, are absorbed by all of us as a nation." NPR
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A model of conscientious reporting on a volatile subject ... His ethical and compassionate approach is an act of citizenship." Daniel Ellsberg, Former Defense and State Department official who revealed the Pentagon Papers
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The first and best heartbreaking tale not only of the abuses taking place within our military prisons ... This outstanding book should provoke urgently needed and highly meaningful conversations about who we are as well as what we thought our military and our political leaders should be. This book is an absolute eye-opener for anyone who thinks war is 'over there' or that the use of torture has no impact on our society." Barry Lopez, author of 'Arctic Dreams' and 'Crossing Open Ground'
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What makes None of Us Were Like This Before such an engaging read, and why there needs to be more attention on the issue of what happens to those who torture when they return, is that the stories are up close and personal ... For those who thought that torture and abuse were isolated to Guantanamo Bay, Afghanistan, and Iraq (not counting the CIA's black sites or extraordinary rendition), think again. It's coming home." Kristina Brown and Paul Sullivan, Veterans for Common Sense
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The American public and the world have a right to know the truth about the crimes committed under the command and responsibility of the Bush administration ... But we will probably need many more books written by investigative journalists like Joshua Phillips until the truth will be fully recovered, and justice will eventually be done." Matthew Alexander Huffington Post
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Phillips shows that the recourse to blaming a 'few bad apples' should be recognized as a disgraceful, face-saving fiction." Manfred Novak, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture (2004-2010)
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"This is an important book showing the damage abuse does to the torturers as well as to their victims ... Phillips's message is that we most need the rules banning torture when we most want to break them." Daniel Ellsberg, former Defense and State Department official who revealed the Pentagon Papers
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"A serious, comprehensive effort to examine how torture and abuse, once embarked upon, damage the torturer and abuser as well as the tortured and abused." Independent
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"A deeply personal story of a generation of American soldiers plunged into conflict after September 11. Joshua Phillips tells these brave Americans' stories with compassion and vivid detail." Lawrence Wilkerson, former Chief of Staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell
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"Joshua Phillips's incredible work in documenting the experience of soldiers who detained and interrogated detainees reflects the huge dilemma and consequences of their actions. His book is about accountability where senior leaders in the military and in the highest level of government failed to account for their actions, failed to protect soldiers who expected clear instructions, and failed the nation in preventing torture and abuse of the enemy. This led to Abu Ghraib--an epic tragedy in American history." Senator John F. Kerry
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"A masterwork of narrative nonfiction." Major General Antonio Taguba, author of the Taguba Report
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"Phillips shows that the recourse to blaming a 'few bad apples' should be recognized as a disgraceful, face-saving fiction." Chris Lombardi Guernica
Synopsis
How the damaging legacy of torture in the US Army affects not just detainees but also the torturers.
Synopsis
None of Us Were Like This Before recounts the dark journey of a tank battalion as its focus switched from conventional military duties to guerilla warfare and prisoner detention. Author Joshua E. S. Phillips tells a story of ordinary soldiers, ill trained for the responsibilities foisted upon them, who descended into a cycle of degradation that led to the abuse of detainees. The book illustrates that the damaging legacy of torture is borne not only by the detainees, but also by American soldiers and the country to which they have returned.
Synopsis
The legacy of torture in the "War on Terror," told through the story of one tank battalion
About the Author
Joshua E. S. Phillips is based in New York City and has reported from Asia and the Middle East. His work has appeared in the Washington Post, Newsweek, Salon, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, among other publications. His radio features have been broadcast on NPR and the BBC. In 2009, Phillips received the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award and the Newspaper Guild’s Heywood Broun Award of Substantial Distinction for his American Radio Works documentary What Killed Sergeant Gray.