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Guantanamo: My Journey
In 1999 a young man from suburban Adelaide set out on an overseas trip that would change his life forever.
Initially, he was after adventure and the experience of travelling the Silk Road.
But events would set him on a different path. He would be deemed a terrorist, one of George W Bush's 'worst of the worst'. He would be incarcerated in the world's most notorious prison, Guantanamo Bay.
And in that place where, according to an interrogator in Abu Ghraib, 'even dogs won't live', he was to languish for five and a half years, suffering horror, torture and abuse, while Australians were told who he was - by politicians, the media and foreign governments.
Everyone had an opinion on him.
But only he knows the truth.
And now, for the first time, David Hicks tells his story.
Initially, he was after adventure and the experience of travelling the Silk Road.
But events would set him on a different path. He would be deemed a terrorist, one of George W Bush's 'worst of the worst'. He would be incarcerated in the world's most notorious prison, Guantanamo Bay.
And in that place where, according to an interrogator in Abu Ghraib, 'even dogs won't live', he was to languish for five and a half years, suffering horror, torture and abuse, while Australians were told who he was - by politicians, the media and foreign governments.
Everyone had an opinion on him.
But only he knows the truth.
And now, for the first time, David Hicks tells his story.
456 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 2012
19 people are currently reading
389 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews
June 1, 2011
What an amazing book. David Hicks was snatched from a taxi in Afghanistan by an Afghani in the mad days after the 9/11 attacks and was sold to the US for $5000. He ended up spending 5 1/2 years in Guantanamo prison as a result. In this memoir he tells his life story beginning in a small town near Adelaide in South Australia and ending with his completion of this book, a couple of years after he was released from Cuba.
This book is a cautionary tale if ever there was one. Wrong place, wrong time and your life is turned into a nightmare. He does not hide his reasons for being in that part of the world - he was training in military camps with the aim of helping the Kashmiri civilians who continue to suffer as Pakistan and India dispute their borders. Earlier he had been training to fight in Kosovo for the same reasons. He is no pacifist but that does not make him a terrorist.
The 2nd half of the book tells in amazingly undramatic narration some of what he experienced and witnessed in Guantanamo, all very well annotated with facts, references and sources of further information to support his claims. From torture to fabricated evidence, David has a lot to tell.
This book held my interest and opened my eyes but it somehow managed to stay away from making me want to close my eyes and put it down. Many of the events related between its covers are horrific – no doubt about it – but don’t put off reading it (which I almost did) because you’re afraid you can’t stomach it. It gives you pause to think but does not send you reeling in trauma.
I am left with a feeling of despair that our governments (specifically the US and Australia) are doing the wrong thing for the wrong reasons in this war on terror. But I was also left with a sense of hope as David overcame the odds, retained his sanity and tells of the myriad of people and organisations who have fought for him and who continue to fight for others caught up in similar nightmares.
A well written book, moving, informative and a call to action. I only hope my Prime Minister, her cabinet and the entire US government read this book.
This book is a cautionary tale if ever there was one. Wrong place, wrong time and your life is turned into a nightmare. He does not hide his reasons for being in that part of the world - he was training in military camps with the aim of helping the Kashmiri civilians who continue to suffer as Pakistan and India dispute their borders. Earlier he had been training to fight in Kosovo for the same reasons. He is no pacifist but that does not make him a terrorist.
The 2nd half of the book tells in amazingly undramatic narration some of what he experienced and witnessed in Guantanamo, all very well annotated with facts, references and sources of further information to support his claims. From torture to fabricated evidence, David has a lot to tell.
This book held my interest and opened my eyes but it somehow managed to stay away from making me want to close my eyes and put it down. Many of the events related between its covers are horrific – no doubt about it – but don’t put off reading it (which I almost did) because you’re afraid you can’t stomach it. It gives you pause to think but does not send you reeling in trauma.
