According to 'The Washington Post', "extraordinary rendition", or the US' practice of kidnapping suspects, flying them to an undisclosed location in a third-world country, and torturing them to force a confession about their role in terrorism is "the largest CIA covert action program since the height of the Cold War."
In a daring first-person investigation, AC Thompson and Trevor Paglen expose the torture apparatus of the CIA, revealing both the workings of its top-secret-and-officially-denied extraordinary rendition transport system and the clandestine "black sites" where terror suspects are held. It is a story that takes them around the country and around the world: by following CIA planes from the Nevada desert to Ireland, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, and by using FAA data, corporate records, and Army aircraft documents, they uncover an international program involving corrupt domestic politicos, civilian aircraft operators, and the highest levels of government.
What they discover, in this first book to systematically investigate the US practice of extraordinary rendition, is shocking proof of widespread kidnapping and torture by a government that says none of it is happening. 'Torture Taxi' includes:
- First-person reporting from Afghanistan and visits to rumoured prisons there
- Interviews with victims of extraordinary rendition
- Tracing the airplanes used for extraordinary rendition back to civilian front companies that the CIA has "hiding in plain sight"
- How "planespotters" (like English journalist Stephen Grey) around the world have helped expose the secrets of rendition flights
- The Council of Europe and Italy's investigation of European countries' cooperation with the CIA
'Torture Taxi' is the first in-depth look into a startling and disturbing new truth about the role of torture in the "war on terror".
