Best of
Terrorism

2010

Siege


Simon Kernick - 2010
    Many more lives hang in the balance as a group of highly trained gunmen storm the historic Stanhope Hotel on Park Lane.The gunmen have given the government just five hours to meet their demands before they blow up the building.Shots ring out. Some guests panic. Others text their loved ones. Still more try to escape. All are united by one thing: fear for their lives. All - except one man who has information so dangerous that it must be kept safe - at any price.Darkness falls. The gunmen become increasingly violent. One question is in everybody's minds.Will they survive the night?

Go! Go! Go!: The Definitive Inside Story of the Iranian Embassy Siege


Rusty Firmin - 2010
    It is a comprehensive, detailed and gripping account of an unforgettable six-day drama that shook Britain -- and the wider world -- to the core. Drawing on original and unseen source material from ex-SAS soldier Rusty Firmin, the police and the British Government, GO! GO! GO! takes us to the heart of the whole operation.The assault planning and training, strategy and tactics are described in detail, and the personal stories of the gunmen revealed -- who they were, where they came from, why they did it and Saddam Hussein's direct involvement. Compelling accounts of each day of the siege from the hostages' points of view show how they dealt with captivity individually and collectively. New material explains the negotiators' tactics and their cool exterior versus their internal turmoil as negotiations reached crisis point.

Fire Strike 7/9


Paul Grahame - 2010
    He's an elite army JTAC (Joint Terminal Attack Controller- pronounced 'jay-tack') - a specially trained warrior responsible for directing Allied air power with high-tech precision. Commanding Apache gunships, A10 tank-busters, F15s and Harrier jets, he brings down devastating fire strikes against the attacking Taliban, often danger close to his own side.Due to his specialist role, Sergeant Grahame usually operates in the thick of the action, where it's at its most fearsome and deadly. Conjuring the seemingly impossible from apparently hopeless situations, soldiers in battle rely on the skill and bravery of their JTAC to enable them to win through in the heat of the danger zone.Fire Strike 7/9 tells the story of Bommer Grahame and his five-man Fire Support Team on their tour of Afghanistan. Patrolling deep into enemy territory, they were hunted and targeted by the Taliban, shot at, blown-up, mortared and hit by rockets on numerous occasions. Under these conditions Sergeant Grahame notched up 203 confirmed enemy kills, making him the difference between life and death both for his own troops and the Taliban.

Technological Slavery


Theodore J. Kaczynski - 2010
    The result is a comprehensive challenge to the fundamental values and assumptions of the modern technology-driven world, pinning the cause of the rapidly unfolding catastrophe on technology itself, while offering a realistic hope for ultimate recovery.Note: Theodore John Kaczynski does not receive any remuneration for this book.

The Tyranny of Silence


Flemming Rose - 2010
    The paper's culture editor, Flemming Rose, defended the decision to print the 12 drawings, and he quickly came to play a central part in the debate about the limitations to freedom of speech in the 21st century. Since then, Rose has visited universities and think tanks and participated in conferences and debates around the globe in order to discuss tolerance and freedom. In The Tyranny of Silence, Flemming Rose writes about the people and experiences that have influenced the way he views the world and his understanding of the crisis, including meetings with dissidents from the former Soviet Union and ex-Muslims living in Europe. He provides a personal account of an event that has shaped the debate about what it means to be a citizen in a democracy and how to coexist in a world that is increasingly multicultural, multi-religious, and multi-ethnic.

Secret Affairs: Britain's Collusion with Radical Islam


Mark Curtis - 2010
    Exploring how the bombings of 7/7 can be traced back to groups and individuals trained and supported by Britain, Curtis draws on formerly classified government files to unravel a long history of the British government's secret collusion with and direct involvement in Islamic terrorism, from 1945 to the present day.From the overthrow of Iran's popular government during the 1950s and the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria, to Libya, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia's ruthless internal oppression, Secret Affairs shows Britain's hidden hand in the rise of global terrorism. At a time when British forces are being sent to wage war in Afghanistan in increasing numbers, Mark Curtis' book shows how the seeds of today's lose-lose situation were sown a long time ago in a hidden politics as ineffective as it was immoral.

Fatwa on Terrorism and Suicide Bombings


Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri - 2010
    Dr Tahir-ul-Qadri is a globally recognised authority on the law and spirit of Islam. Drawing on his deep, erudite insight into the life and teachings of the blessed Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and fourteen centuries of Islamic scholarship, Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri's 512-page, detailed fatwa demolishes the theological arguments advanced by terrorists in prisons, on websites, videos and their literature. Comments/Reviews by academicians and international media Certification from Al-Azhar, Egypt The special committee of Islamic Research Council, Al-Azhar commenced its [the Fatwa's] examination and scholarly review and found that the author's book discusses terrorists who reside in Muslim states-that is, terrorists who frighten civilians, murder non-combatant women, children and elderly people, kill non-Muslim citizens, revolt against Muslim rulers and target homes, mosques and shrines. The author argues that those who perpetrate these actions are like the Kharijites who appeared during the time of the Messenger. The author quotes the opinions of Islamic scholars who considered it a religious duty to fight and kill the Kharijites if they refused to renounce their doctrine after receiving warnings and advice. The author identifies the terrorists in Pakistan as rebels and purveyors of corruption, and contends that their traits and actions correspond to the Kharijites.

