Best of
Terrorism

2009

The Blood of Lambs: A Former Terrorist's Memoir of Death and Redemption


Kamal Saleem - 2009
    Though his ties with terrorism were severed more than twenty years ago, it was not until 9/11, when radical Muslims rained terror on American shores, that Kamal Saleem stepped out of the shadows and revealed his true identity. Today, he is a different kind of warrior. He now stands on the wall and shouts to America, "Open your eyes and fight the danger that lives among you." As the terrible fruit of Kamal's early life in jihad screams from today's headlines, he courageously puts his life on the line to defend America, the country he now calls home.

Lights Out: Islam, Free Speech And The Twilight Of The West


Mark Steyn - 2009
    In 2007, the Canadian Islamic Congress brought three suits against Maclean s, Canada s biggest-selling newsweekly, for running an excerpt from Steyn s bestselling book America Alone, plus other flagrantly Islamophobic columns by the author. A year later the CIC had lost all its cases and Steyn had become a poster boy for a worldwide phenomenon - the collision between Islam, on the one hand, and, on the other, western notions of free speech, liberty and pluralism. In this book, Steyn republishes all the essays the western world's new thought police attempted to criminalize, along with new material responding to his accusers. Covering other crises from the Danish cartoons to the Salman Rushdie fatwa, he also takes a stand against the erosion of free speech, and the advance of a creeping totalitarian "multiculturalism"; and he considers the broader relationship between Islam and the west in a time of unprecedented demographic transformation.

Accidental Guerrilla: Fighting Small Wars in the Midst of a Big One


David Kilcullen - 2009
    Indeed, his vision of modern warfare powerfully influenced America'sdecision to rethink its military strategy in Iraq and implement the Surge, now recognized as a dramatic success. In The Accidental Guerrilla, Kilcullen provides a remarkably fresh perspective on the War on Terror. Kilcullen takes us on the ground to uncover the face of modern warfare, illuminating both the big global war (the War on Terrorism) and its relation to the associated small wars across theglobe: Iraq, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Thailand, the Pakistani tribal zones, East Timor and the horn of Africa. Kilcullen sees today's conflicts as a complex interweaving of contrasting trends--local insurgencies seeking autonomy caught up in a broader pan-Islamic campaign--small wars in the midst ofa big one. He warns that America's actions in the war on terrorism have tended to conflate these trends, blurring the distinction between local and global struggles and thus enormously complicating our challenges. Indeed, the US had done a poor job of applying different tactics to these verydifferent situations, continually misidentifying insurgents with limited aims and legitimate grievances--whom he calls accidental guerrillas--as part of a coordinated worldwide terror network. We must learn how to disentangle these strands, develop strategies that deal with global threats, avoidlocal conflicts where possible, and win them where necessary. Colored with gripping battlefield experiences that range from the jungles and highlands of Southeast Asia to the mountains of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border to the dusty towns of the Middle East, The Accidental Guerrilla will, quite simply, change the way we think about war. This book is amust read for everyone concerned about the war on terror.

Winning the Unwinnable War: America's Self-Crippled Response to Islamic Totalitarianism


Elan Journo - 2009
    military campaigns in the Middle East, the enemy is not only undefeated but emboldened and resurgent. What went wrong_and what should we do going forward? Winning the Unwinnable War shows how our own policy ideas led to 9/11 and then crippled our response in the Middle East, and it makes the case for an unsettling conclusion: By subordinating military victory to perverse, allegedly moral constraints, Washington's policy has undermined our national security. Owing to the significant influence of Just War Theory and neoconservatism, the Bush administration consciously put the imperative of shielding civilians and bringing them elections above the goal of eliminating real threats to our security. Consequently, this policy left our enemies stronger, and America weaker, than before. The dominant alternative to Bush-esque idealism in foreign policy_so-called realism_has made a strong comeback under the tenure of Barack Obama. But this nonjudgmental, supposedly practical approach is precisely what helped unleash the enemy prior to 9/11. The message of the essays in this thematic collection is that only by radically re-thinking our foreign policy in the Middle East can we achieve victory over the enemy that attacked us on 9/11. We need a new moral foundation for our Mideast policy. That new starting point for U.S. policy is the moral ideal championed by the philosopher Ayn Rand: rational self-interest. Implementing this approach entails objectively defining our national interest as protecting the lives and freedoms of Americans_and then taking principled action to safeguard them. The book lays out the necessary steps for achieving victory and for securing America's long-range interests in the volatile Middle East.