I am left with a feeling of despair that our governments (specifically the US and Australia) are doing the wrong thing for the wrong reasons in this war on terror. But I was also left with a sense of hope as David overcame the odds, retained his sanity and tells of the myriad of people and organisations who have fought for him and who continue to fight for others caught up in similar nightmares.
A well written book, moving, informative and a call to action. I only hope my Prime Minister, her cabinet and the entire US government read this book.
August 8, 2012
Many people say of David Hicks, 'Well what was he doing in Afghanistan?' implying that he deserved his imprisonment. You only have to read the introduction to this book to understand that that's not the point — it was the conditions of his imprisonment, which nobody deserves.
After the intro, the book's early chapters deal with his childhood and young manhood. They're very readable. It becomes perfectly clear that he was just a young bloke in search of travel and adventure, not a terrorist by any means. There was a lot of mis-reporting at the time.
The chapters about Guantanamo are not sensationalised — they don't have to be. The mere facts are horrific. The man — along with many others — was tortured for years. It's a book that needed to be written, a personal story with much wider implications. Astonishing that he survived, albeit not unscathed.
Hicks dabbled in writing from an early age, and the book is well-written.
After the intro, the book's early chapters deal with his childhood and young manhood. They're very readable. It becomes perfectly clear that he was just a young bloke in search of travel and adventure, not a terrorist by any means. There was a lot of mis-reporting at the time.
The chapters about Guantanamo are not sensationalised — they don't have to be. The mere facts are horrific. The man — along with many others — was tortured for years. It's a book that needed to be written, a personal story with much wider implications. Astonishing that he survived, albeit not unscathed.
Hicks dabbled in writing from an early age, and the book is well-written.
August 8, 2011
Just spent the weekend reading this. Couldn't put it down. So simply told, and not just about what was done to David himself, but what is happening to all of us in subtle and multiple ways. Bit by bit we realise that a previously unknown desire within us just has to step out and bee explored. Bit by bit we discover what we thought we knew of the world is not what we previously knew. And every step of the way there is someone else interested in our journey, even if we feel totally alone and cut off from the world.
On so many levels I related to David's story. Not just for myself but for many people I have dealt with who have felt somehow cut off from the society around them for various reasons.
I think what makes so many people afraid of reading David's story is having to face their own vulnerability and their own fear. It is not just what may happen to us if someone else finds out. It is mostly about what we do to ourselves by what we dare and do not dare to do. And therefore what we allow others to do to us because we have already started the assault.
It seems to me that what is perpetrated against individuals in political situations - whether they are declared wars, or less obvious disputes - is what gets done to all of us in some insidious way. If one person can get away with bullying it is because every witness to that treatment fails to say: "that is NOT okay". Instead we worry that the attention and activity will shift to us and we will become the victim. Thus we make ourselves a silent victim.
There are so many levels of this process. I am very thankful to David for sharing his insights about it. I had thought about writing a novel called "Unwritten Diary of a Torturer" before these issues came out in the news but found the artistic demand too difficult to fully process. Reading David's story I now understand more about why. I don't really want to add to such suffering. But something in me still questions how I am actually responsible for it surfacing even in others.
I will process this some more over coming days I am sure. And follow through with some of David's references to understand even more.
On so many levels I related to David's story. Not just for myself but for many people I have dealt with who have felt somehow cut off from the society around them for various reasons.
I think what makes so many people afraid of reading David's story is having to face their own vulnerability and their own fear. It is not just what may happen to us if someone else finds out. It is mostly about what we do to ourselves by what we dare and do not dare to do. And therefore what we allow others to do to us because we have already started the assault.
It seems to me that what is perpetrated against individuals in political situations - whether they are declared wars, or less obvious disputes - is what gets done to all of us in some insidious way. If one person can get away with bullying it is because every witness to that treatment fails to say: "that is NOT okay". Instead we worry that the attention and activity will shift to us and we will become the victim. Thus we make ourselves a silent victim.
There are so many levels of this process. I am very thankful to David for sharing his insights about it. I had thought about writing a novel called "Unwritten Diary of a Torturer" before these issues came out in the news but found the artistic demand too difficult to fully process. Reading David's story I now understand more about why. I don't really want to add to such suffering. But something in me still questions how I am actually responsible for it surfacing even in others.
