Joseph Hickman – författare

The revelatory inside story about Guantánamo Bay—and the US government cover up—by the Staff Sergeant who felt honor-bound to uncover it: “A disturbing account…made with compelling clarity and strength of character” (Publishers Weekly).Staff Sergeant Joe Hickman was a loyal member of the armed forces and a proud American patriot. For twenty years, he worked as a prison guard, a private investigator, and in the military, earning more than twenty commendations and awards. When he re-enlisted after 9/11, he served as a team leader and Sergeant of the Guard in Guantánamo Naval Base. From the moment he arrived at Camp Delta, something was amiss. The prions were chaotic, detainees were abused, and Hickman uncovered by accident a secret facility he labeled “Camp No.” On June 9, 2006, the night Hickman was on duty, three prisoners died, supposed suicides, and Hickman knew something was seriously wrong. So began his epic search for the truth, an odyssey that would lead him to conclude that the US government was using Guantánamo not just as a prison, but as a training ground for interrogators to test advanced torture techniques. For the first time, Hickman details the inner workings of Camp Delta: the events surrounding the death of three prisoners, the orchestrated cover-up, and the secret facility at the heart of it all. From his own eyewitness account and a careful review of thousands of documents, he deconstructs the government’s account of what happened and proves that the military not only tortured prisoners, but lied about their deaths. By revealing Guantánamo’s true nature, Sergeant Hickman shows us why the prison has been so difficult to close. “Murder at Camp Delta is a plainly told, unsettling corrective to the many jingoistic accounts of post-9/11 military action” (Kirkus Reviews).

Murder at Camp Deltais a shocking inside look into government overreach, secrecy, and one man''s search for the truth. Staff Sergeant Joe Hickman was a loyal member of the US armed forces. For twenty years, he worked as a prison guard and in the military, earning over twenty commendations and awards. Following 9/11 he was enlisted as a squad leader and Sergeant of the Guard in Guantánamo Naval Base. But from the moment he arrived at Camp Delta, something seemed amiss. So when, on June 9th, 2006, three prisoners turned up dead, supposed suicides, Hickman knew that something was seriously wrong. This is his full eye-witness account of what happened that night. Drawing on his background in the US military, Hickman reveals the inner workings of Camp Delta: the procedures that murdered three prisoners and the people that orchestrated the cover-up that followed.Murder at Camp Deltais a shocking inside look into government overreach, secrecy, and one man''s search for the truth. Staff Sergeant Joe Hickman was a loyal member of the US armed forces. For twenty years, he worked as a prison guard and in the military, earning over twenty commendations and awards. Following 9/11 he was enlisted as a squad leader and Sergeant of the Guard in Guantánamo Naval Base. But from the moment he arrived at Camp Delta, something seemed amiss. So when, on June 9th, 2006, three prisoners turned up dead, supposed suicides, Hickman knew that something was seriously wrong. This is his full eye-witness account of what happened that night. Drawing on his background in the US military, Hickman reveals the inner workings of Camp Delta: the procedures that murdered three prisoners and the people that orchestrated the cover-up that followed.With the help of his fellow guards and a group of dogged young researchers, Hickman deconstructs the government''s account of what happened on 9th June 9th and proves that the military not only tortured prisoners but lied about their deaths. So begins an epic search for the truth that would force Hickman to leave the military, a search that would lead him to the realisation that the US government was primarily using Guantánamo as a training ground for interrogators to test and practice advanced torture techniques.In 2009, President Obama declared that Guantánamo ''shall be closed as soon as practicable''. Yet Guantánamo Naval Base is still in operation. By revealing the base''s true purpose, Sergeant Hickman shows us why Guantánamo has been so difficult to close.

A startling spotlight on the darkest corners of America’s “War on Terror,” where nothing is quite what it seems.The Convenient Terrorist is the definitive inside account of the capture, torture, and detention of Abu Zubaydah, the first “high-value target” captured by the CIA after 9/11. But was Abu Zubaydah, who is still being indefinitely held by the United States under shadowy circumstances, the blue-ribbon capture that the Bush White House claimed he was? Authors John Kiriakou, who led the capture of Zubaydah, and Joseph Hickman, who took custody of him at Guantanamo, draw a far more complex and intriguing portrait of the al-Qaeda “mastermind” who became a symbol of torture and the “dark side” of US security. From a one-time American collaborator to a poster boy for waterboarding, Abu Zubaydah became a “convenient terrorist”—a way for US authorities to sell their “War on Terror” to the American people.

A startling spotlight on the darkest corners of America’s “War on Terror,” where nothing is quite what it seems.The Convenient Terrorist is the definitive inside account of the capture, torture, and detention of Abu Zubaydah, the first “high-value target” captured by the CIA after 9/11. But was Abu Zubaydah, who is still being indefinitely held by the United States under shadowy circumstances, the blue-ribbon capture that the Bush White House claimed he was? Authors John Kiriakou, who led the capture of Zubaydah, and Joseph Hickman, who took custody of him at Guantanamo, draw a far more complex and intriguing portrait of the al-Qaeda “mastermind” who became a symbol of torture and the “dark side” of US security. From a one-time American collaborator to a poster boy for waterboarding, Abu Zubaydah became a “convenient terrorist”—a way for US authorities to sell their “War on Terror” to the American people.