[.ca] Through Our Enemies' Eyes: Osama bin Laden, Radical ... (ISBN 1574885537)

A good essay or short memo--but a tedious book:
Michael Scheuer is upset that he must write his books (this one and the upcoming "Imperial Hubris") under his pen name, Anonymous, or lose his CIA post. This reviewer hopes that he is made redundant in the upcoming CIA re-organization and can devote himself to his writing. He has an important message: Osama has a large following: is seen by his followers as a dedicated and devout Muslim; has proclaimed himself at war with the US since 1996; is trying and may have succeeding in securing WMD; and has built an organization that will likely outlive him. Scheuer asserts that it is more useful to think of Bin Laden as an insurgent than as a terrorist. While asserting that modern western man cannot understand the religious mindset of Islamic fundamentalists, Scheuer makes tedious recurring efforts to compare Osama to historical American figures like John Brown (useful), Tom Paine and other founding fathers (less useful). This book should be recommended to anyone ignorant of Osama and Al Qaeda. Or someone who had heard of neither before 9/11. One of the most powerful sections of the book is the summary of all of Osama's acts after declaring war on the US in 1996 and the tepid US response--what on earth were Richard Clarke, Michael Scheuer, and Bill Clinton thinking and doing?? Someone already aware of the history will wish this was a short article in Foreign Policy. Scheuer feels that our Foreign policy is fatally flawed. From his analysis the three biggest problems with US policy seem to be: 1. The US backing of Israel, 2. The US willingness to bomb Muslims, 3. The US unwillingness to wage total war on Al Queda and its backers. Unfortunately Scheuer gives no guidance on how #2 and #3 can be reconciled and no thoughts on how to constructively abandon Israel. Maybe--when he has more time--he can think through some solutions. Early reviews of "Imperial Hubris" indicate that it is largely a retread of this book, only Bush's actions rather than Clinton's lack of action are criticized.

slaps the neocons in the face with facts:
Firstly "Anonymous" isn't completely anonymous, his name as author of this book and "Imperial Hubris" has been published in Editor and Publisher as well as several newspapers. Everyone in Washington knows who it is. His name (initials M.S.) was withheld by the CIA because of the political consiquences of having the country's most seasoned and widely respected expert on counter terrorism rip into the Neocons and the administration for their simple minded gutting of the war on terrorism in order to go to Iraq. for more on this read his upcoming "Imperial Hubris" which really lays bear how the neocons have set us up for Al-Queda spawns of the future that will make Osama Bin Laden look like a flea. This book is a must read for every American. Learn from the nation's best counter terrorism expert how the Bush administration and especially the neocons pulled the legs out from under our counter terrorism efforts the day they got into office.

First the bad news...:
Osama bin Laden hates Americans. In fact, he thinks secular America is the devil's spawn, and that most American Muslims have assimilated beyond the point of redemption. (Which is kind of funny, since Daniel Pipes keeps accusing American Muslims of being a 5th Column in the United States that supports OBL, and wanders around his lecture tours calling members of the Council on American Islamic Relations, a LIBERAL Muslim group, terrorists...) Then the worse news. OBL actually has REASONS he hates America, and they're not the simplistic "hating freedom" nonsense spouted by the Bush administration. While OBL's methods are completely different, he shares many of his basic complaints - about Western governments and companies raping Islamic countries' resources, the "enslavement" of Muslim populations by Western businesses that don't pay the locals fairly, and a general feeling that "the West" controls the Rest for its own benefit - of the antiglobalization movement. What's interesting is that while the left started out quite peacefully, as its message has been ignored, more have begun joining what could be described as OBL-type groups in their infancy, such as the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) responsible for several fires. Is it really a coincidence that OBL-style terrorism and "ecoterrorists" actually have some of the same complaints? Maybe both have a point about what the US government and its lackeys are doing to the world, and the people who live on it. Methods aside, of course, which are deplorable. I just wish this book went that deep into discussing the problem, but (sigh) it only covers "international" OBL-style terrorism and their motives.

informative and unbiased:
This is by far one of the best books I've read on bin Laden and the insurgent organizations he is connected to. The author is largely unbiased (only slipping once when s/he slurs europe), and this is most likely the best semi-biography you can get about Mr. bin Laden without a slant.

Excellent Insightful Read:
Awesome book. Should be mandatory reading for all government officials as well as Americans themselves. It would surely cut down on the amount of ignorance in this country concerning the Arab world. It forces American's to take a good hard look at themselves, something which we rarely do. And we can only hope those in charge of our country will wake up. (yea right, a politician self examine? ha!) once I started reading this I couldn't put it down. Highly recommended!