Michael Otterman's powerful book, 
Michael Otterman is currently a Visiting Scholar at the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Sydney, as well as an award-winning journalist and filmmaker.
Monday, January 15, 2007
welcome welcome welcome
Welcome to AmericanTorture.com, the offical blog and website of author Michael Otterman (me!). American Torture takes its name from my book of the same title, which will be released in March 2007 in Australia with Melbourne University Publishing and in April 2007 in the US and UK with Pluto Books. The book traces the past 60 years of America's use of torture at home and abroad, culminating in the domestic legalization of torture in October 2006 with passage of the Military Commissions Act.
This blog will provide a venue for discussions about America's use of torture and feature updates about the fate of the over 10,000 'enemy combatants' and 'security detainees' held across the globe in secret CIA prisons and in places like Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. The blog is not strictly limited to the torture debate-- it will also serve as a place for experts and non-experts alike to post thoughts and reactions to related issues occuring in the United States and elsewhere. In addition to this blog, AmericanTorture.com features a host of declassified documents that chart America's involvement in torture from the early cold war onward. Click on the Documents button above to check out the collection.
I am currently in Sydney, Australia, where I am a Visiting Scholar at the University of Sydney's Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies. I will be touring the US from mid-April through mid-May, the UK in late May, then will be back in Australia from early June. I plan to keep the content fresh on this site, to the best of my abilities, over the course of the coming months. I do need help though! If you would like to be a featured blogger, feel free to email me at americantorture@gmail.com and I'll be happy to talk it over. Otherwise, please post comments/reactions in the comments section below the postings. Hope to hear from you!
This blog will provide a venue for discussions about America's use of torture and feature updates about the fate of the over 10,000 'enemy combatants' and 'security detainees' held across the globe in secret CIA prisons and in places like Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. The blog is not strictly limited to the torture debate-- it will also serve as a place for experts and non-experts alike to post thoughts and reactions to related issues occuring in the United States and elsewhere. In addition to this blog, AmericanTorture.com features a host of declassified documents that chart America's involvement in torture from the early cold war onward. Click on the Documents button above to check out the collection.
I am currently in Sydney, Australia, where I am a Visiting Scholar at the University of Sydney's Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies. I will be touring the US from mid-April through mid-May, the UK in late May, then will be back in Australia from early June. I plan to keep the content fresh on this site, to the best of my abilities, over the course of the coming months. I do need help though! If you would like to be a featured blogger, feel free to email me at americantorture@gmail.com and I'll be happy to talk it over. Otherwise, please post comments/reactions in the comments section below the postings. Hope to hear from you!