Saving Israel


Daniel Gordis - 2009
    Even average Israelis are wondering if they wouldn't be better off somewhere else and whether they ought to persevere. Daniel Gordis is confident his fellow Jews can renew their faith in the cause, and in Saving Israel, he outlines how.2009 National Jewish Book Award winnerAddresses the most pressing issues faced by Israel-and American Jews-today, without recycling the same old argumentsLays to rest some of the most pernicious myths about Israel, including: Jews could thrive without Israel; Israeli Arabs just want equality, and Palestinians just want their own state; peace will come, if Israel will just do the right things""Morally powerful . . . from a writer whose reflections are consistently as intellectually impressive as they are moving. . . . Gordis addresses the exigencies of our time with the urgency they overridingly demand, and with the depth of feeling they inspire.""-Cynthia OzickGordis has written many popular personal essays and memoirs in the past, but Saving Israel is a full-throated call to arms. Never has the case for defending-no, celebrating-the existence of Israel been so clear, so passionate, or so worthy of wholehearted support.

Ross Kemp on Afghanistan


Ross Kemp - 2009
    Now Ross Kemp is taking on perhaps his hardest assignment of all - the Taliban. In order to prepare for this life-threatening ordeal, Ross Kemp trains with the First Battalion Royal Anglians in England's subzero temperatures, practicing firing SA 80 rifles and .50 calibre machine guns, getting to know the soldiers and learning the tactics they use to stay alive. Sent with them to Camp Bastion in Afghanistan's Helmand province, he immerses himself fully: he endures the stifling heat, the constant threat of snipers, RPG attacks, suicide bombers and land mines. In short, he discovers first hand what it's like to fight on the frontline. It's the closest he's ever come to dying - bullets fizzing inches from his head as they hit the ground on either side of him. After two harrowing and arduous months Ross returns to England, but there is little relief to be had as he meets the mothers of soldiers killed in the conflict. Then in September 2008 he goes back to the war zone, to see how the men he grew so close to are faring, to check how many of them are still alive. Ross Kemp on Afganistan is a fascinating, horrifying and often moving insight into the brutal reality ordinary soldiers have to face in one of the world's most dangerous and volatile regions.Ross Kemp was born in Essex in 1964, to a father who was a senior detective with the Metropolitan Police and had served in the army for four years. He is a BAFTA award-winning actor, journalist and author, who is best known for his role of Grant Mitchell in Eastenders. His award-winning documentary series Ross Kemp on Gangs led to his international recognition as an investigative journalist.

United in Hate: The Left's Romance with Tyranny and Terror


Jamie Glazov - 2009
    Just as the Left was drawn to the communist killing machines of Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot and Castro, so too it is now attracted to radical Islam.Both the radical Left and radical Islam possess a profound hatred for Western culture, for a capitalist economic structure that recognizes individual achievement and for the Judeo-Christian heritage of the United States. Both seek to establish a new world order: leftists in the form of a classless communist society and Islamists in the form of a caliphate ruled by Sharia law. To achieve these goals, both are willing to wipe the slate clean by means of limitless carnage, with the ultimate goal of erecting their utopia upon the ruins of the system they have destroyed.

Terrorism: A History


Randall D. Law - 2009
    In this new edition of his widely acclaimed survey of the topic, Randall Law makes sense of the history of terrorism by examining it within its broad political, religious and social contexts and tracing its development from the ancient world to the 21st century. In Terrorism: A History, Law reveals how the very definition of the word has changed, how the tactics and strategies of terrorism have evolved, and how those who have used it adapted to revolutions in technology, communications, and political ideologies. Terrorism: A History extensively covers such topics as jihadist violence, state terror, the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, Northern Ireland, anarcho-terrorism, and the Ku Klux Klan, plus lesser known movements in Uruguay and Algeria, as well as the pre-modern uses of terror in ancient Rome, medieval Europe, and the French Revolution. This thoroughly revised edition features up-to-date analysis of: - Al-Qaeda's affiliates and the "franchising" of jihadism- "Lone wolf" violence in the United States and Europe- Sri Lanka's victory over the Tamil Tigers Other features include updated and expanded bibliographies in each chapter, more scholarly citations, and a new conclusion, making Terrorism: A History the go-to book for those wishing to understand the real nature and importance of this ubiquitous phenomenon.

