"The Dark Side" -- by Jane Mayer: An Account of how our nation lost its way after 9/11.

"The Dark Side", a book published over the summer by Doubleday and written by The New Yorker investigative reporter Jane Mayer, is without a doubt one of the most important books of my lifetime. Though the writing is at times stilted and drama may be lacking, the book should be read by all Americans interested in how the United States has lost all moral authority in the world during the fight against terrorism since the attacks on 9/11.

Mayer quotes Senator McCain as saying, concerning the use of torture by the Bush White House, "It's not about them, it's about us." And he is right. What war are we fighting? Why are we using techniques that constitute torture to interrogate prisoners? Who is responsible for this mind-blowing debacle of both leadership and execution? How did this all happen?

Mayer's book has no happy ending. The government, partially out of blind stubbornness by the powers that be such as Vice President Cheney, David Addington, and even the President himself, still uses torture techniques to interrogate prisoners.

But there are some heroes, both within the administration and on the outside looking in. Jack Goldsmith and Alberto Mora are two formerly high ranking lawyers in the government who attempted to take a stand against these illegal and otherwise unthinkable techniques of interrogation.

One point that author Mayer makes is that many in the administration are now fearful of being prosecuted for war crimes. I expect nothing to come of that, as the analogy to the interment of Japanese-Americans during World War II holds: we know we did wrong, but do not expect the people responsible for these atrocities to do jail time.

Please read the book, or at least watch this video of an interview with Jane Mayer.