{"product_id":"you-cant-make-this-shit-up-leading-the-fight-for-the-rule-of-law-in-the-guantanamo-bay-military-commissions-paperback","title":"You Can't Make This Shit Up! Leading the Fight for the Rule of Law in the Guantanamo Bay Military Commissions - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eMichael Berrigan\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI was an active-duty Army JAG for 20 years. When I retired in 2006, I was approached\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eto work as Principal Deputy Chief Defense Counsel for the Military Commissions Defense\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOrganization (MCDO): the team defending people held at Guantánamo Bay in the Bush\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eadministration's \"War on Terror\". In many senses, the military commissions, created in the\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eaftermath of 9\/11, were the antithesis of good national and international law, designed to allow the\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003euse of evidence obtained from torture to prosecute and convict \"detainees\".\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAt MCDO, truth was (and is) stranger than fiction; we would often invoke the mantra \"You\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ecan't make this shit up!\" There is another meaning to this phrase: when the Bush administration\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003edecided to create (\"make up\") the GTMO military commissions and not to use established systems\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eof justice, they were asking for trouble. It is impossible to create a new system of \"justice\" on the\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003efly, particularly one created to hide illegal practices (redactions on 20 pages of the memoir were\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003erequired by CIA and DOD censors.) Innumerable problems and obstacles were bound to occur.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis insider account of the work of MCDO through the Hicks, Hamdan, Khadr, al Bahlul, and\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJawad trials, among others, and the al Nashiri and \"9\/11\" death penalty cases, offers unique\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003einsights into the often dark world MCDO attorneys were forced to navigate-including being\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003einvestigated by the FBI (led by Special Counsel Pat Fitzgerald) for alleged misuse of classified\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ematerials. There was so much at stake: nothing less than the rule of law. Dark humor helped us not\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eonly survive, but thrive-while scarred. Think a legal M*A*S*H. You really can't make this shit up!\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 374\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.77 x 9 x 6 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e November 07, 2025\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":68104123089202,"sku":"9798993815329","price":55.6,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0961\/1608\/0946\/files\/dU3uZLAjx19798993815329.webp?v=1793314251","url":"https:\/\/deskinlawfirm.com\/products\/you-cant-make-this-shit-up-leading-the-fight-for-the-rule-of-law-in-the-guantanamo-bay-military-commissions-paperback","provider":"DLF Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}