The Torture Report

January 23, 2017
An outstanding example of graphic nonfiction, this adaptation of the 2014 report by a Senate committee describes how the CIA abused prisoners to extract information about al-Qaeda. The 9/11 attack was used to justify what was called “enhanced interrogation”: waterboarding, sleep deprivation, prolonged nudity, slapping, isolation—in short, torture. Whatever one thinks of the morality of this operation, the report clearly shows it proved to be pointless; the only reliable information from the detainees came from timely, nonviolent interrogation, not prolonged physical torment. Jacobson and Colon previously collaborated on other books about the 9/11 report and the war on terror, and Jacobson’s thorough summary of a huge amount of material is matched by Colon’s art, which vividly contrasts the naked, agonized prisoners and the calm, business-suited CIA administrators trying to spin bureaucratic jargon to hide their lack of success. This is not an enjoyable read, but it’s extremely important.