Fixing Hell: An Army Psychologist Confronts Abu Ghraib

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Editorial Review:

In April 2004, the world was shocked by the brutal pictures of beatings, dog attacks, sex acts, and the torture of prisoners held at Abu Ghraib in Iraq. As the story broke, and the world began to learn about the extent of the horrors that occurred there, the US Army dispatched Col. Larry James to Abu Ghraib with an overwhelming assignment: to dissect this catastrophe, fix it, and prevent it from ever happening again.
A nationally well-known and respected Army Psychologist, Col. James's expertise (including a previous deployment to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba) made him the one individual capable of taking on this enormous task. Through Col. James's own experience on the ground, readers will see the tightrope military personnel must walk while fighting in the still new battlefield of the war on terror, the challenge of serving as both a doctor/healer and combatant soldier, and what can (and must) be done to ensure that interrogations are safe, moral, ethical, and effective.
An insightful and intense personal narrative, Fixing Hell shows readers Abu Ghraib as they've never seen it before.

Customer Reviews:

Avg. Customer Rating: 2.5 / 5.0

The good, the bad and the ugly - the book's style, and attitude, not just the contents:

As far as a rating level, this was a toughie, as I was reading through it, that bounced everywhere from low 2-star to low 4-star in my mind.
There's several things to like - beyond a psychologist who is also a career soldier putting the reader inside the military lingo and the "fog of war" mind - about this book.
On major thing is James' airing the question as to whether or not the "terrorist mindset" should be classified as a new category of mental illness. He uses Tim McVeigh as a reference,... more info

James:

This is an interesting book about James' experience serving at Abu Ghraib as an army psychologist. He walks the reader through the horrible conditions he faced at Abu Ghraib and the demons he had to face upon his return to the States in an effort to overcome PTSD. James writes about his meetings with Phil Zimbardo (who ran the Stanford Prison Experiment in the 1970s) and their disucssions comaring the conditions at Abu Ghraib to those that took place during Zimbardo's prison experiment. Overall it is a good... more info

Fascinating Read!:

Finally, someone who has actually been in Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib is talking. This book addressed many of the controversial issues about the war today, namely psychologists and interrogations and the very uncomfortable topic regarding what happened in Abu Ghraib that led to those horrible pictures.
Dr. James doesn't provide the military party line about the current administration and he admits that mistakes were made. He provides information as to the evolution of improvements in the detention... more info

rewriting history:

This author is rewriting history in his effort to portray himself as a hero rather than part of the problem. He has important responsibility for his contribution to the Army's official policies which amount to torture, and while pushing for psychologists to continue participating in interrogations, reportedly shouted out, "people will die!" if psychologists withdraw. This is a naive and misleading position.

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