The Terror Courts America's Experiment with Rough Justice at Guantanamo Bay Jess Bravin

Within weeks of the September 11 attacks in 2001, the United States had captured hundreds of suspected al Qaeda terrorists in Afghanistan, and by the following January the first of these prisoners arrived at the U.S. Navy's detention camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. "Wall Street Journal" correspondent Jess Bravin was there the day the prison camp opened, and he has continued ever since to cover the story of the detainees and the efforts of the Bush and Obama administrations to bring them to trial. A maze of legal, political, and moral issues have stood in the way of justice, Bravin explains. In this riveting book, he recounts a chapter in the War on Terror that has never been told before. Focusing on the military commission established by the Bush Administration to try Guantanamo Bay prisoners, Bravin describes prosecutions hampered by inadmissible evidence obtained through torture, procedures stalled by disagreements between military prosecutors and political appointees, and closed door dealings that led several prosecutors to resign. In a concluding chapter, the author discusses how George W. Bush's illegal experiment at Guantanamo undermined the rule of law and how its legacy continues to haunt the Obama administration.

Jess Bravin, Supreme Court reporter for the Wall Street Journal, has covered the story of the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base since it opened in 2002. He also teaches at the University of California's Washington Law Center. He is the author of Squeaky: The Life and Times of Lynette Fromm.

'This is the genius of Bravin's book - and what sets it apart from what has come before. He doesn't just give us context and perspective about the ideological battles waged among Bush Administration officials over torture. He doesn't just explain why the Obama Administration still has failed to recover from the early errors of judgment that marked the first tribunal processes. He also highlights the utterly self-defeating role played by the military-political complex.' Andrew Cohen, The Atlantic

'A gripping narrative told with superb journalistic thoroughness, great legal sensitivity, and impressive moral clarity'. Times Literary Supplement

'A book that pulls no punches. It names names. And in so doing, it is a gutsy, finely wrought narrative that explains how a small group of Bush-era political appointees managed to develop a parallel justice system designed to ensure a specific outcome.' Dina Temple-Rastin, Washington Post

'It’s a pity that Kathryn Bigelow, the director of the acclaimed war-on-terror thriller Zero Dark Thirty, didn’t have the opportunity to read Jess Bravin’s meticulously reported account of America’s trial practices for post-September 11 terror suspects, The Terror Courts.' Jane Mayer, Democracy

'A welcome addition to the history of national security legal policy dilemmas in the Bush era, a turbulent period whose consequences still ripple.' Charlie Savage, New York Times

'The most creative and original feature of Bravin’s book is that he tells the story from within the executive branch itself.' Literary Review