Best of
Terrorism

2004

Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001


Steve Coll - 2004
    It won the Pulitzer Prize in 2005.Prize-winning journalist Steve Coll has spent years reporting from the Middle East, accessed previously classified government files and interviewed senior US officials and foreign spymasters. Here he gives the full inside story of the CIA's covert funding of an Islamic jihad against Soviet forces in Afghanistan, explores how this sowed the seeds of Bin Laden's rise, traces how he built his global network and brings to life the dramatic battles within the US government over national security. Above all, he lays bare American intelligence's continual failure to grasp the rising threat of terrorism in the years leading to 9/11 - and its devastating consequences.

Tower Stories: An Oral History of 9/11


Damon DiMarco - 2004
    Damon DiMarco's Tower Stories: An Oral History of 9/11 eternally preserves a monumental tragedy in American history through the voices of the people who were in Lower Manhattan and elsewhere in New York City on that fateful day.The stories DiMarco has collected come from a diverse group of human beings: individuals who managed to escape from the Towers; the bereaved of 9/11; the policemen, firemen, paramedics, reporters, and volunteers who risked their lives to help others; eyewitnesses who stood in shock on the streets below the Towers; WTC structural engineers, political experts, political dissidents, small business owners, and, of course, children whose lives will be forever impacted by the horror and chaos they witnessed.In the tradition of Studs Terkel, DiMarco's moving oral history chronicles the stories of everyone from the small group of people who miraculously made it safely down from the 89th floor of Tower 1 to the New York Times reporter trying desperately to fight her way through the fleeing crowds into Lower Manhattan, to the paramedic who set up a triage area 200 yards from the base of the Towers before they collapsed to the ordinary citizens of New York City who tried to get on with their lives in the days following the tragic event.This expanded second edition of DiMarco's literary time capsule includes follow-up interviews that track contributors' lives in the years since 9/11, as well as dozens of never-before-published photographs.

Hunting the Jackal: A Special Forces and CIA Soldier's Fifty Years on the Frontlines of the War Against Terrorism


Billy Waugh - 2004
    Army Special Forces and the CIA fighting enemies of the United States. In Hunting the Jackal, this legendary warrior reveals the extraordinary events of his life and career, offering a point-by-point eyewitness account of the historical events in which he participated.Serving in Korea and Vietnam, Waugh was among the first Green Berets in 1963. He has helped train Libyan commandos in the Sahara Desert, while spying on Russian missile sites in Benghazi, and has worked against Caribbean drug runners. He was the first CIA operative to watch Osama Bin Laden in Khartoum “from a spot close enough to kill him had I been allowed,” and tracked him over the course of two years. In 1994 he found the notorious Carlos the Jackal in Sudan, and tailed him until he was captured—a story that until now has never been told. And, just last year, at age 72, Waugh was on the ground in Afghanistan with a joint SpecForces/CIA unit.This is his remarkable true story.

Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: America, the Cold War, and the Roots of Terror


Mahmood Mamdani - 2004
    In this brilliant look at the rise of political Islam, the distinguished political scientist and anthropologist Mahmood Mamdani brings his expertise and insight to bear on a question many Americans have been asking since 9/11: how did this happen? Good Muslim, Bad Muslim is a provocative and important book that will profoundly change our understanding both of Islamist politics and the way America is perceived in the world today.

The Terror Timeline: Year by Year, Day by Day, Minute by Minute: A Comprehensive Chronicle of the Road to 9/11--and America's Response


Paul Thompson - 2004
    investigations and counterterrorism efforts. It traces the actions (and inactions) of every important figure in the war on terror, both before and after 9/11, bringing them together in a volume that offers a comprehensive and provocative look at this complex subject. Packed with little-known facts and disturbing questions, The Terror Timeline is the first complete reference guide to the events of 9/11 and the war on terror -- the definitive primer on the most momentous issue of our times.

The 9/11 Commission Report: Omissions and Distortions


David Ray Griffin - 2004
    Yet under the magnifying glass of David Ray Griffin, eminent theologian & author of The New Pearl Harbor, the report appears much shabbier. In fact, there are holes in the places where detail ought to be thickest: Is it possible that Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld has given three different stories of what he was doing the morning of 9/11, & that the Commission combines two of them & ignores eyewitness reports to the contrary? That the Commission fails even to mention Coleen Rowley, FBI whistleblower & Time person of the year? Griffin's critique of the Kean-Zelikow report makes clear that that the Commission charged with investigating all of the facts surrounding 9/11 has succeeded in obscuring, rather than unearthing, the truth.

Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror—What Really Happened


Richard A. Clark - 2004
    Bush’s post-9/11 war on terror, Clarke, the U.S.’s former terrorism czar, offers a complex and illuminating look into the successes and failures of the nation’s security apparatus. He offers charged (and, one must note, for himself triumphant) insider scenes, such as when he scared the devil out of Clinton’s Cabinet to motivate them to fight terrorism. The media has understandably focused on Clarke’s charge that Bush neglected terrorism before the attacks on New York and Washington; but Clarke also offers a longer perspective on the issue, going back to the first Gulf War (when he was an assistant secretary of state) and makes some stunning revelations. One of the latter is that the U.S. came close to war with Iran over that country’s role in the terrorist bombing of the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia in 1996. An important aspect of Clarke’s book is that it is only one man’s account—and an account moreover that casts its author as hero and others (FBI, CIA, the military) as screw-ups; as has been seen in recent congressional hearings, administration officials (notably, Condoleezza Rice) have challenged its veracity. But those inclined to believe Clarke will find that he makes a devastating case about the Bush administration’s failure from the beginning (when Clarke’s position was downgraded and he was taken off the top-level Principals Committee) to make terrorism as high a priority as Clinton’s did. In the face of the Bush team’s claim that they didn’t know about a threat to the homeland, readers will be haunted by two small words: after mobilizing to confront the Millennium terror threat, Clarke reached what seemed to him the obvious conclusion regarding al-Qaeda: "They’re here."Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Black & White World II