I will process this some more over coming days I am sure. And follow through with some of David's references to understand even more.
March 3, 2013
This book and the experiences, torture and horrendous treatment of an innocent man, has really made me think hard about the American military machine.
The lies, the deceit, the inhuman treatment of all the prisoners, many of them innocent, all contravening the Geneva Convention, stung me to a level I didn't think a book could.
David Hicks was just a causality of a war he wasn't even in, a man in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was deceived then sold to the Americans as a spy for the Taliban...which he wasn't because he wasn't even in their war. He just happened to be an innocent person trying desperately to get out of Afghanistan and back into Pakistan, where he'd come from then war broke out, but had gone back to Baghdad to get his passport as he couldn't get through the border without it. David was double crossed by the Afghani's he trusted to get him transport out of there, and then sold to the American military machine for $7000....and the Americans paid for him too.
The extent the Americans went to, to try an break an innocent member of an allied nation, absolutely disgusts me. The political machines of both America and Australia should be shame faced and humble towards this man....and many other sufferers of 'Gitmo'.
I still have a hard time trying to understand why the Americans lied, cheated, deceived, tortured and de-humanized this man, and the money it cost them to do this, for the entire 5 years they held him in Gitmo. Why?
There were many men, women and yes, CHILDREN held in Gitmo.....most of them innocent of any crime against another nation. I never knew until I read this book, that the Americans actually detain women, and children as young as 7 in Gitmo. I can't see how a 7 year old can possibly be a major threat to another country's security.
This book has really changed the way I feel about the American war machine...
An excellent read and so well written...from the heart.
The lies, the deceit, the inhuman treatment of all the prisoners, many of them innocent, all contravening the Geneva Convention, stung me to a level I didn't think a book could.
David Hicks was just a causality of a war he wasn't even in, a man in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was deceived then sold to the Americans as a spy for the Taliban...which he wasn't because he wasn't even in their war. He just happened to be an innocent person trying desperately to get out of Afghanistan and back into Pakistan, where he'd come from then war broke out, but had gone back to Baghdad to get his passport as he couldn't get through the border without it. David was double crossed by the Afghani's he trusted to get him transport out of there, and then sold to the American military machine for $7000....and the Americans paid for him too.
The extent the Americans went to, to try an break an innocent member of an allied nation, absolutely disgusts me. The political machines of both America and Australia should be shame faced and humble towards this man....and many other sufferers of 'Gitmo'.
I still have a hard time trying to understand why the Americans lied, cheated, deceived, tortured and de-humanized this man, and the money it cost them to do this, for the entire 5 years they held him in Gitmo. Why?
There were many men, women and yes, CHILDREN held in Gitmo.....most of them innocent of any crime against another nation. I never knew until I read this book, that the Americans actually detain women, and children as young as 7 in Gitmo. I can't see how a 7 year old can possibly be a major threat to another country's security.
This book has really changed the way I feel about the American war machine...
An excellent read and so well written...from the heart.
January 28, 2013
Brilliant. Makes you realise what a lawless world we live in and how empires still make the rules and others subjugate to them. The first half of the book explains in detail, which at times becomes a bit tedious, how it was that David Hicks found himself in that part of the world from where he was unlawfully captured and sold to the US government. The second half, set in Guantanamo, will have you shaking your head in disbelief at the horror perpetrated by a military machine established to rid the world of terror, an oxymoron in itself. That the world has again been duped into believing that one group in society, namely those of Islamic faith, are responsible for all the evils of the world and hence why we can turn a blind eye to the existence of places like Guantanamo, makes this book an essential read. Highly referenced throughout. Once begun, you won't be able to put it down.
April 26, 2016
Somewhere between 2 and 3 stars.
I've wanted to read this book for a long time due to my ongoing interest in "the war against terror" concept and politics over Middle East and I've been following Hicks' story for a while.