How Terrorism Ends: Understanding the Decline and Demise of Terrorist Campaigns


Audrey Kurth Cronin - 2009
    Contrary to what many assume, when it comes to dealing with terrorism it may be more important to understand how it ends than how it begins. Only by understanding the common ways in which terrorist movements have died out or been eradicated in the past can we hope to figure out how to speed the decline of today's terrorist groups, while avoiding unnecessary fears and costly overreactions. In How Terrorism Ends, Audrey Kurth Cronin examines how terrorist campaigns have met their demise over the past two centuries, and applies these enduring lessons to outline a new strategy against al-Qaeda.This book answers questions such as: How long do terrorist campaigns last? When does targeting the leadership finish a group? When do negotiations lead to the end? Under what conditions do groups transition to other forms of violence, such as insurgency or civil war? How and when do they succeed or fail, and then disappear? Examining a wide range of historical examples--including the anti-tsarist Narodnaya Volya, the Provisional IRA, Peru's Shining Path, Japan's Aum Shinrikyo, and various Palestinian groups--Cronin identifies the ways in which almost all terrorist groups die out, including decapitation (catching or killing the leader), negotiation, repression, and implosion.How Terrorism Ends is the only comprehensive book on its subject and a rarity among all the books on terrorism--at once practical, optimistic, rigorous, and historical.

A New Shoah: The Untold Story of Israel's Victims of Terrorism


Giulio Meotti - 2009
    Since the “Second Intifada” began ten years ago, Palestinian terrorists have claimed 1,700 Israeli civilians. This equates to a staggering 70,000 victims, when adjusted to the United States population for scale.In A New Shoah, Italian journalist Giulio Meotti’s extensive interviews with those Israeli families torn apart by hundreds of daily attacks in buses, cafés, kibbutzim, restaurants, night clubs, and religious shrines appear for the first time. A New Shoah reveals the stories, ideals, and faces behind the statistics, from the anticommunist dissidents who fled Moscow, to the American businessman who left everything behind to live the dream of Jewish pioneers.The remarkable individuals who make up A New Shoah reveal the raison d'être of the State of Israel and make a definitive case for its safeguarding. Judaism teaches that for survivors, the hazkarah, or the act of remembering, is the only way to defy the murder of Jewish people by their enemies. When we read these pages and remember, we empower Israel’s resistance to terror.

The Mysterious Collapse of World Trade Center 7


David Ray Griffin - 2009
    The reason for its collapse was considered a mystery. In August 2008, NIST (the National Institute of Standards and Technology) issued its report on WTC 7, declaring that "the reason for the collapse of World Trade Center 7 is no longer a mystery" and that "science is really behind what we have said." Showing that neither of these claims is true, David Ray Griffin demonstrates that NIST is guilty of the most serious types of scientific fraud: fabricating, falsifying, and ignoring evidence. He also shows that NIST's report left intact the central mystery: How could a building damaged by fire - not explosives - have come down in free fall?

The Edge of Terror: The Heroic Story of American Families Trapped in the Japanese-occupied Philippines


Scott Walker - 2009
    While American battleships blew up and sank in Pearl Harbor, Japanese bombers approached the Philippines, soon destroying both American air and naval forces and leaving General Douglas MacArthur's ground forces in disarray. As the shipping piers in Manila harbor burned, nearly six thousand American civilians were suddenly trapped in the islands for the duration of the war. There would be no more ocean liners or Pan Am Clippers to transport them to safety. These unfortunate individuals and families became the largest body of American citizens ever captured by an enemy army. Soon most of these hapless civilians realized that they had little option but to surrender to the invading Japanese and be placed in squalid internment camps. However, on the small island of Panay, a group of American missionaries and gold miners bound their fates together and withdrew into hiding in the jungle. Some joined with the Filipino guerrilla forces, actively resisting the Japanese. Others quietly continued their humanitarian tasks amidst the horrors of war. But all of them experienced living hell together. For the first time in more than fifty years, the little-known story is told of these brave American civilians on Panay. Drawing on diaries, memoirs, family interviews, and military archives, Scott Walker describes daily life during the occupation and the danger these Americans faced in their efforts to serve both God and country. Both a story of profound tragedy and miraculous escape, The Edge of Terror is one of the most intense and dramatic accounts to emerge from World War II.

The Rise of the Ku Klux Klan: Right-Wing Movements and National Politics


Rory McVeigh - 2009
    In sharp contrast to earlier studies of the KKK, McVeigh treats the Klan as it saw itself-as a national organization concerned with national issues.

