[.ca] Through Our Enemies' Eyes: Osama bin Laden, Radical ... (ISBN 1574889672)

insight without peer:
firstly to the reviewer below who had a problem with the author being listed as "anonymous." This was a CIA requisite. The book has been vetted by CIA, no sources and methods have been compromised and the writer isn't a secret agent at all (unklike the actual agent dangerously outed and burned by the White House). In fact if you can just go to the website of editor and publisher (editorandpublisher dot com) and search for "imperial Hubris" (his latest book) and you will find a story naming him and discussing the fact that he already has been named in the press. His position isn't secret at all either, and the withholding of his name isn't his choice, but withhled by cia for reasons having to do with the politics of senior officials so strongly criticizing the Bush Administration. It is just a formality that the name is withehld. In to the book. this book and the author's other work, Imperial Hubris, are must reads for understanding Bin Laden, the danger of terrorism to the US and concensus among the most senior and experienced intelligence hands that the war in Iraq has crippled our focus on the real threat and created more Bin Ladens for the future. It is an especially cogent debunking of the "flypaper" theory of the war in Iraq, and lays bare the utter ignorance of people like Rumsfeld, Perle and Wolfowitz.

Author:
I am currently reading the book, somethings are incorrect, but it serves its purpose very well. I am VERY interested in contacting the author VIA e-mail so if anyone knows of a place i can do that it would be very helpful.

A thought-provoking look at America's greatest threat:
"Through our Enemies' Eyes" provides a unique, yet entirely vital analysis of Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda. The author argues that the United States' war against terrorism faces massive obstacles because Americans lack a concrete understanding of our foes. Anonymous notes that the U.S. often oversimplifies bin Laden by dismissingly branding him and his allies as radical ghouls hell-bent on the destruction of America. Consequently, we fail to see bin Laden as a calm, calculating enemy who will never stop his jihad against the U.S. until it abandons its military presence in the Middle East entirely and stops supplying aid to Israel. Further, and perhaps more important, Americans, as well as the U.S. media and many of our national leaders refuse to look at bin Laden and his al Qaeda fighters as they see themselves: righteous protectors of their own branch of Islam. "Through or Enemies Eyes" thus argues that before we can wage an effective war against international terrorism, we must first try to analyze the world and our own policies and actions through the perspective of the radical Islamists. This is all not to say that Anonymous believes that we should ever sympathize with bin Laden and al Qaeda, or try to defeat them without brandishing our military might. Rather, the author believes that simply dropping an avalanche of bombs in the Middle East will not effectively combat any of the threats against America. Instead, it is key for Americans to understand that the beliefs espoused by bin Laden are not just his own. They tap into the deeply-engrained feelings of millions of Muslims worldwide. It is in this respect that the author well demonstrates that the pervasive influence of terrorism cannot be stopped by capturing or killing bin Laden. Instead it will take much greater time, effort, and even understanding. The book is most effective in giving the reader a look into bin Laden's own psyche by analyzing his biography, his actions, and many of his own quotes. By doing so, Anonymous demonstrates that bin Laden does not view himself as blood-thirsty; rather, he sees himself as a holy warrior merely working to protect Islam. Therefore, his attacks against the U.S. and its allies are essentially ends justifying the means: a way for Islam to defend itself against what bin Laden perceives as oppression by the U.S., Israel, and other countries. I found this aspect of the book fascinating. To see bin Laden through the lenses of hundreds of his own speeches and quotations provided a picture of the al Qaeda leader that is generally not common in mainstream media coverage. If there is one flaw to this book it is that while there is much discussion of the problems, very little in the way of proposed solutions. I understand that setting out solutions to specter of terrorism in a chapter is a Gordian task, no doubt about that. But what solutions the author does discuss at the end of the book are a little bit wanting. In the end, however, I suppose that this is to be expected. Throughout the text the author suggests continuously that he is trying to educate Americans to the complexity of the terrorism problem, and not necessarily craft a panacea. Still, Anonymous' next book, "Imperial Hubris" (due out in July 2004) apparently sets several proposed solutions as the author perceives them. I look forward to its release. "Through our Enemies' Eyes" is a very important book. It provides a new perspective for analyzing the war on terrorism. It possesses built-in credence since it is authored by an intelligence author with experience in fighting Middle Eastern terrorism. It well argues that as Americans we must refocus our efforts and perspective to eradicate terrorism and achieve ultimate victory against al Qaeda. Invading nations in the Middle East, while perhaps helpful under certain conditions, generally only bolsters Osama bin Laden's preachings to the Muslim world and does little to erase the rancor that bin Laden has fostered in millions of Muslims. I encourage anyone with an interest in learning about the roots of terrorism to check out this book. I think much of what the book argues could help Americans go a long way to destroying bin Laden and his influence on the world.