I guess I expected to read a more intense, emotional story with a literature taste, yet, the first half of the book is about Hicks' life choices and his travels. The second half is a harrowing story of his Guantanamo experience and that half indeed makes the book an interesting and educating read. It could easily have been an awesome memoir if only he had teamed up with a good writer.
Still, it might be a good start if you don't know anything about Guantanamo.
I've wanted to read this book for a long time due to my ongoing interest in "the war against terror" concept and politics over Middle East and I've been following Hicks' story for a while.
I guess I expected to read a more intense, emotional story with a literature taste, yet, the first half of the book is about Hicks' life choices and his travels. The second half is a harrowing story of his Guantanamo experience and that half indeed makes the book an interesting and educating read. It could easily have been an awesome memoir if only he had teamed up with a good writer.
Still, it might be a good start if you don't know anything about Guantanamo.
February 17, 2013
A shocking story of what happens when someone is not given a fair trial. David Hicks spent five years locked up in Guantanamo without charge. It goes to show that no matter what someone is accused of, we should always follow the rule of law and grant them a fair and speedy trial. A fair trial is one that does not use confessions obtained by torture.
This story made me wonder what sort of war crimes the Allies would have been accused and convicted of, had they lost the war.
This story made me wonder what sort of war crimes the Allies would have been accused and convicted of, had they lost the war.
December 19, 2010
Truly an eye opener that every person should read!I am so moved that I cannot even find words for this man's fortitude!His lack of rancour and bitterness reminds me of Mandela-and Gandhi!
December 14, 2012
Not an incredibly literary book, but incredible for what it uncovers about the US and Australian governments. Showed that the US has literally gotten away with murder at Guantanamo. So terrible.
August 25, 2021
One of many examples of the corrupt governments. Guantanamo is literally hell on earth.
November 17, 2011
i have always been told and i know that there are two sides to every story. most people jumped to the conclusion straight away that Hicks was guilty. i in my right mind have always believed the opposite. i have always been interested in this story and have followed it closely over the past decade. to finally read and hear about David's story from his point of view was refreshing, thought provoking, disturbing and ultimately sad. that in a time and such a developed world that we live in, people are still being treated like this by no other than our very own governments. it's unfortunately a sad reality and i (naively) hope that one day this will no longer be the case. i thoroughly enjoyed this book and feel a little bit wiser and a little bit more educated knowing that everything isn't as it is made to appear.
December 10, 2014
This is not an easy book to read. Firstly, for the sensitive topic but secondly because the book reads like "this happened then this happened then this happened..".all without (in my opinion) an emotion attached to it.
I've read many memoirs and books written by authors who have been through trying and horrific times in their past, and I had connected with each of them on an emotional labels and felt very badly for them. But hicks doesn't really impart any of his emotion or soul, so we read the facts as he experienced them, but we don't experience his soul which makes it incredibly difficult for a reader to sympathise and connect with the events.
I'm still unsure what I think about this account. I DO believe the government/s can and do change and hide and alter things to suit their own agendas and it seems like this man was an unfortunate pawn in a political game.
I've read many memoirs and books written by authors who have been through trying and horrific times in their past, and I had connected with each of them on an emotional labels and felt very badly for them. But hicks doesn't really impart any of his emotion or soul, so we read the facts as he experienced them, but we don't experience his soul which makes it incredibly difficult for a reader to sympathise and connect with the events.
I'm still unsure what I think about this account. I DO believe the government/s can and do change and hide and alter things to suit their own agendas and it seems like this man was an unfortunate pawn in a political game.
August 2, 2011
I must say I have been longing to read this book long before it was even written. Since I first heard the name David Hicks the media has always portrayed him in a certain light. Labelling him a terrorist and a traitor who has trained with Al Qaeda, it was very hard to separate reality from the bombardment of sensationalistic journalism. So it was interesting to hear the full account of the journey which lead him to spend a hellish 6 years in Guantanamo Bay prison. Interesting is an understatement, as you will discover some of the worst human rights abuses by the very forces who claim to promote peace, freedom and democracy. This book should be read by every person who believes in these values.
