Honor Bound
Inside the Guantanamo Trials
2008
Tags: Government/National Security Law
282 pp $34.00
ISBN 978-1-59460-512-3
Honor Bound is an intriguing book that explains the law of war and the inside story of military commissions. The author is a former JAG lawyer who served on the prosecution team, worked in Guantanamo Bay, and was legal advisor to an elite team of war crimes investigators. Through a series of entertaining vignettes, Rotunda discusses and analyzes the laws governing the war on terror, the Geneva Conventions, and the laws related to detainees held in Cuba.
Readers will look at Marine Corps training in Quantico, Virginia; learn about Gitmo's detention camp through the author's experiences with real detainees and real interrogators; travel the globe with "terrorist hunters" following investigatory leads; see what went wrong in Gitmo and with the military commissions; meet Private Jessica Lynch; and learn about laws that protect the combat wounded. Scholarly and informative, this book is also a fascinating and engaging read.
"This eye-opening inside account must be read by everyone who cares about balancing national security and human dignity." — Alan M. Dershowitz, Harvard Law School Professor and author of Finding Jefferson
"Honor Bound is an engrossing, first-hand account of military justice in an age of terrorism and what it takes to defend liberty as a JAG officer today. And though [Major Rotunda] pulls no punches where criticism is due, she (and we) can be justly proud of the underlying integrity of our military services and the honor-bound system of our men and women in uniform." — Edwin Meese, Former U.S. Attorney General
"Kyndra Rotunda's book, Honor Bound, is not only an interesting and well-written account of her experiences as a military lawyer, but reveals the surprising facts behind the Guantanamo Bay detainee stories, the problems with recent War Crimes prosecution trials and a host of other facets of the War on Terror." — Professor Joyce Malcolm, George Mason University Law School
"While not everyone will agree with this well-argued book's conclusions, anyone wishing to understand the upcoming detainee trials will want to read this fine account." — Professor J. Peter Pham, James Madison University and Director of the Nelson Institute for International and Public Affairs
"This book was a page-turning eye-opener for me. No American should miss the opportunity—and responsibility—to read it. Bravo!" — Theodore B. Olson, Former Solicitor General of the United States, Former Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel, Department of Justice, and partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher
"A thrilling account." — James L. Swanson New York Times bestselling author of Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer
"This book is must reading for anyone interested in understanding what really happened in the treatment of detainees at Guantanamo." — Prof. Robert F. Turner Co-founder, Center for National Security Law University of Virginia School of Law