A forboding of what lays ahead for the West:
I rarely agree with Newt Gingrich on anything -- see his review below -- but this time, I find myself in rare concurrence with him. A number of sources have identified "Anonymous" as Michael Scheuer, a CIA agent disgruntled with the way the Bush Administration has handled the so-called "War on Terror." On a number of TV appearances, he's appeared in shadow because one of the conditions for writing this book, and its sequel "Imperial Hubris," was that he remains unidentified. Regardless of whether it is Scheuer or not, "Through Our Enemies' Eyes" makes a very important contribution to the debate about the role of the United States and its NATO allies in the battle to crush Osama Bin Laden; and even more bleakly, one makes the assessment that this book, largely written before 9/11 and long before the Second Gulf War, correctly predicted a second war against Saddam Hussein would be a hopeless quagmire -- and a needless distraction against the real enemy, terrorism in all its forms whether sponsored by al Qaeda, the IRA, Aum Shinrikyo or anyone else. The author's basic thrust is that to understand why the rest of the world hates America so much, the real question that should be asked is, "Why DOESN'T the world hate America?" The reason is essentially the same one that Michael Moore gives in his movies "Bowling for Columbine" and "Fahrenheit 9/11" -- America's support of the corrupt regimes in the Arab world while pretending to promote peace and democracy elsewhere. Arabs, says the CIA agent, do want freedom and democracy. But they want liberation on their terms. We just can't "impose" democratic norms on a country and hope for the best as some right-wing analyists claim. It's just not that simple. To think that it is and hope they will welcome us with open arms is like hoping for pie in the sky. It just won't happen. It doesn't help matters that OPEC nations got super rich during the 1970's after the Yom Kippur War then squandered the Petrodollars building mega-projects of little value and pocketing the rest while running their countries into huge debts and their subjects into oppression. While this was going on, a demographic time bomb occurred in the Middle East. It is such that whereas we in the West finally mastered birth control to the point where the largest segment of the population in the next few years will be senior citizens; in their part of the world, a majority of people are under 30, very well educated (contrary to Western media claims), unemployed, and extremely restless. It also doesn't help when one considers that Osama Bin Laden, who was trained as a counterterrorist by the Americans against the then Soviet-backed regime in Afghanistan -- training perhaps paid for by the CIA itself -- offered to redeploy his allies in the Mujahidin, nearly one hundred thousand of them, to fight against Saddam Hussein when he attacked Kuwait in 1990. The Saudi Arabian government, instead, turned to the Americans for help; and in that moment Osama's greatest friend became his mortal enemy. If this sounds like the American Patriot's gripe against King George III during the Revolutionary War, that's exactly the point the author makes. The real enemy, of course, was the British Parliament and the then Prime Minister, Lord North; but the Revolutionaries declared war against the King to make an example they were trying to create a new society based on "inalienable" principles. In the war, a lot of issues got muddled into the mix, such as the fact they weren't fighting for freedom for the slaves. So it is, seemingly, with Al Qaeda. While we in the West see the Arab-Israeli conflict, the war in Iraq and the war against terrorism among others as entirely separate issues; many Muslims, and especially Arabs, see them as being linked all together, says the author. They see the borders drawn after World War I as being artificial creations of the British and the Americans and thus a slap in the face against Islam. They see Western support of the State of Israel and attempts to neutralize or even eliminate Yasser Arafat as a slap in the face against Islam. They see the long-standing American presence in the Gulf region as a slap in the face against Islam. In order to win the so-called "War on Terror," therefore, it's not enough to say we have higher and better principles. We have to see things their way, and if necessary, fight the war not on Western terms, but theirs. This point from the author makes it clear this is indeed a totally different kind of war, but not for the reasons we've been told by the mainstream press and certain governments. This is not going to be a simple mop-up job. It's going to be a long, dangerous and protracted fight. No matter who occupies 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, 10 Downing Street, 24 Sussex Drive, the Elysée Palace and all the other official residences in NATO and our allies around the world, the first step to stamping out terrorism is to address the root causes. Since we have ignored their basic demands for far too long and have coddled the Sheiks and Emirs instead, it's little wonder why Osama Bin Laden has been so successful in offering simple solutions to his kind. Therefore, it should be no surprise whatsoever the Twin Towers didn't fall sooner than they did. Like the Patriots, who didn't know if they'd win or lose, so too have al Qaeda and its sympathizers "mutually pledged to each other their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor." So must we again, in all countries around the world, says this book, and stick to our message unequivocated and without giving our enemies a chance to point out our hypocrisies, if we have a hope in Heaven of living in a world of Peace in the Age of Aquarius. The author's message, while bleak, is also one of hope that that glorious day will come --although, the way the war is being fought, it will take much longer than we've hoped.

A + grade:
Book was new as posted and the delivery was immediate thanks a bunch...