Digging Deeper Into the Long Shadow of Torture

Want to dig deeper? Find out more? For each program, producers gather a lot of background material for Krista and staff to use in preparing for interviews and producing programs. Here's a sample of the information we came across in preparing for this program.

Profiles of Darius Rejali

Interview on WFIU's Profiles about Rejali's background, work, writing and more. (audio, 53 min; December 2008)
Reflections on his family, his grandfather, and the Iranian generation that lived through the Iran-Iraq war. (Reed College Magazine, Winter 2007)
Broad-ranging interview that covers his family background and moves into some of his major points. George Mason University's History News Network. (July 2008)
Good overall profile piece about Darius Rejali published in the Oregonian. (October 2003)

Writing by Rejali

Interview in Harper's about his book and how torture infects democratic societies. (February 2008)
Two-part piece in Salon about the ineffectiveness of torture and the case of the French in Algeria. (June 2004)
Five myths about torture and truth. (Washington Post, December 2007)
How British police caught would-be terrorists after 7/7. (The Huffington Post, July 2006)
A couple of articles on torture techniques in Slate (March 2009) and Boston Globe. (December 2007)
2004 Seattle Times editorial on Alberto Gonzales. (December 2004)
Interview in Willamette Week with a few interesting questions that touch on Guantanamo, Harry Potter, and Rejali's great-grandfather in Iran. (November 2007)
Transcript of 2004 CNN debate with Alan Dershowitz on whether it is ever "morally appropriate to torture." (scroll a little more than halfway down) (May 2004)

Audio/video of Rejali

Reflections on the 30th anniversary of the Islamic revolution (5 min). (The TakeAway, February 2009)
Speaking at the Intelligence Squared debate on torture (7 min). (March 2008)
Rejali was interviewed for the American RadioWorks documentary "What Killed Sergeant Gray" about Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and the psychological effects of being a torturer. (October 2008)

Torture in American Culture

New Yorker article on 24: politics of its creators, its normalization of torture, its effect on military training. Rejali sometimes references 24, Jack Bauer and the "ticking time-bomb plot." (February 2007)
Pew Forum study on American attitudes toward torture. (April 2009)
Pew study of attitudes toward torture per religious group. (May 2009)
Recent New Yorker article on the recent torture debate. (May 2009)
"Challenging Torture" by Harper's contributor Scott Horton (also interviewed Rejali in one of the links above). (February 2008)
Christian Science Monitor article on Jose Padilla, psychologically damaged during his detainment. (August 2007)
Washington Post: a former Army officer struggles with his memories as torturer. (June 2007)
New York Times' William Safire on the origins of the term waterboarding. (March 2008)
Richard Land condemns waterboarding in Christianity Today. (May 2009)

Official Documents, Memos, Orders, and Reports

Torture Memos (latest memos)

Complete text of the four memos released in April 2009 (downloadable PDFs).
NY Times summary article on the memos. (April 2009)
The Huffington Post: Rahm Emanuel responds to critics who say releasing the memos helps terrorists understand US techniques. (April 2009)
Feb 2007 Red Cross report (PDF) from New York Review of Books article, referred to by Rahm Emanuel. (April 2009)
NY Times: "Waterboarding used 266 times on 2 suspects". (April 2009)
NPR: CIA officials won't face charges for waterboarding. (April 2009)
NPR: CIA exempt on torture, but not Lynndie England. (April 2009)
Huffington Post: New torture photos release delayed by Obama. (April 2009)
White House April 16, 2009 statement on its decision to declassify Bush administration torture memos.
Obama's May 13, 2009 statement on the White House's decision not to release detainee photographs.

Torture memos (previous memos and abuses)

2008 Senate Armed Services Committee report (pdf) on treatment of detainees during Bush presidency.
2005 NY Times report on memos from 2002 and 2003, on torture, prisoner treatment and the Geneva conventions.
2002 training document for GTMO, released 2008.
ACLU archive of previous release memos and declassified documents.
2008 Guardian article on April 2008 released memos, with links to PDFs of memos. (April 2008)
2004 report on 60 Minutes II that first exposed Abu Ghraib abuses, with links to documents and reports. (April 2004)