"Clarke provides a comprehensive account of US engagement with torture and rendition during the War on Terror. Clarke delivers a multifaceted perspective on these practices, incorporating legal analysis, sociocultural discussion, and policy debate. By outlining the historical nature and international treatment of torture and rendition, the author provides context for the current use of these means and the rationales asserted by governments as to the necessity of their use to ensure national and international security. In response to these governmental claims, the book explores the potential costs—false information, monetary losses, wasted time, and moral stakes. Clarke specifically frames this debate by focusing his assessment on the war in Iraq. The book concludes with an examination of the complicity of other countries in rendition and torture, as well as the resulting backlash for these actions, which is significant because it illustrates that the US has not been alone in the employment of extraordinary means. Recommended."
Choice
"When the United States sends a terror suspect to another country that is notorious for torture, that is known as extraordinary rendition. Alan Clarke's book on this topic is a major contribution to the history of a sordid chapter in the American experience."
Marjorie Cohn
editor of The United States and Torture: Interrogation, Incarceration, and Abuse