They are about to close this prison, but we should not forget. This is probably an accurate book of what went on and should remain out there whenever we again go to war. This is no beach resort.

Easy read but very enthralling. Too bad this didn't get wider play in the media. This guy kept it real both in his dealings and his writings. ( )

i read this book because i wanted to hear one soldier's opinion of what is really going on behind the scenes in Guantanamo (Gitmo). Saar worked as a low-level interpretor (sergeant) and limited his account to his own personal observations. Because he stuck to what he actually observed, his account seems quite credible in giving a fair picture of what life is like at Gitmo for those stationed there, and a much more limited picture of what it's like for the detainees.

This is a very fast read that includes a few things that really jumped out at me:

* Almost everyone serving at Gitmo is in their mid-twenties and is very young. Saar portrays himself well as a normal dude who likes to drink beer, hang out with pretty girls, eat BBQ, party, and look for ways to have fun during his downtime at Gitmo (sliding down waterslides, going snorkeling, etc.) He seems all the more credible because he also shares painful parts of his life such as the stress of being away from his family, a cheating spouse, and the subsequent breakup of his marriage.

* Saar's take on life in his little corner of the Army are also revealing and can be amusing: his opinions on the incompetence of a CO, surly MPs with slovenly lifestyles, the Army deeming him trained in a difficult area after viewing a quick PowerPoint presentation, etc.

* Like Jarhead, Inside the Wire pointed out similar morale problems among low-level soldiers as they become more aware of the questionable nature of their mission. Saar worked on a non-cohesive team of interrogators with a mediocre CO who gave every appearance of giving Muslim translators preferential treatment because he was also Muslim.

* The anecdotes from the prison camp life also rang true. For example:

- Cooperative detainees were given time in the 'love shack' - a trailer stocked with porn videos and magazines. They were allowed to return to their cells with porn magazines hidden under Maxim covers.

- IRF forces were used not only for control, but increasingly as an extreme form of punishment.

- Detainees related that they were picked up because a bounty was paid by the Northern Alliance for each non-Afghani living in Afghanistan.

- While there were some 'bad actors' present, Saar based his belief that there was a large number of detainees present who had nothing to do with terrorism on their stories as well as the fact that some of them were never interrogated.

* Saar details how those charged with guarding the detainees were subjected to misconduct such as some ome detainees throwing urine or feces at the guards. Because the camp was run sloppily (compared to standard military protocols), they did not have an organized system for disciplining the detainees and applying reasonable punishments. He indicates that almost all of the MPs were unhappy, frustrated, and hated all detainees and advocated 'beating the shit out of all of them'. In spite of these problems, there did not seem to be any meaningful leadership or guidance coming from unit level commissioned officers.

* The interrogations seemed ineffective and amateurish. The use of sexual tactics by one of the female interrogators really stood out. One interrogator tried to break a detainee's reliance on God by tempting the man by running her large tits through a tight t-shirt and brushing him against his back. She then taunted him when he got an erection. When that did't work, she pretended to have gotten her period and pretended to reach down and smear menstrual blood on her hand (previously colored with red marker). She reached out and rubbed her hand on the detainees face (who was screaming bloody murder by that time). She also told the detainee that the water had been turned off in his cell (truth) and all the other detainees would be able to see the blood on him and know his shame. Saar thought that while the yelling, screaming, dogs, hooding, etc. did break some detainees, in many it strengthened their resolve to resist. People who had previously not cared much one way or the other about Americans (other than liking our culture) were transformed into people who hated Americans with a passion.

* Later reports that the MPs handed out informal, unsupervised discipline in secret have now come to light. Based on Saar's account, it seem almost inevitable that the lack of accountability and supervision combined with the pressures of the prison led to the MPs producing informal discipline procedures that got out of hand.

* Because of what seemed to be ineffective interrogation techniques and a lack of effective hands on leadership, it is unlikely that much valuable intelligence was gained. ( )