November 13, 2012
It isn't a matter of liking or disliking this book (in regards to the star ratings). This is a book that is important to read. Regardless of what you think of what happened to David Hicks, this gives the story from his perspective, and is heavily referenced - it's not just him saying whatever he wants to.
The first half of the book gives a history of what David Hicks got up to before he was taken to Guantanamo. He would have been interesting to talk to at a party, and certainly had plenty of strange / amazing experiences. Did he always make great choices? Oh, heck no. He was immensely naive - frustratingly so. However, no level of naivety warrants unlawful detainment or torture.
American and Australian politicians of the time should be ashamed of themselves.
The first half of the book gives a history of what David Hicks got up to before he was taken to Guantanamo. He would have been interesting to talk to at a party, and certainly had plenty of strange / amazing experiences. Did he always make great choices? Oh, heck no. He was immensely naive - frustratingly so. However, no level of naivety warrants unlawful detainment or torture.
American and Australian politicians of the time should be ashamed of themselves.
November 2, 2015
David Hicks’ account of his life leading up to Guantanamo prison is easy to read and typical of many young Australians of the time. What happened to him in Guantanamo is horrific, disgusting and barbaric. Shame on America and shame on the Australian government for not standing up to America for the rights of this young man. The treatment received by the inmates in a so-called civilised country is unconscionable. America prides itself on its justice system yet tortured people who had not been charged with any crime, with no evidence, day in, day out for years. Yes, terrorism is a frightening evil but what makes us any better when we allow innocent people to be terrorised incessantly in jail?
November 9, 2010
A shocking and confronting book, through reading the book. The reader discovers the mountains of lies and deceit built on the "worst of the worst" myth of those held at Guantanamo bay. You will ask yourself how human beings from a so called civil society have stooped to such inhumane levels of torture and humiliation to their fellow man.
November 19, 2012
This documents a particularly ugly part of Australia and the USA's political history. The descriptions of the Guantanamo conditions and state sanctioned torture are absolutely harrowing. Even more harrowing is how two countries exploited Hicks and cynically disregarded existing human rights conventions.
This is a book that needs to be widely read.
This is a book that needs to be widely read.
April 13, 2015
I must admit to having some preconceived ideas about David Hicks but after reading this book I do not believe that David was ever a terrorist. He may have been very naïve in many ways in regard to the way he wished to help fight oppression in certain countries but no one should face the atrocities he did at Guantanamo. A real eye opener.
December 21, 2010
Not a light read, but very worthwhile.
June 15, 2013
Only just started reading this book but so far it is a really interesting story
June 11, 2012
Didn't really enjoy due to the authors attitude...
July 23, 2012
A harrowing story of David Hicks and his experience at Guantanamo.
August 10, 2013
If only 80% of what is written in this book is true, it's truly terrifying.
January 11, 2020
This incredibly difficult to read memoir is a must read for everyone who believes in democracy and justice. It's sad that since this was published, it hasn't really been read and reviewed by many people at all, which is completely at odds with the number of media mentions Hicks was subjected to in the post 9/11 years.
High school students tend to read fictional and historical texts about oppressive regimes like 1984, Night (Elie Wiesel), and The Gulag Archipelago, and are then guided to compare and contrast this with our relatively stable current reality. But unless you really delve into the horrors of Guantanamo, you'd never know just what the modern US military machine is actually capable of.
What's galling is a lot of what happened (and is likely still happening given Trump's reversal on closing the camp) was proven to be in severe breach of international human rights laws. Despite the damning evidence that began to leak out about how legal process was thrown out the window in a desperate attempt to gain convictions, regular citizens appear to have just moved on and turned a largely blind eye to it all.
Especially anger-inducing were the sections the detailed the way in which the Australian government ignored evidence to maintain their support for the US alliance. This odd brand of inaction (we were the only country in the end to back the disastrous process) and Hicks' high profile was confusing to some of the more radicalised inmates, who became convinced he was a spy or plant who was there to prove the legitimacy of the whole corrupt system.
