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Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror. By Anonymous. Dulles, Va.: Brassey's, 2004. 309 pages. $27.50.
This is an insightful, bitter, worrisome book. It is also the most consequential critique of the war on terror yet published, deeply historical, broadly researched, and crisply articulated. Its conclusion is that the United States is mishandling the challenge of Islamic radicalism and that our present policies will inevitably alienate moderate Muslims worldwide, ultimately causing a true "clash of civilizations." Like it or hate it, no substantial debate about the war on terrorism can now take place without references to this book and its ideas.
First, to the bitterness. "Anonymous" describes himself as a long-serving CIA analyst. His career, for the past 17 years, has focused exclusively on terrorism, Islamic insurgencies, militant Islam, and Afghanistan and Pakistan-a "very small wedge," he says, "of a large intelligence pie." His frustration boils over at national leaders-in the intelligence community, the military, and in political life-who failed for years to face facts on the al Qaeda threat available in any public library, who banished bearers of unpleasant news to nonessential posts, and who, after 11 September 2001, still refuse the realities of Islamic insurgency. Finally, he says, "There is not now, and never has been, a shortage of knowledge about the bin Laden threat, but only a lack of courage to tell the truth about it fully, openly, and with disregard for the career-related consequences of truth-telling.... The failure of many to perform their duty lies at the heart of why three thousand Americans perished on 11 September 2001."
Beyond bitterness, the author's insights into al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, and Islam's antipathy toward the United States are brilliantly presented. Bin Laden comes across not as a bloodthirsty terrorist or a medieval fanatic opposed to modernity, as many have claimed. Instead, he is portrayed as a shrewd, highly intelligent, and devout Muslim leader with considerable personal charisma-easily the most popular figure in the Middle East-who has emerged as a modern Islamic hero, urging his fellow Muslims to fight a defensive jihad against Western occupation of Islamic lands, support for Israel, collaboration with oppressive and apostate regimes, theft of Arab oil revenues, and acts which blaspheme God's word. The...