The biography of a one page memorandum signed by Donald Rumsfeld on 2 December 2002 authorising 18 techniques of interrogation not previously allowed by the United States. The memorandum was in effect for six weeks during which at least two detainees at Guantanamo and the US airbase at Bagram died and a third was tortored over a period of seven weeks. 18 Techniques traces the life of the memorandum and explores issues of individual responsibility. Four indivudals dominate the story: Rumsfeld, US lawyer John Yoo, victim Mohammed al-Qahtani and X, an anonymous European prosecutor.