You wouldn't wish some of the abuse these detainees suffered on your worst enemies - the descriptions and details truly are terrifying and unsettling. Also mind-boggling to know that a large group of people were capable of such atrocities under the guidance of a 21st century democracy.
Unfortunately we are seeing more examples of the US' blatant disregard for international laws (eg. naming Iranian cultural sites as bombing targets). Now more than ever, people would do well to refamiliarise themselves with the events surrounding Guantanamo Bay by reading Hicks' story.
It must have been incredibly traumatic for him to relive all of this in the writing process. Very appreciative that he was able to share it with the world community.
High school students tend to read fictional and historical texts about oppressive regimes like 1984, Night (Elie Wiesel), and The Gulag Archipelago, and are then guided to compare and contrast this with our relatively stable current reality. But unless you really delve into the horrors of Guantanamo, you'd never know just what the modern US military machine is actually capable of.
What's galling is a lot of what happened (and is likely still happening given Trump's reversal on closing the camp) was proven to be in severe breach of international human rights laws. Despite the damning evidence that began to leak out about how legal process was thrown out the window in a desperate attempt to gain convictions, regular citizens appear to have just moved on and turned a largely blind eye to it all.
Especially anger-inducing were the sections the detailed the way in which the Australian government ignored evidence to maintain their support for the US alliance. This odd brand of inaction (we were the only country in the end to back the disastrous process) and Hicks' high profile was confusing to some of the more radicalised inmates, who became convinced he was a spy or plant who was there to prove the legitimacy of the whole corrupt system.
You wouldn't wish some of the abuse these detainees suffered on your worst enemies - the descriptions and details truly are terrifying and unsettling. Also mind-boggling to know that a large group of people were capable of such atrocities under the guidance of a 21st century democracy.
Unfortunately we are seeing more examples of the US' blatant disregard for international laws (eg. naming Iranian cultural sites as bombing targets). Now more than ever, people would do well to refamiliarise themselves with the events surrounding Guantanamo Bay by reading Hicks' story.
It must have been incredibly traumatic for him to relive all of this in the writing process. Very appreciative that he was able to share it with the world community.
April 14, 2025
It is a dark book, but it will help you better understand how the world works. It will also protect you to naively believe some political narratives, newspaper stories and other lies.
Not only in this concrete case, but in general.
To be fair, the author behaved, metaphorically speaking, as if in accordance to a manual "how to get into huge trouble". Attending unofficial military trainings in Albania, Pakistan and Afghanistan is not something a rational person does. So some wake up call for the author might have been needed in order for him not to be manipulated into some criminal acts. Also his understanding of the conflict of Kosovo seems not to be based on facts, but it is not the main line of the story.
The main point is Guantanamo and as the author asks, what does a person have to do to deserve a treatment like in a Nazi concentration camp? Guantanamo is a disgusting example of US political intrigues and shows why military should be subject to the strictest control.
Among other things, the books shows you the power of different citizenships. If you are from a developing country, in some cases, especially if a major power decides so, you have no human rights.
Also, it was crazy to read, how the US after the 9/11 attacks, just like that, caused a military violence in Afghanistan and how the people were just preparing for bombing and were indeed bombed. It is an ugly side of the international politics.
The Australian government showed itself in a really bad light as a vassal state to the USA, who left an Australian citizen being tortured without any regard to an existing legal framework and human rights. I would have expected Australia to do more for its citizens.
Not only in this concrete case, but in general.
To be fair, the author behaved, metaphorically speaking, as if in accordance to a manual "how to get into huge trouble". Attending unofficial military trainings in Albania, Pakistan and Afghanistan is not something a rational person does. So some wake up call for the author might have been needed in order for him not to be manipulated into some criminal acts. Also his understanding of the conflict of Kosovo seems not to be based on facts, but it is not the main line of the story.
