General Paul Aussaresses’ The Battle of Casbah is not the first account of a French military official discussing the use of torture during the Battle of Algiers. General Jacques Massu previously wrote a book confirming the use of torture by the French military in 1971. Nonetheless, Gen. Aussaresses’ account of the Battle of Algiers (1956-57) offers an unapologetic and detailed view of the French military operation against suspected members of the Front de Libération Nationale (National Liberation Front or FLN). The secret operation within the Casbah neighborhood of Algiers was comprised of the widespread detention, torture and the summary execution of roughly 3,000 suspected FLN members. Gen. Aussaresses’ candid retelling of his time as the
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A former spy in France’s Service de Documentation Extérieure et de Contre-Espionnage (SDECE), Aussaresses transferred to the French Army as an intelligence officer to fight in Vietnam during World War Two. He briefly held command of the SDECE prior to being deployed to Algeria in 1954 with the 41st paratrooper brigade. Aussaresses unabashedly outlines how he tortured and killed suspected FLN members while implementing a counterterrorism campaign. He takes personal responsibility for the executions of senior FLN members, including those that had been officially ruled suicides. The Battle of Casbah chronologically tells of his experience, building up to his key argument. He advocates that the only way to combat terrorists is with a counter-terrorism campaign comprised of “extreme measures.” Aussaresses uses his initial assignment in Philippeville, Algeria to introduce the nature of the Algerian War and the tactics utilized by the FLN against French settlers. With his subsequent transfer to the city of Algiers, he provides a systematic account of his planning and execution of the French strategy in the Battle of Algiers. Aussaresses constructs a secondary narrative justifying the use of extreme measures through graphic accounts of FLN bombings against French …show more content…
He used his memoir to advocate the use of executions and torture during counter-terrorism campaigns. The Battle of Casbah was criticized internationally and eventually led to his being stripped of rank. As a resource for the serious study of the Battle of Algiers, it is of minimal use since treats opinion as fact and fails to source claims. Nonetheless, it has some value as a resource as it provides a different perspective of how to view French counter-terrorism operations in Algeria. It shows the impact that the Vietnam war had on the city of Algiers and French counter-terrorism techniques as a
A former spy in France’s Service de Documentation Extérieure et de Contre-Espionnage (SDECE), Aussaresses transferred to the French Army as an intelligence officer to fight in Vietnam during World War Two. He briefly held command of the SDECE prior to being deployed to Algeria in 1954 with the 41st paratrooper brigade. Aussaresses unabashedly outlines how he tortured and killed suspected FLN members while implementing a counterterrorism campaign. He takes personal responsibility for the executions of senior FLN members, including those that had been officially ruled suicides. The Battle of Casbah chronologically tells of his experience, building up to his key argument. He advocates that the only way to combat terrorists is with a counter-terrorism campaign comprised of “extreme measures.” Aussaresses uses his initial assignment in Philippeville, Algeria to introduce the nature of the Algerian War and the tactics utilized by the FLN against French settlers. With his subsequent transfer to the city of Algiers, he provides a systematic account of his planning and execution of the French strategy in the Battle of Algiers. Aussaresses constructs a secondary narrative justifying the use of extreme measures through graphic accounts of FLN bombings against French …show more content…
He used his memoir to advocate the use of executions and torture during counter-terrorism campaigns. The Battle of Casbah was criticized internationally and eventually led to his being stripped of rank. As a resource for the serious study of the Battle of Algiers, it is of minimal use since treats opinion as fact and fails to source claims. Nonetheless, it has some value as a resource as it provides a different perspective of how to view French counter-terrorism operations in Algeria. It shows the impact that the Vietnam war had on the city of Algiers and French counter-terrorism techniques as a