The Al Qaeda Reader: The Essential Texts of Osama Bin Laden's Terrorist Organization
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Book Reviews of The Al Qaeda Reader: The Essential Texts of Osama Bin Laden's Terrorist Organization
Book Review: Buy this Book
Summary: 5 Stars
I liked this book a lot. It can be a tough read because it is a series of direct translations and the grammar and vocabulary are difficult. But it is a fascinating insight into the minds of the leaders of Al Qaeda. Their arguments for what they are doing and why are very precise and well presented. I was surpised to realize that their justification for everything is entirely based on their reading of the Koran and supporting islamic doctorine and that their treatises as translated here are filled with supporting quotes and references to these materials.Book Review: Sobering.
Summary: 5 Stars
Interesting reading, though probably not the book you'll want to carry-on for your next flight. Obviously one-sided arguments, but quite striking in their 1) vehemence and 2) repetitiveness (as noted within, probably to help with indoctrination). Gives some insight into "The Arab Mind," though - hopefully- not most of them.Book Review: A Must Read for Those Who Want to Understand
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a must read for anyone who wants to understand the war on terror, or the mindset of Al Qaeda. While I've seen some of these writings in English before, some of these are completely new, and all of them are translated in a way that makes it easier for an English language reader to understand better.Book Review: Important information to have
Summary: 4 Stars
It's important to read these books so that we understand just where our enemies are coming from, and this is exactly what this book does. It gives the reader al Qaeda in their own words. It shows what we are facing, and the book will take away any illusions the reader might have about the type of people these are. What shines through in each essay is that these are ideologues who have no doubt in their cause. This is fervent belief that will not allow for introspection or moral consideration that may contradict their dogma. With al Qaeda their is no negotaiting or compromise.
With that said reading this book also shows that this group is doomed to failure on the margins of any society because what comes through is the total lack of a coherent agend that is in any way based in reality. They believe they are instruments of God's will, and through his divine power their goals will be met. The problem is that their ideology requires this divine support because they lack a positive agenda that will appeal to the masses. Instead what they offer is a nihilistic agenda of perpetual violence. Their goal of installing a caliphate over the Muslim lands simply by attacking the "godless" regimes is unrealistic. The fact that even the majority of Muslims today would be forced to either convert to their ideas or be murdered doesn't provide them with huge base of support even among Muslims. In the end this group is very dangerous but ultimately impotent. They should be taken seriously, but we should recognize their limitations as well so we don't overblow the threat we face.
Now as to the book itself; it is well done and organized in a reader friendly way. I didn't read them in order, but instead found it more interesting to read the sections that dealt with Americans, Europeans or Muslims together rather than reading them in sequential order as they were laid out. The organization is such that this was easily done.
The only problem is exactly what one would expect coming into this work, and that is redundancy of the material. This problem was inivetable. This is a byproduct of studying ideologues. Some of the problems are where the reader is inundated with verse after verse of the Koran or Sunna that supposedly supports a certain postition of al Qaeda's, or when one reads an essay that sounds almost exactly like the previous one. It gets old, but this should be expected from any book like this one that deals with extremist groups of any kind. One might be better served going to the library and reading a good sampling of these essays rather than buying the book and reading it all. It depends on why you come to this book. With that said I do recommend reading this book.
Book Review: Frightening !
Summary: 4 Stars
If there is anyone that thinks it is possible to negotiate with the likes of bin Laden, they need to read this collection of communiques. These stark documents illustrate the megalomaniac, and mentally unstable condition of the head of Al Quaida. Raymond Ibrahim presents some of the most frightening writing since Mein Kampf, and the Communist Manifesto. This is serious reading for anyone that wonders what Al Quaida is really up to.