Enemy Combatant (book)

Enemy Combatant is a memoir by British Muslim, Moazzam Begg, co-written by Victoria Brittain, former Associate Foreign Editor for The Guardian, about Begg's detention by the government of the United States of America in Bagram Detention Facility and at Camp Echo, Guantanamo Bay and his life prior to that detention. It was published in Britain as Enemy Combatant: A British Muslim's Journey To Guantanamo and Back (ISBN 0-7432-8567-0), and in the US as Enemy Combatant: My Imprisonment at Guantanamo, Bagram, and Kandahar (ISBN 1-59558-136-7).[1][2] In the US, the foreword was written by David Ignatius of The Washington Post.[3]

Enemy Combatant
First UK edition
AuthorMoazzam Begg,
Victoria Brittain
LanguageEnglish
PublisherNew Press (US)
Free Press (UK)
Publication date
2006
ISBN0-7432-8567-0 (Britain)
ISBN 0-7432-8567-0 (US)

Begg was seized by Pakistani officers in Islamabad in February 2002, turned over to the U.S., and after prolonged sessions of interrogation, he was released from detention on 25 January 2005. According to statements made by the U.S. military, Begg was an enemy combatant and al-Qaeda member, who recruited others for al-Qaeda, provided money and support to al-Qaeda training camps, received extensive military training in al-Qaeda-run terrorist training camps in Afghanistan, and who was prepared to fight U.S. or allied troops.

Begg admits having spent time at two non-al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan in the 1990s, having supported Muslim fighters in Bosnia and Chechnya, and that he had "thought about" taking up arms in Chechnya. Also, that he had previously met people who have since been linked to terrorism (Khalil al-Deek, Dhiren Barot, and Shahid Akram Butt),[1] but he denies ever having trained for, aided, carried out or planned any acts of terrorism.[4]

John Sifton, a New York–based official from Human Rights Watch, said that the book's narrative is consistent with other accounts of conditions in Afghan detention centres and Guantanamo Bay.[5]

Critical reception

Enemy Combatant received praise in Britain.[2][6] American critic Jonathan Raban summarized this praise in The New York Review of Books as resulting from Begg’s "outstanding liberality of mind and evenhandedness toward his captors".[6] Writing in The Guardian, Philippe Sands said that the book's "humour and warmth are striking", and recommended that it be read by American politicians such as George Bush and Dick Cheney.[7] In The Independent, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown compared the book to the "Holocaust testimonies" of Primo Levi and Rabbi Hugo Gryn, saying that Begg "writes with the same authenticity and conveys horror without hyperbole".[2]

The book received mixed reviews in the US. Publishers Weekly described it as "a fast-paced, harrowing narrative".[8] Jonathan Raban criticized the dialogue and called the gaps in Begg's story "frustrating," noting that they seemed to stop after Begg was incarcerated.[6] He ultimately concluded that although the book was poorly written, it did not impact his belief in Begg's overall experience as a detainee. [6] The New York Times reported "some notable gaps in Mr. Begg's memoir", such as not mentioning his arrest in 1994 for alleged fraud.[1] U-T San Diego had similar concerns about Begg's ties to terrorist organizations and his later "cooperation with interrogators".[9]

The Muslim News called it an "open, honest and touching account".[10] Begg earned the "Published Writer Award" for the book, at the annual Muslim Writers Awards in March 2008.[11]

References
  1. Golden, Tim (15 June 2006). "Jihadist or Victim: Ex-Detainee Makes a Case". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 13 November 2012. Retrieved 19 February 2010.
  2. Alibhai-Brown, Yasmin (24 March 2006). "Enemy Combatant by Moazzam Begg with Victoria Brittain". The Independent. London, UK. Archived from the original on 15 November 2016. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  3. Ignatius, David (14 June 2006). "A Prison We Need to Escape". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 10 September 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  4. Brancaccio, David (28 July 2006). "NOW Transcript – Show 230". NOW. Archived from the original on 2 June 2016. Retrieved 20 November 2016. Begg has denied all these charges, saying that he has "never planned, aided or participated in any attacks against Westerners".
  5. Lalas, Elizabeth (27 October 2006). "Moazzam Begg's story of detention and abuse: This is Bush's war on terror". Socialist Worker. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 23 February 2007.
  6. Raban, Jonathan (5 October 2006). "The Prisoners Speak". The New York Review of Books. Archived from the original on 28 March 2010. Retrieved 20 February 2010.
  7. Sands, Philippe (1 April 2006). "Moazzam Begg shows courage and restraint in his account of his time in Guantánamo". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 30 November 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  8. "Enemy Combatant: My Imprisonment at Guantanamo, Bagram and Kandahar. (Book review)" Archived 2012-10-21 at the Wayback Machine, Publishers Weekly, 19 July 2006. Retrieved 22 February 2010
  9. Wilkins, John, "Bars and Stripes; In Moazzam Begg's `Imprisonment', Uncle Sam is a cruel warden", U-T San Diego, 10 September 2006; retrieved 21 February 2010.
  10. Abbas, Tahir (26 May 2006). "Book Review: 'Open, honest and touching account of an ordinary British-born Muslim'". Muslimnews.co.uk. Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 26 May 2010.
  11. "Birmingham hosts the Muslim Writers Awards". Birmingham Mail. Archived from the original on 2021-02-24. Retrieved 2016-02-03.

See also
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