The main point is Guantanamo and as the author asks, what does a person have to do to deserve a treatment like in a Nazi concentration camp? Guantanamo is a disgusting example of US political intrigues and shows why military should be subject to the strictest control.
Among other things, the books shows you the power of different citizenships. If you are from a developing country, in some cases, especially if a major power decides so, you have no human rights.
Also, it was crazy to read, how the US after the 9/11 attacks, just like that, caused a military violence in Afghanistan and how the people were just preparing for bombing and were indeed bombed. It is an ugly side of the international politics.
The Australian government showed itself in a really bad light as a vassal state to the USA, who left an Australian citizen being tortured without any regard to an existing legal framework and human rights. I would have expected Australia to do more for its citizens.
July 21, 2018
Sadly, this is an important book - I just wish it never had to be written.
Hicks' style is easy to read and engaging, but the story he tells is horrendous; it simply should never have happened - to anyone. It distresses me so much that this is what we have come to - but that makes it all the more important to read it. It makes one very wary about any measure simply justified by nothing more than 'national security' - that debate should be so much more nuanced and informed than the blunt (and ineffective) instrument that Hicks experienced.
Hicks' style is easy to read and engaging, but the story he tells is horrendous; it simply should never have happened - to anyone. It distresses me so much that this is what we have come to - but that makes it all the more important to read it. It makes one very wary about any measure simply justified by nothing more than 'national security' - that debate should be so much more nuanced and informed than the blunt (and ineffective) instrument that Hicks experienced.
July 14, 2022
An excellent book that can also be educational especially how an ordinary guy can get involve in another man's war and how he was treated at Guantanamo Bay.
The horrific human rights abuse at Guantanamo Bay was portrayed in graphic details with a commendable skill.
The book is unputdownable but it took me a long time to finish as I lost the book mid way and had to buy a second hand from e-bay which took a long time to be delivered. But well worth it.
The horrific human rights abuse at Guantanamo Bay was portrayed in graphic details with a commendable skill.
The book is unputdownable but it took me a long time to finish as I lost the book mid way and had to buy a second hand from e-bay which took a long time to be delivered. But well worth it.
September 3, 2020
Shocking. Takes you right inside.
January 10, 2021
A book that everyone should read - especially Australians.
January 15, 2015
Abu Ghraib was not a case of a few bad apples. It was a “typical day at the office” for the US military.
Finished reading “Guantanamo: my journey” by David Hicks
15 January 2014
If it's not in your lexicon already, here's another oxymoron for you: American justice. In the same vein re the USA's servile lapdog: Australian justice.
If we claim the moral high ground, when we act in the same way as our enemies we in fact become worse than them.
I'd always thought of military PTSD as the result of what those personnel had witnessed. Now I wonder if it is on account of what they did, what they became, were they too torturers, wherever they were stationed, as were the personnel at Guantanamo? How could one human treat another as less than human without becoming inhuman themselves?
That doctors and psychiatrists could observe torture in action, or even devise methods of torture, is beyond abhorrent.
That trained lawyers could participate in illegal court proceedings is beyond belief – except we have seen it before in Nazi Germany and Stalin's Russia, and elsewhere then and since.
The beginning of this book read like a “boys own adventure” written by someone who was still at that level of maturity. I thought there had to be a ghost writer here. But as I read, the author seemed to mature as both a person and a writer.
I believe David Hicks's account of his journey, starting as a gung-ho adventure that many other young men have embarked on, as stupid if not exactly the same “knight in shining armour” quest, and ending as a broken man. One can only wish him well. He'll be putting himself back together again for the rest of his life, I imagine.
It would be right if, in Australia, John Howard and some of his senior cabinet ministers were charged with war crimes. But it won't happen. Similar charges should be laid at the feet of George Bush & Co. in the US. That won't happen either.
I recommend this book highly. Or if not this one, any that tells of the torture that is perpetrated in our name so that we can make sure it never happens again. Except that Guantanamo is on-going. Abu Ghraib was not a case of a few bad apples. It was a "typical day at the office” for the US military.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews