My Guantanamo Diary: The Detainees and the Stories They Told Me | Date: 28 April 2011, 07:01
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My Guantanamo Diary: The Detainees and the Stories They Told Me
By Mahvish Khan
* Publisher: PublicAffairs
* Number Of Pages: 320
* Publication Date: 2009-06-22
* ISBN-10 / ASIN: 1586487078
* ISBN-13 / EAN: 9781586487072
Product Description:
Mahvish Khan is the only Afghan-American to walk into Guantanamo of her own accord. This unique book is her story, and the story of the men she grew to know uniquely well inside the cages of Guantanamo. Mahvish Khan is an American lawyer, born to immigrant Afghan parents. She was outraged that her country, the USA, seemed to have suspended its tradition of equality for all under the law with regard to those imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, and so she volunteered to translate for the lawyers - including British lawyer and founder of Reprieve Clive Stafford Smith - acting pro bono for the prisoners. Because she spoke their language, understood their customs and brought them Starbucks chai, the closest available drink to the kind of tea they would drink at home, they quickly befriended her, offering fatherly advice as well as a uniquely personal insight into their plight, and that of their families thousands of miles away at home. Some at Guantanamo are terrorists who deserve to be convicted and sentenced as such. Some are paediatricians and school teachers. We cannot tell the difference until we see them as individuals with their own unique stories. They deserve that much. No other writer has had access to the detainees. This book is a testament to their captivity. It documents the voices of men who have been tortured and held in a black hole of indefinite detention without legal recourse for years. It shows who they are and also allows readers to see that these men are more similar to us than they are different.
Summary: Is all this chatter about Gitmo, justified?
Rating: 5
The book is so well written I couldn't put it down. Besides, how can one argue with a person who claims to have first hand knowledge of the Gitmo situation by working there as a translator?
But as I absorbed the contents of the book word by word, I couldn't erase from my mind the fate of our American soldiers fighting in two fronts, and the "tough luck" of so many innocent civilians who have been murdered by terrorists all over the globe.
Why did this writer went to Gitmo? I kept wondering. What's her agenda? Does she have hidden motives? Why didn't she go to Afghanistan also as a translator and expose that country's prison system and compare it with ours?
Then I realized that the Taliban et all do not take prisoners. They blow them up instead.
I'm sick and tired of listening to our country's media/politicians apologize to terrorists. I accept the notion that there were injustices made to Gitmo prisoners but what's done is done. Let's just make sure it doesn't happen again, and close the case.
Andrew J. Rodriguez
Award-winning author: "Adios, Havana," a Memoir
Summary: Who are we
Rating: 5
Another excellent book that tells us that yes, Americans have used methods associated with the worst empires in history. We do use torture. We hold people in jail for years without due process. This is who we are? The proof is and has been public for the last eight years. Every American taxpayer is complicit. But Khan tells us these stories gently. It is an extraordinary book and she an extraordinary individual.
Summary: one of my fav books
Rating: 5
This is one of the best books i have read in awhile. Its really crazy how much stuff goes on that we dont know about in the world. Everyone should read this book, it opens your eyes.
Summary: A Very Touching Book
Rating: 5
This book is a must for anyone trying to get a complete picture of the war on terror. It puts human faces on some of the suffering caused by the misguided efforts of the Bush Administration in prosecuting the war on terror. Some of the passages are so beautifully written and emotional, I was close to tears. After reading this book, it's next to impossible to keep believing the Government's position that every detainee represents "the worst of the worst". Many people will want to dismiss the stories told here as cunning lies told by trained terrorists to bleeding heart liberals. Undoubtedly, some of the detainees are guilty and should pay the price. However, this book, in conjunction with several others - including Erik Saar's "Inside The Wire" show that there is as much, and frequently more, evidence to support some of the detainees stories than there is to support the Government's position. Many Americans would be shocked to learn the incriminating evidence against some detainees is things like "they owned a Casio watch" or "detainee owns khaki color clothing" Khan's book makes an undeniable statement that dignity, human rights, and justice are not exclusive rights, reserved solely for Americans.
Summary: Thank you for using your language/law skills to reveal the truth
Rating: 5
Thank you for these moving portraits of the human beings being "detained" (it only! actually tortured) in the name of "freedom." Thank you for overcoming SO MANY barriers to use your language and law skills to get to the truth. I have a friend who speaks fluent farsi who volunteered his skills to FBI, but was so turned off by the background check, pittance pay that he finally said, NEVER MIND. I'm so proud of you for persisting, putting your ego aside when wrongly accused of disobeying govt orders and continuing to get to know these men. What a wonderful example you provide, your mother must be so proud of you for persisting in doing the right thing, even when others in authority were not. God bless you.
Sincerely. What a service to both your countries you have provided. Please find now help the Afgan baker described in Ron Suskind's book Way of the World.
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