Unjustifiable Means: The Inside Story of How the CIA, Pentagon, and US Government Conspired to Torture

by Mark Fallon

The book the government doesn’t want you to read.

President Trump wants to bring back torture. This is why he’s wrong.

In his more than thirty years as an NCIS special agent and counterintelligence officer, Mark Fallon has investigated some of the most significant terrorist operations in US history, including the first bombing of the World Trade Center and the 2000 attack on the USS Cole. He knew well how to bring criminals to justice, all the while upholding the Constitution. But in the aftermath of September 11, 2001, it was clear that America was dealing with a new kind of enemy. Soon after the attacks, Fallon was named Deputy Commander of the newly formed Criminal Investigation Task Force (CITF), created to probe the al-Qaeda terrorist network and bring suspected terrorists to trial. Fallon was determined to do the job the right way, but with the opening of Guantanamo Bay and the arrival of its detainees, he witnessed a shadowy dark side of the intelligence community that emerged, peddling a snake-oil they called “enhanced interrogation techniques.”

In Unjustifiable Means , Fallon reveals this dark side of the United States government, which threw our own laws and international covenants aside to become a nation that tortured—sanctioned by the highest-ranking members of the Bush Administration, the Army, and the CIA, many of whom still hold government positions, although none have been held accountable. Until now.

Follow along as Fallon pieces together how this shadowy group incrementally—and secretly—loosened the reins on interrogation techniques at Gitmo and later, Abu-Ghraib, and black sites around the world. He recounts how key psychologists disturbingly violated human rights and adopted harsh practices to fit the Bush administration’s objectives even though such tactics proved ineffective, counterproductive, and damaging to our own national security. Fallon untangles the powerful decisions the administration’s legal team—the Bush “War Counsel”—used to provide the cover needed to make torture the modus operandi of the United States government. As Fallon says, “You could clearly see it coming, you could wave your arms and yell, but there wasn’t a damn thing you could do to stop it.”

Unjustifiable Means is hard-hitting, raw, and explosive, and forces the spotlight back on to how America lost its way. Fallon also exposes those responsible for using torture under the guise of national security, as well as those heroes who risked it all to oppose the program. By casting a defining light on one of America’s darkest periods, Mark Fallon weaves a cautionary tale for those who wield the power to reinstate torture.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, History, Military Fiction

240 pages, Hardcover

Published October 24, 2017

About the author

Mark Fallon is leading national security expert, an acclaimed author, and an international security consultant. His government service spans more than three decades with positions including NCIS Deputy Assistant Director for Counterterrorism and Senior Executive within the Department of Homeland Security. He currently serves as Chair of the International Association of Chiefs of Police IMPACT Section and as a member of a Global Steering Committee, developing universal standards for non-coercive interviewing. Fallon’s extensive counterterrorism experience includes the investigation of Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman (“the Blind Sheik”), leading the USS Cole Task Force, and serving as the Deputy Commander of the task force investigating the al-Qaida terrorist network for trials before military commissions. He was the program manager for research studies of violent extremism for the Qatar International Academy for Security Studies and served as Chair of the U.S. Government High Value Detainee Interrogation Group Research Committee. As a media expert, Fallon provides commentary for major outlets including CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, BBC and Al Jazeera; and for films including ‘Inside the Real NCIS’ (National Geographic), ‘Cable Car Collision’ (National Geographic), ‘Rendition Revisited’ (Al Jazeera), ‘Inside America’s Dark Prison’ (TRT World Focal Point), ‘Zero Impunity’ (a_Bahn Film Production) and ‘Eminent Monsters’ (Hopscotch Films). He has been published in Newsweek, Politico Magazine, Huffington Post, NY Daily News, Police Chief Magazine and the Journal of Applied Cognitive Psychology. His recent book, “Unjustifiable Means: The Inside Story of How the CIA, Pentagon and US Government Conspired to Torture” earned wide acclaim, and he is a contributing author of “The Psychology of Criminal Investigation: From Theory to Practice” and “Interrogation and Torture: Integrating Efficacy with Law and Morality,” (Oxford University Press, 2020), for which he also served as co-editor. www.markfallon.us

Reviews

[Kerry Avery · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finished this book on the same day I got it. This book gives you a behind the scenes look at what happened in the war on terror which resulted in us sinking to the level of the evil terrorists we're fighting. The story is well laid out and told in a manner which is easy to understand, even for a civilian with no military background.

Mark brilliantly supports his stance and explains who colluded to justify acts which broke a number of international laws, breached the constitution, and amounted to war crimes, and who tried at every stage to stop it. When you read this book you understand why they had to fight to get it released. I hope everyone takes advantage of this opportunity to understand the role of interrogation in the ongoing war on terror, and the need to maintain ethics and integrity.

[Dan Norland · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the opportunity to read an advance copy, and I can't recommend this book highly enough.

Unjustifiable Means is a moral compass for a nation in desperate need of one. Mark Fallon's clear, compelling prose crackles with eloquent outrage, borne not of bitterness or frustration but of a fierce belief that our nation can better live up to our ideals. He makes the moral and practical case against torture as persuasively as it can be made, sharing the hard-earned lessons of decades as an investigator and painting a painfully vivid portrait of what happens when those lessons are discarded in favor of an approach that is immoral, inhumane, and un-American. If enough people pay attention to this book, perhaps we can still become the nation that Mark Fallon thought we were.

[Ieva · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will share a couple of quotes from this book, which depict why I liked this book so much!
"Once torture is accepted in limited doses, it begins to spread like a virus."

On Rumsfeld and his decisions: "Rumsfeld continued, "I wish we had known more sooner and been able to tell you more sooner, but we didn't". It was an audacious performance for someone who had hand-picked both Dunlavey and Miller to lead the Gitmo Battle Lab, sent Miller to Abu Ghraib, and worked to scuttle high-level legal reviews of the very torture tactics the committee was investigating. Rumsfeld knew he had blood on his hands, but there was no remorse in his conscience."

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gripping and deeply chilling - as it should be. While I've read a lot on this subject, appalling as it is, and am therefore familiar with much of what is described here in terms of horrifying things done to people, I nevertheless came out of this feeling sick as well as angry beyond words. Just as disturbing as the abuses committed is the continuing lack of accountability - and at this stage, it's certainly looking very doubtful that there is ever going to be any. This is a powerful and important book that should be far more widely read.

[Esmeralda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I became interested in this matter after watching The Report on Amazon. I decided to learn a bit more and this book came up on my searches. I absolutely love that this was the first thing I read. It was informative and something your average person could read and understand. I recommend everyone read this!

[Kaeli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only okay. Not as good as I expected but provided some information I think every American should have before they form an opinion on the Middle East and Gitmo Bay. Humanity is truly awful. Mark Fallon is one of the good guys.

[Jeffrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book, even with all the redactions, that give you a inside look at the governments feelings on torture after 9/11. I highly recommend every American read this. Was hard to put down.

[Margaret Meroni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book. Very well written and a real eye opener. It’s clear Mark is credible and experienced in the history he recounts from his many years of experience. More people need to read this book.

[samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

i picked up this book on my search for resources for a research project on the cia’s practices post-9/11. needless to say, this book was incredibly informative and helped fill in several ‘blanks’ in my research. fallon’s viewpoint as a former ncis agent (with several years of interrogation experience) helped provide me with an understanding of attitudes by the individuals most complicit in forms of state-sanctioned torture. all in all, i’m glad to have picked this up, and anyone looking for more insight into such practices should look into giving this a read.