Mohamed's Moon


Keith R. Clemons - 2009
    Outwardly, they're exactly alike, but inwardly, nothing's the same—one a devotee of fundamentalist Islam, the other a Christian. A modern Cain and Able, the lines are drawn not just over which God is right, but also over the fact that they're both in love with the same girl.It's a conflict with grave repercussions, little hope of resolution, and time is running out. In the background, a plan has been set in motion that will bring the United States to its knees. Will an unexpected visitation reconcile the brothers in time to save the woman they love—and ultimately, themselves—from the coming devastation?

Community Warriors: State, Peasants and Caste Armies in Bihar


Ashwani Kumar - 2009
    Mediating between predatory politicians and radical Maoists, Kumar argues that these caste armies act as both a surrogate arm of the state and a violent defender of their community's self-perceived purity. His focus on vicious agrarian conflicts and the increasing powerlessness to deal with these conflicts challenges transcendental notions of the state's autonomy and the legitimacy. Community Warriors is anchored in historically and politically constructed notions of identity, power and ethnic allegiance. The book's lucid narrative style facilitates a seamless passage through the sociocultural history of post-independence Bihar and unravels the disturbing aspects of the march of democracy in this much feared and also promising 'heart of India'. Kumar addresses the issues of the process of democratization, ethnic conflict, state power, social movements, Dalit politics and peasant unrest, providing a key to understanding contemporary India.

Psychology of Terrorism: Classic and Contemporary Insights


Jeff Victoroff - 2009
    As the frequency of interstate wars has declined since the end of the Second World War, terrible violence against innocent civilians is increasingly perpetrated by non-state groups with extreme agendas and virtually no restraints. Why do people become terrorists? Are terrorists crazy? Simply evil? Normal people driven to extremes? What social factors and tensions are most likely to provoke terrorist behaviors? And how can we use our rapidly growing understanding of the psychology of terrorism to anticipate oming attacks and protect the international community?Psychology of Terrorism is a collection of the best classic and contemporary writings about the mind of the terrorist. Carefully selected by a panel of world-renowned authorities for value and readability, this collection provides the reader with deep knowledge and unique insights into the ideas, feelings, and social influences of modern terrorist groups. General readers who wish to understand this deadly phenomenon, students and scholars of human psychology or political science, and decision makers facing the challenge of designing effective counterterrorism policies will enjoy and profit from these essential readings and the inescapable conclusion they suggest: By ignoring the psychology of terrorism, Western nations have been making grave errors in the so-called war on terrorism. Understanding the deep roots of terrorist behaviors gives us tools that are absolutely vital to any effort in reducing this escalating threat.

Militainment, Inc.: War, Media, and Popular Culture


Roger Stahl - 2009
    offers provocative, sometimes disturbing insight into the ways that war is presented and viewed as entertainment-or "militainment"-in contemporary American popular culture. War has been the subject of entertainment for centuries, but Roger Stahl argues that a new interactive mode of militarized entertainment is recruiting its audience as virtual-citizen soldiers. The author examines a wide range of historical and contemporary media examples to demonstrate the ways that war now invites audiences to enter the spectacle as an interactive participant through a variety of channels-from news coverage to online video games to reality television. Simply put, rather than presenting war as something to be watched, the new interactive militainment presents war as something to be played and experienced vicariously. Stahl examines the challenges that this new mode of militarized entertainment poses for democracy, and explores the controversies and resistant practices that it has inspired.This volume is essential reading for anyone interested in the relationship between war and media, and it sheds surprising light on the connections between virtual battlefields and the international conflicts unfolding in Iraq and Afghanistan today.

Duty Status Whereabouts Unknown


Jonathon Cody - 2009
    But above all others, this enemy's favorite weapon is the improvised explosive device (IED). Ranging from the simplest of construction to the most sophisticated of all gadgetry, the IED represents a grave threat to American soldiers all over the world. In this kind of fight, there is only one kind of soldier uniquely qualified to deal with these destructive weapons of war: the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) technician. With over 8 years of experience in EOD, Staff Sergeant John Breuer knows a thing or two about danger. As an EOD team leader, he's encountered more than his fair share of IEDs. But when he's betrayed by the Iraqi Army and sold to insurgents, this bomb technician must confront a different kind of horror: being listed as Duty Status Whereabouts Unknown (DUSTWUN). Tortured and exploited for propaganda purposes, Jack must use his skills as a soldier and as a bomb technician to escape his captors, before they have a chance to remove his head from his body. An action-packed adventure, DUTY STATUS WHEREABOUTS UNKNOWN, is a thoughtful tale of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and the soldiers who fight there, with a focus on realism and technical details that only experience can convey. Devoid of politics, this novel tells an unblemished story of America's fight in the Global War on Terror, and of Her soldiers' day-to-day struggle.

