Book Review-The War against Al-Qaeda

I have been doing a great deal of book reading over the last year or so, especially within the past six months, and I'd like to share some of the important ideas that I've picked up along the way. While I am not intending to offer literary criticism I will say that I do reccomend all of the books which I will be discussing if one is so inclined. If a book isn't worth recommending it certainly isn't worth writing about. I'll give the caveat that I am a bit of political junkie and specifically a foreign policy geek, so what is worthy of my time may or may not be deserving of yours. Consider these columns to be a brief abstract of the issues these books deal with. In the interest of keeping the column to a reasonable level, I will discuss one book at a time, and leave the others for a future time.

All of these books have the qualities that I look for in a non-fiction book on politics, contemporary issues, and history, my three favorite topics of non-fiction to read. They are very well-researched and the assertions and information is based on a wide variety of credible and knowledgeable sources. They are interesting and relevant. They are well-written and organized. And perhaps most importantly, they offer a well-constructed narrative. With that said, onto the books and their impression on me.

The most recent book that I just finished is by Lawrence Wright and is titled "The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11".
http://www.amazon.com/Looming-Tower-Al-Qaeda-Road-11/dp/B001H4K15M/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1246123407&sr=1-2

This book really takes on two tasks, the first is to offer an insightful history of the Islamist movement, starting with the godfather of the movement, an Egyptian named Sayd al-Qutb, who became disenchanted with America after studying here in the late 1940's and early 1950's. He is the chief influence of America's public enemy #1, Osama bin Laden, who founded al-Qaeda in 1988 after fighting against the Soviet Union in the Afghanistan-Soviet War.

Bin Laden believed that if his jihadists could take down one superpower they could take down the other. Put aside the fact that the Arab mujahideen played a limited role in the 1980's war, which was mostly won by the Afghan fighters, the point is that this is the propoganda that al-Qaeda sells and that many recruits and supporters buy into. There are various groups that make up the Islamist movement, with varying agendas and methods. Bin Laden's group has become the most noted, and also the one most focused on taking down America.

In his world view, as most Americans now realize after 9/11, we are responsible for holding down the Arab and Muslim world, and by drawing us into a decisive war in the Middle East, we will go the way of the Soviet Union. His strategy is long on violence and bloodshed, but short on how this would lead to a renewed caliphate and a return to the glory days of the Arab and Muslim world, which is the goal of the Islamist movement.

However it's short-sightedness has done little to discourage the mostly young and disaffected men who join up, namely because many of them are focused on reaching paradise by becoming martyrs, and if your main goal is death, you probably aren't too concerned with long term planning. The attacks of 9/11 then are to be seen as an attempt not only to inflict damage on America, but to draw us into a long, protracted, and ultimately fatal battle with Muslim jihadists.

This is where the CIA and the FBI come into the story, and the second task that the book accomplishes is to track the men and women of these two competing government agencies and the myriad of clues that each encountered while investigating al-Qaeda in the decade leading up to the attacks. The main thing the reader takes away here is that had the two organizations worked together, it is very likely that the plot could have been uncovered and prevented. Not only that, but bin-Laden likely could have been captured and arrested, which would have most likely brought al-Qaeda to its knees prior to the fateful day of September 11, 2001.

However, due to territorial rivalries and turf battles, neither shared the information that could have led to a complete picture being revealed. In addition, neither the Clinton administration nor the Bush administration appeared to take the threat of al-Qaeda very seriously, although there was a great deal of information available to them that should have led both to do so.

It occurs to me while writing this that what I am describing is pretty much common knowledge to most informed people, and that this book doesn't present any new groundbreaking theories or explanations of 9/11, of Islamist terrorist groups, or of the performance of the two agencies charged with defending us from such groups.

What the book does do however is provide vivid details and weave a fascinating narrative of the individuals that make up the story. Based on extensive research and numerous interviews with the key actors, it is a riveting inside the locker room look at the groups that provide the greatest threat to our national security and those who are its sworn protectors. Wright strikes a balance between maintaining journalistic integrity and neutrality while working in astute observations and analysis, and leaves the reader pondering many relevant issues, which also is a key feature of a worthwhile work of non-fiction, that it gets the reader to think and consider what might have been and what could be.

Looking it up on amazon.com I found out that it is ranked a mere 153,000 in sales, which while not necessarily surprising is nonetheless somewhat disheartening, considering how important this issue is to our way of life. What I take away most of all is this: Global terrorism is here to stay, and all of the vigilance in the world won't keep us completely safe. There isn't anything we can do in terms of our policy towards the Middle East that will change the hearts and minds of those who support jihad and interpret the Quran in such a way as to justify their heinous actions. But that by a combination of aggressive pursuit of terrorist groups (politically, economically, and militarily) and a more sensible and intelligent foreign policy as it regards the Arab and Muslim world, we can greatly reduce the threat by taking much of the wind out of the sails of the terrorist wing of the Islamist movement.

It will take a great deal of political will and an understanding of the complexities of the issues and the different cultures that we are dealing with. Simple solutions will not do the trick, and as the Bush administration and neo-conservative response has shown, will only exacerbate the problem. Whether or not our political leadership, and as importantly the American people are up to the task is an open question. We tend to like quick decisive action ("just nuke the ignorant bastards") and shows of strength, but the bull in the china shop approach won't work here.

Neither will the pie in the sky liberal viewpoint that if we just change our ways all will work itself out. The answers to global jihad are complex, are bound to be fluid as different political scenarios and events play out, and any solution will take years if not decades. But to my way of thinking, this is the most serious issue that we face as a people, and one that is worthy of our time, intelligence, and energy as the guardians of the great American experience.