Inside Gitmo: The True Story Behind the Myths of Guantanamo Bay

by Gordon Cucullu

Book Overview

The U.S. military detention center at Guantanamo Bay--known to the public as Gitmo--has been called the American Gulag, a scene of medieval horrors where innocent farmers and goat herders swept up in... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 006176230X
• ISBN13: 9780061762307
• Release Date: January 2009
• Publisher: Harper
• Length: 267 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.1" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Had to read in small doses

Lt. Col. Cucullu details the history, setup, and procedures of Guantanamo. He provides the real picture vs. the fairy tale news networks fantasies. Utilizing unfettered interviews and government documents, he debunks all the puerile and inane criticisms heaped on Gitmo. He points out that there were some abuses in the beginning due to the rapid startup but these have been solved. What emerges is a portrait of a truly professional group of soldiers. I found that I had to put the book down every so often in order to cool down. The abuse of the guards, both physical and verbal, would not be tolerated by the critics for anyone else but since it is the military it is acceptable. Compared to the treatment accorded to our soldiers in captivity, this is like being at the Waldorf. In past wars these people would have been executed on the spot. The book illustrates the old saying, "There is great danger in the belief to reason with evil."

president obama must read this

I have never, and probably will never, read a book that reveals the contrast of good and evil as this book does. This is also a book that sheds a tremendous amount of the light of how cowardly and hypocritical the western media is. good: I have even more respect for our military personnel. There are at least 30 examples of how our guards and commanders make sure that the detainees needs are accomodated and that they are treated in a respectful manner. History tells us that there are not many countries that make such an effort when enemy combatants are captured off the battlefield. (just ask Senator John McCain about this) I salute all the men and women who are and have helped in containing evil. evil: This book has reinforced what I already know about the Jihadist and their goals. These men are very clever, ruthless, willful, dangerous, tribal minded, inhumane, violent, and our proud that they are doing their part in trying to kill infidels and make the world succumb to Sharia Law. Their willness to sacrifice themselves to kill or to make the west look bad through the media is part of what makes them so dangerous. It is a shame westerners will ignore books like this. The ideological bubble that too many live in shields people from the truth about the world and GITMO. Please Mr. President read this book. Multiculturalism is wonderful! But what if one of those cultures' wants to destroy you?...think about it

Why doesn't everyone get it.....

Gordon Cucullu has written such a perceptive and clear description of the situtaion, it's hard for me to understand why everyone doesn't enthusiastically agree with his conclusions. His credentials are impeccable, and he has writing skills worthy of this critical subject. Have you read it, President Obama, and Attorney General Holder?

A tribute to balance and objectivity

After finishing the Colonel's book, I'm more convinced than ever that the political polarizations we are experiencing are extremely dangerous to the security and wellbeing of this country. And I also believe that the Colonel's integrity and objectivity in style and content demonstrate the high standard that I believe all of us need to practice in our own communications. I hope everyone considers communicating with others in this way. Thanks, Colonel, for your excellent report on GITMO and for setting the bar high! --Susan Quinn The Islamist Report

Shocking Revelations from Guantanamo Bay

While this is one of the most thoroughly researched books I've ever seen (more than 500+ endnotes with source documents that I found at the author's website at [...]it reads like a fast-paced, page turning novel. From the opening scene of attempted suicides and riots through the litany of unspeakable attacks that detainees commit on our American service members, author Cucullu kept me on the edge of my chair -- staying up all night to finish reading it. I learned so much that I had never read before or seen on television, on a subject I've been following (so I thought). I'd thought there wasn't any legitimate legal procedures for detainees, yet Cucullu outlines proven processes that have seen more than 500 of the original 750 detainees released or transferred to other countries. What happens to them then? I learned that many, many of these people have gone back to al Qaeda and the Taliban and are still fighting against Americans, then right when I was reading Chapter 10 I heard on the evening news about one of those who were released a couple of years ago becoming a top al Qaeda leader in Yemen on the evening news. Inside Gitmo pointed out that more than 500 USA civilian lawyers are representing these guys. That's more than two lawyers to every detainee. Most of them have been released while claiming to be goat herders and other innocents, only to return to killing and blowing things up again. It was hard to put the book down when CNN was finally reporting the same kind of news at the same time I was reading about it in the book. We have also heard how terrible life is for detainees, but Cucullu explains in great detail what the soldiers serving there experience daily now. After a particularly sad episode of a mishandled and in fact abused detainee there, soldiers have been forbidden from even defending themselves. Instead, they take extreme abuse and physical attacks as part of their jobs. One poor young woman had her face smashed against the bars of the cell and has had to have multiple surgeries as a result. A nurse was punched in the face, breaking her nose. Women are called terrible names and threatened with rape and murder. Cucullu finishes this excellent book by outlining the pros and cons of options that are in front of all of us right now. If I had it in my power I would make sure than President Obama read this book from cover to cover. And all our elected officials, too. I strongly recommend this book to every American citizen who wants to know about what really is happening at Guantanamo, what has been covered up *not* by the government but by media reporters who are more interested in glamorizing the "plight" of terrorists while ignoring our own military medics, guards, and other Gitmo personnel.