John Cox - 2004
    It includes over 450 cartoons covering such topics as: the war on terrorism, the 2004 presidential election, Islamism, the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, Iraq, Iran, world politics and more. Cartoons feature such personalities as: George W. Bush, John Kerry, Al Gore, Saddam Hussein, Jacques Chirac, Kofi Annan, Kim Jong Il, Uncle Sam, and of course the Democrat Donkey and Republican Elephant. Packed with hard-hitting, black-and-white cartoons from an individualist perspective. Also includes commentary and interviews with the authors, John Cox and Allen Forkum, as well as additional commentary by Robert W. Tracinski, Charles Johnson, and Felix Grabowski.

The Third Terrorist: The Middle East Connection to the Oklahoma City Bombing


Jayna Davis - 2004
    They were part of a greater scheme, one which involved Islamic terrorists and at least one provable link to Iraq. This book, written by the relentless reporter who first broke the story of the Mideast connection, is filled with new revelations about the case and explains in full detail the complete, and so far untold, story behind the failed investigation-why the FBI closed the door, what further evidence exists to prove the Iraqi connection, why it has been ignored, and what makes it more relevant now than ever. Told with a gripping narrative style and rock-solid investigative journalism and vetted by men such as former CIA director James Woolsey, Davis's piercing account is the first book to set the record straight about what really happened April 19, 1995.

Letter to the West: A Saudi View


محمد سعود البشرعبد الرحمن بن إبراهيم الرسي - 2004
    They address Western mind which looks at fair truth and objective and convincing dialogue. The book, in general, discusses the most important issues and suspicions raised by Western political and media organizations in the aftermath of September 11, 2001 events. These vents have placed Islam, the Kingdom, its people, and its religious, educational and social institutions in a position that requires correction and review. The book is a moderate vision in responding to the issues and suspicions. A biased reader would notice the major difference between the reality and the raised concepts and images which were far from the reality.Part I. A. An Invitation to Communicate for the Purpose of Reaching Mutual UnderstandingB. Terrorism: Concept, History and CausesPart II. A. The Wahhabi Movement: Reference, History and PracticeB. Religious EducationC. Women's Education and Work in Saudi ArabiaD. Human Rights in Saudi ArabiaE. Jihad is for Establishing PeaceF. Charities in Saudi ArabiaG. Non-Islamic Places of Worship in Arabia.

Bloody Sunday: How Michael Collins's Agents Assassinated Britain's Secret Service in Dublin on November 21, 1920


James Joseph Gleeson - 2004
    Sunday, November 21, 1920, was a decisive day in the Irish nation's long, bloody struggle for independence from Great Britain. It was on that day that fourteen British secret agents in Dublin were assassinated, an act that shattered the British intelligence system in Ireland and made it possible for a small, ill-equipped force of irregulars to impose its will on its centuries-old oppressor. The operation was carefully and secretly organized, and it was the crucial culmination of a decades-long undercover struggle.Bloody Sunday tells the exciting behind-the-scenes story of the events that led up to the operation and gives a completely new appraisal of "the troubles." It shows Michael Collins as the brilliant leader that he was, and it disperses the fables and fiction that have grown up around Ireland's War of Independence.Author James Gleeson saw the "Black and Tans" and "Shinners" in action. He spoke to men who had taken part in the operation-not only the leadersbut also the rank and file-as well as men from the British side. His unbiased, factual account is an extraordinary resource for anyone interested in Irish history.

The Bush Betrayal


James Bovard - 2004
    In a series of cogently argued allegations, Bovard shows how the campaign promises of 2000 and 2004 have betrayed not only the electorate, but the Constitution itself: from the erosion of civil liberties, massive debt, and the arrogance of federal agencies, to economic policies that favor the wealthy, and the deceptive maneuvers that led to war in Iraq and the alienation of former allies. For every American, The Bush Betrayal will be required reading as Bush continues his second term.

The Dynamic Terrorist Threat: An Assessment of Group Motivations and Capabilities in a Changing World


Kim Cragin - 2004
    As part of the RAND Corporation's Thinking Strategically About Combating Terrorism project, this report develops a way to assess and analyse the danger posed by various terrorist organizations around the world.

Cities, War, and Terrorism: Towards an Urban Geopolitics


Stephen Graham - 2004
     A path-breaking exploration of the intersections of war, terrorism and cities Argues that contemporary cities are the key strategic sites of geopolitical conflict Written by the world's leading analysts of the intersections of urban space and military and terrorist violence Draws on cutting-edge research from geography, history, architecture, planning, sociology, critical theory, politics, international relations and military studies Provides up-to-date empirical analyses of specific conflicts, including 9/11, the "War on Terrorism", the Balkan wars, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and urban antiglobalization battles Offers lay readers a sophisticated perspective on the violence that is engulfing our increasingly urbanised world