Fear Up Harsh

Tony Lagouranis is originally from Chicago .  After graduating college at St. John's in Santa Fe , he traveled to Tunisia and tried to get work teaching English and working at an archaeological site, but he never got paid.

Later, he worked at O'Hare in a frustratingly boring job.  In early 2001, he decided to join the army to pay off his huge student loan debt and to learn Arabic.

Six years later, Tony Lagouranis is a former army interrogator and the author of Fear Up Harsh: An Army Interrogator's Dark Journey through Iraq .

After returning from Iraq , Lagouranis went public in February 2006 about his concerns with US interrogation and detainee treatment policy and public statements.

He wrote an Op-Ed in the New York Times, saying that soldiers “need a commander in chief who does not seek strained legalisms that "permit" the use of torture.” 

The title of Lagouranis's book comes from the official memo on Interrogation policy, written in 2003 by General Sanchez, who said it was ”modeled on the one implemented for interrogations conducted at Guantánamo Bay ”

One of the techniques was named “Fear Up Harsh"

The Army has disputed Lagouranis's descriptions of his experiences: “the U.S. Army has never given authority to any Soldier throughout this war to abuse or torture detainees. The Army has and will continue to live by the laws and policy directives prohibiting mistreatment of detainees.”

But on the same interrogation policy memo, many of the techniques contain disclaimers like: 
"Caution: Based on court cases in other countries, some nations may view application of this technique in certain circumstances to be inhumane. Consideration of these views should be given prior to use of this technique."

Related Links:
-“Sanchez Memo,” CJTF-7 Interrogation and Counter-Resistance Policy -“Bybee Memo,” Re: Standards of Conduct for Interrogation
-“Gonzales Memo,” Decision Re Application of the Geneva Convention on Prisoners of War to the Conflict with Al-Qaeda and the Taliban
-"The General’s Report,” by Seymour M. Hersh

Warning: Some of this interview may be inappropriate for younger or more sensitive listeners.