{"id":25631,"date":"2013-08-07T02:33:30","date_gmt":"2013-08-07T02:33:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zenpundit.com\/?p=25631"},"modified":"2013-08-07T02:33:30","modified_gmt":"2013-08-07T02:33:30","slug":"natsec-lit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zenpundit.com\/?p=25631","title":{"rendered":"NatSec Lit"},"content":{"rendered":"

[ by Charles Cameron<\/strong> — books, Gitmo and Snowden — signing off with a great clip from Three Days of the Condor<\/em> exhibiting the benefits of reading ]
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I’m not entirely sure that Fifty Shades of Grey<\/em> qualifies as Literature, but I think it can squeeze by as Lit<\/em> — just as I’m not sure the topic of this post has much to do with National Security, but NatSec<\/em> seems to fit.
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\"\"<\/a>
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Seriously, though — Carole Rosenberg<\/strong> at the Miami Herald<\/em> is the go to person for all news Gitmo, and her recent piece, Congressman: \u2018Fifty Shades\u2019 popularity shows Guant\u00e1namo prisoners are \u2018phonies\u2019<\/a>, is well worth your attention. I’ve selected the choicest cuts for your reading pleasure — and will also recommend John Schwartz<\/strong>‘ NYT piece, Russia for Beginners: A Literary Course for Edward Snowden<\/a>, further down. Together, they make a feast.<\/p>\n

And hang in there — there’s a clip from Condor<\/em> at the very end…
\n**<\/p>\n

From Gitmo, then:<\/p>\n

A member of Congress said Tuesday he disclosed the popularity of the erotic sometimes sadomasochistic series Fifty Shades of Grey<\/em> among Guant\u00e1namo\u2019s most prized prisoners not to titillate but to set straight for their global followers that they were not devout holy warriors passing their Ramadan reading the Quran.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt demystifies them. It exposes them for who they actually are,\u201d said Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., in a telephone interview that sought to set straight that the captives in the secretive Camp 7 complex are \u201cnot exactly holy warriors. Just the opposite. These people are phonies.\u201d [ … ]<\/p>\n

What made the disclosure so odd is that, during media visits to the trailers that house the prison camp\u2019s collection of about 18,000 books, many of them religious, the Defense Department contractor in charge, Milton, says he systematically forbids the circulation of books and videos that are either lascivious or exceptionally violent..<\/p>\n

The Herald contacted Moran on vacation after a prison camps spokeswoman, Army Capt. Andi Hahn, checked with the Army officer in charge of the detention center library and replied that the Fifty Shades of Grey series is a \u201cprohibited\u201d book. [ … ]<\/p>\n

Moran said he has long favored exposing the Pentagon prisoners to great works of Western literature, and had asked the same questions in the less secretive prisons containing the 150 or so other prisoners, 84 of them approved for release or transfer in 2010. In those prison, the troops responded more generically that detainees who broke the rules get to keep just two library books in their cells while cooperative, communal captives get to borrow eight at a time.  [ … ]<\/p>\n

In February, military spokesman said they were forbidden to elaborate on war court testimony that showed Camp 7\u2019s troops seized as banned a previously approved book by ex-FBI Agent Ali Soufan called Black Banners<\/em>. [ … ]<\/p>\n

Another attorney, Carlos Warner, said while his Camp 7 client, Muhammed Rahim, was interested in American popular culture he couldn\u2019t imagine him reading the Fifty Shades of Grey<\/em> series sometimes referred to as \u201cmommy porn.\u201d<\/p>\n

In March, Warner said, he handed Rahim the bestseller fantasy novel American Gods<\/em>, about a freed prisoner, now being serialized for HBO \u2014 and was fully engaged in it.<\/p>\n

Because of his enthusiasm, Warner got a card for Rahim from the book\u2019s author, Neil Gaiman. \u201cI hope you enjoy American Gods<\/em>. It was written before Guant\u00e1namo and all this current madness,\u201d the British novelist wrote Rahim in June at Warner\u2019s behest. The lawyer said he plans to show it to Rahim at their next meeting.<\/p>\n

American Gods<\/em> is not an approved book at the detention center library, the prison spokeswoman, Hahn, said in response to a question Tuesday.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

**<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, regarding Edward Snowden<\/strong>…<\/p>\n

Edward J. Snowden has the time, and now he has the classics. [ \u2026 ]<\/p>\n

His Russian lawyer earlier this week left him a shopping bag with books by Dostoyevsky, Chekhov and Nikolai Karamzin to help him learn about Russian reality.<\/p>\n

According to news accounts, the lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena, gave his client Dostoyevsky\u2019s \u201cCrime and Punishment,\u201d the tale of law, order and redemption, telling him, \u201cYou should know who Raskolnikov was.\u201d He added that the Chekhov was \u201cfor dessert,\u201d and also provided him with the writings of Karamzin, a historian, for background on the nation\u2019s development.<\/p>\n

One has to ask: Is Dostoevsky really the best choice? Raskolnikov could hardly be expected to cheer up Mr. Snowden. Sonia, the girl whose love saves Raskolnikov\u2019s soul, may remind him of Lindsay Mills, the pole-dancing, exhibitionist girlfriend he left behind. [ \u2026 ]<\/p>\n

Are there better Russian books to help Mr. Snowden get to know the Russian soul? One could do worse than to read Gogol, whose absurdist short story \u201cThe Nose\u201d could help Mr. Snowden understand that living in Russia might not make any more sense than living in the United States. And Tolstoy \u2013 well, no matter how much time Mr. Snowden has, he may not have enough time for Tolstoy. [ … ]<\/p>\n

Why should Mr. Snowden confine himself to the literature of Russia? After all, Edward Everett Hale wrote a book that must absolutely resonate with Mr. Snowden and his plight: \u201cThe Man Without a Country,\u201d whose main figure is tried for treason and cries out before the judge, \u201cI wish I may never hear of the United States again!\u201d Walter Kirn\u2019s \u201cUp in the Air\u201d would continue the travel theme. John le Carr\u00e9\u2019s George Smiley offers glimpses into Russian life that ring with gloomy authenticity.<\/p>\n

The French, who gave us the word ennui and sharpened the concept of existentialism, produced the works that may most help Mr. Snowden adjust to his new life, especially those of Jean-Paul Sartre. What masterpiece better describes his situation than \u201cNo Exit\u201d?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

**<\/p>\n

Reading. It helps:<\/p>\n

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[ by Charles Cameron — books, Gitmo and Snowden — signing off with a great clip from Three Days of the Condor exhibiting the benefits of reading ] . I’m not entirely sure that Fifty Shades of Grey qualifies as Literature, but I think it can squeeze by as Lit — just as I’m not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[133,526,209,652,67,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book","category-charles-cameron","category-guantanamo","category-literature","category-movies","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zenpundit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zenpundit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zenpundit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zenpundit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zenpundit.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25631"}],"version-history":[{"count":33,"href":"https:\/\/zenpundit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25631\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25665,"href":"https:\/\/zenpundit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25631\/revisions\/25665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zenpundit.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zenpundit.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zenpundit.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}