Elizabeth, I would normally be intimidated by such a lengthy article and avoid it, but I'm glad I sunk my teeth into this piece from Vanity Fair. The article's depth is extreme, benefiting greatly from a multitude of sources. Also, I found the turn quite clever: "'That's great,' Katyal said. 'How do you win that in court?'"
I really like Swift's final comment that "The new rules are like putting perfume on a pig." Disheartening to those in opposition of Guantanamo, but still a great quote. Also interesting that this article is two years old..and it really puts into perspective how long and arduous the fight to close the camp has been for Guantanamo opponents. Very timely.
One the techniques that Brenner used that I appreciated most was that he seemed to insist on humanizing the attorneys. All that day, the jag offices were besieged by photographers. He writes, "Swift went from one TV studio to another; Katyal fielded 300 interview requests but did only two before going home to a sick child." He reminds us that the lawyers working hard for detainees' rights are not robots. Its common for writers to make us sympathetic to the obvious victims--but Brenner makes us aware that the defendants dedicating their lives to these cases have real lives, too.
Elizabeth, this article is soo intense. I am so glad you posted it. At first I was like "omg 9 pages," but it was still really good. It reminds me of a documentary Marin had us watch in Arts Journalism last quarter. It was called "Taxi to the Dark Side." It is about a man named Dilawar who was a taxi driver. They captured him and put him as a detainee in Guantanamo in Cuba. They tortured him so bad, he died within five days.
The documentary really was about how the high officials were photographed while torturing the detainees and actually having fun with it. It deals with lower rank soldiers having no choice but to do as they were told. But, because all of this did not follow the Geneva conventions, all the soldiers had to do time in prison, but yet the high officials didn't. Instead they got higher positions. So this documentary covers a lot of that and other things that viewers would never get a chance to see.
I actually liked this documentary, because it finally showed the Iraqis side of the Iraq war instead of just how the war affects us Americans.
So I really love that the protagonist’s name is Charlie Swift, that’s super sweet. Also I’m glad that everybody has a story behind them, not just Swift is the one with a history, its like a narrative about the entire military legal history about torture and stuff. Anyway I love hearing about lawyers with a conscience, a story that you don’t hear that much about in real life anymore. However, it’s a little too lawyer jargon-y, I found myself drifting, but perhaps I was trying to read through it too fast because it was so super long. Just kidding. All in all I think it’s most narrative aspects have to do with the courtroom and the Geneva conventions, which is totally cool in this context, but I did lose it a couple times you know?
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Elizabeth, I would normally be intimidated by such a lengthy article and avoid it, but I'm glad I sunk my teeth into this piece from Vanity Fair. The article's depth is extreme, benefiting greatly from a multitude of sources. Also, I found the turn quite clever: "'That's great,' Katyal said. 'How do you win that in court?'"
ReplyDeleteI really like Swift's final comment that "The new rules are like putting perfume on a pig." Disheartening to those in opposition of Guantanamo, but still a great quote. Also interesting that this article is two years old..and it really puts into perspective how long and arduous the fight to close the camp has been for Guantanamo opponents. Very timely.
ReplyDeleteOne the techniques that Brenner used that I appreciated most was that he seemed to insist on humanizing the attorneys. All that day, the jag offices were besieged by photographers. He writes, "Swift went from one TV studio to another; Katyal fielded 300 interview requests but did only two before going home to a sick child." He reminds us that the lawyers working hard for detainees' rights are not robots. Its common for writers to make us sympathetic to the obvious victims--but Brenner makes us aware that the defendants dedicating their lives to these cases have real lives, too.
Elizabeth, this article is soo intense. I am so glad you posted it. At first I was like "omg 9 pages," but it was still really good. It reminds me of a documentary Marin had us watch in Arts Journalism last quarter. It was called "Taxi to the Dark Side." It is about a man named Dilawar who was a taxi driver. They captured him and put him as a detainee in Guantanamo in Cuba. They tortured him so bad, he died within five days.
ReplyDeleteThe documentary really was about how the high officials were photographed while torturing the detainees and actually having fun with it. It deals with lower rank soldiers having no choice but to do as they were told. But, because all of this did not follow the Geneva conventions, all the soldiers had to do time in prison, but yet the high officials didn't. Instead they got higher positions. So this documentary covers a lot of that and other things that viewers would never get a chance to see.
I actually liked this documentary, because it finally showed the Iraqis side of the Iraq war instead of just how the war affects us Americans.
So I really love that the protagonist’s name is Charlie Swift, that’s super sweet. Also I’m glad that everybody has a story behind them, not just Swift is the one with a history, its like a narrative about the entire military legal history about torture and stuff.
ReplyDeleteAnyway I love hearing about lawyers with a conscience, a story that you don’t hear that much about in real life anymore. However, it’s a little too lawyer jargon-y, I found myself drifting, but perhaps I was trying to read through it too fast because it was so super long. Just kidding.
All in all I think it’s most narrative aspects have to do with the courtroom and the Geneva conventions, which is totally cool in this context, but I did lose it a couple times you know?