Terrorism, Instability, and Democracy in Asia and Africa (Northeastern Series on Democratization and Political Development)


Dan G. Cox - 2009
    Terrorism, Instability, and Democracy in Asia and Africa takes a regional approach to the issue, focusing on two areas sorely underrepresented in the literature but which grow ever more topical.Beginning with definitions and a literature review, the authors present and interpret statistical analysis and case studies of nations in the Horn of Africa; sub-Saharan Africa; and Central, East, South, and Southeast Asia. This is a timely book that will fill a gaping hole in terrorism literature, just as the world is becoming increasingly attuned to domestic, international, and regional terrorist threats emanating from Asia and Africa. Academics, students, and policy experts in the fields of American, Asian, African, and international affairs and terrorism will embrace this crucial volume.

Terrorism in American Cinema: An Analytical Filmography, 1960-2008


Robert Cettl - 2009
    But this early terrorist cinema was centered largely around the Bomb--who had it, who would use it, when--and differs greatly from the terrorist cinema that would follow. Changing world events soon broadened the cinema of terrorism to address emerging international conflicts, including Black September, pre-9/11 Middle Eastern conflicts, and the post-9/11 War on Terror. This analytical filmography of American terrorist films establishes terrorist cinema as a unique subgenre with distinct thematic narrative and stylistic trends. It covers all major American films dealing with terrorism, from Otto Preminger's Exodus (1960) to Ridley Scott's Body of Lies (2008).

National Strategy for Combating Terrorism


George W. Bush - 2009
    We have done much to degrade al-Qaida and its affiliates and to undercut the perceived legitimacy of terrorism. Our Muslim partners are speaking out against those who seek to use their religion to justify violence and a totalitarian vision of the world. We have significantly expanded our counter terrorism coalition, transforming old adversaries into new and vital partners in the War on Terror. We have liberated more than 50 million Afghans and Iraqis from despotism, terrorism, and oppression, permitting the first free elections in recorded history for either nation. In addition, we have transformed our governmental institutions and framework to wage a generational struggle. There will continue to be challenges ahead, but along with our partners, we will attack terrorism and its ideology, and bring hope and freedom to the people of the world. This is how we will win the War on Terror.

Constructing the Nation: A Race and Nationalism Reader


Mariana Ortega - 2009
    In particular, the contributors examine how normative concepts of American identity and unity come to be defined and defended along increasingly racialized lines in the face of national trauma, and how nonnormative Americans experience the mistrust that their identities and backgrounds engender in this way. The volume takes an important step in recognizing and challenging the unreflective notions of nationalism that emerge in times of crisis.

Critical Terrorism Studies: A New Research Agenda


Richard Jackson - 2009
    However, much of the literature is beset by a number of problems, limiting its potential for producing rigorous empirical findings and genuine theoretical advancement. In response to these weaknesses in the broader field, a small but increasing number of scholars have begun to articulate a critical perspective on contemporary issues of terrorism. This volume brings together a number of leading scholars to debate the need for and the shape of this exciting new subfield.The first part of the volume examines some of the main shortcomings and limitations of orthodox terrorism studies, while the second examines exactly what a 'critical' terrorism studies would look like. Contributors from a variety of methodological and disciplinary perspectives give this volume diversity, and it will lay the foundations for, and provoke debate about, the future research agenda of this new field.This book will be of much interest to students of critical security studies, terrorism studies and IR theory in general.Richard Jackson is Reader in the Department of International Politics, Aberystwyth University, where he is also Senior Researcher at the Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Contemporary Political Violence (CSRV). He is the founding editor of the journal, Critical Studies on Terrorism. Marie Breen Smyth is Director of the Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Contemporary Political Violence (CSRV) at Aberystwyth University. She is a Reader in International Politics and co-editor of the journal, Critical Studies on Terrorism. Jeroen Gunning is Lecturer in International Politics at Aberystwyth University, Deputy Director of the Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Contemporary Political Violence and co-editor of the journal, Critical Studies on Terrorism.