Extreme Risk


Chris Hunter - 2010
    He describes how, as a bomb disposal operator in Northern Ireland and Iraq, he witnessed horrendous acts of terrorism and recounts the methods he employed to outsmart the terrorists who repeatedly tried to target him.Hunter takes us to some of the most perilous places on earth as he and his team relentlessly attempt to track down the world's leading terrorists and disrupt their networks. A journey that takes us from the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan to the murky back-streets of Colombia and Israel. Whether he's protecting members of the Royal Family, responding to the 2005 London suicide bombings or trying to foil Al Qaeda bomb plots, he provides a fascinating, no-holds-barred insight into a fascinating world that has rarely been documented by somebody on the inside.By turns gritty, absorbing, and heart-breaking, this is the portrait of a man prepared to sacrifice everything for his country, but to concede nothing to the terrorists.

The Grand Jihad: How Islam and the Left Sabotage America


Andrew C. McCarthy - 2010
    The real threat is Islamism, whose sophisticated forces have collaborated with the American Left not only to undermine U.S. national security but also to shred the fabric of American constitutional democracy—freedom and individual liberty. In The Grand Jihad: How Islam and the Left Sabotage America , bestselling author Andrew C. McCarthy offers a harrowing account of how the global Islamist movement’s jihad involves far more than terrorist attacks, and how it has found the ideal partner in President Barack Obama, whose Islamist sympathies run deep.For years, McCarthy warned of America’s blindness to the Islamist threat, but in The Grand Jihad McCarthy exposes a new, more insidious peril: the government’s active appeasement of the Islamist ideology. With the help of witting and unwitting accomplices in and out of government, Islamism doesn’t merely fuel terrorism but spawns America-hating Islamic enclaves in our very midst, gradually foisting Islam’s repressive law, sharia, on American life. The revolutionary doctrine has made common cause with an ascendant Left that also seeks radical transformation of our constitutional order. The prognosis for liberty could not be more dire.

Counterinsurgency


David Kilcullen - 2010
    Indeed, his vision of modern warfare powerfully influenced the United States' decision to rethink its military strategy in Iraq and implement the Surge, now recognized as a dramatic success. In Counterinsurgency, Kilcullen brings together his most salient writings on this vitally important topic. Here is a picture of modern warfare by someone who has had his boots on the ground in some of today's worst trouble spots-including Iraq and Afghanistan-and who has been studying counterinsurgency since 1985. Filled with down-to-earth, common-sense insights, this book is the definitive account of counterinsurgency, indispensable for all those interested in making sense of our world in an age of terror.

Voices From the Other Side: An Oral History of Terrorism Against Cuba


Keith Bolender - 2010
    This book gives a voice to the victims. Keith Bolender brings to bear the enormous impact that terrorism has had on Cuba’s civilian population, with over 1,000 documented incidents resulting in more than 3,000 deaths and 2,000 injuries. Bolender allows the victims to articulate the atrocities the Cuban people have suffered - which largely originate from Cuban counter-revolutionaries based in the US, often with the active help of the CIA.Voices From The Other Side includes first-person interviews with more than 75 Cuban citizens who have been victims of these terrorist acts, or have had family members or close friends die from the attacks. It is a unique resource for activists, journalists and students interested in Cuba's torrid relationship with the US.

An Angel from Hell: Real Life on the Front Lines


Ryan A. Conklin - 2010
    As a turret gunner with the famed 101st Airborne "Screaming Eagles," and a member of the famed "Rakkasans" regiment-the most decorated regiment in the U.S. Army-he endured hellish conditions in the war-torn city of Tikrit, Iraq. When he returned to the States, he became a cast member on "The Real World: Brooklyn" in 2008. That came to an end when he received his notice recalling him to duty. "An Angel from Hell" is a gritty, blunt, and laughout-loud funny war memoir from the grunt's perspective. Conklin reveals what the Iraq war is really like, day to day-the misery, the boredom, the absurdity, the horror, and even the moments of grace. With stunning candor and wisdom beyond his years, Ryan Conklin has documented a complex and unavoidably life-changing experience for his generation."

Count Them One by One: Black Mississippians Fighting for the Right to Vote


Gordon A. Martin Jr. - 2010
    While thirty percent of the county's residents were black, only twelve black persons were on its voting rolls. United States v. Lynd was the first trial that resulted in the conviction of a southern registrar for contempt of court. The case served as a model for other challenges to voter discrimination in the South, and was an important influence in shaping the Voting Rights Act of 1965.Count Them One by One is a comprehensive account of the groundbreaking case written by one of the Justice Department's trial attorneys. Gordon A. Martin, Jr., then a newly-minted lawyer, traveled to Hattiesburg from Washington to help shape the federal case against Lynd. He met with and prepared the government's sixteen black witnesses who had been refused registration, found white witnesses, and was one of the lawyers during the trial.Decades later, Martin returned to Mississippi and interviewed the still-living witnesses, their children, and friends. Martin intertwines these current reflections with commentary about the case itself. The result is an impassioned, cogent fusion of reportage, oral history, and memoir about a trial that fundamentally reshaped liberty and the South.

Shariah: The Threat To America: An Exercise In Competitive Analysis (Report of Team B II)


William J. BoykinBrian Kennedy - 2010
    The authors, under the sponsorship of the Center for Security Policy, have modeled this work on an earlier "exercise in competitive analysis" which came to be known as the "Team B" Report. The present Team B II report is based entirely on unclassified, readily available sources. As with the original Team B analysis, however, this study challenges the assumptions underpinning the official line in the conflict with today's totalitarian threat, which is currently euphemistically described as "violent extremism," and the policies of co-existence, accommodation and submission that are rooted in those assumptions.

The Insurgency in Chechnya and the North Caucasus: From Gazavat to Jihad


Robert W. Schaefer - 2010
    With the Sochi Olympics right around the corner, President Putin's re-election, and increasing violence throughout the region, understanding this volatile conflict is especially important in light of efforts to "reset" the relationship between Russia and the United States. For the first time, a Special Forces expert on insurgency and Russia offers the definitive guide on the conflict, explaining why the Russian approach to counter terrorism has failed and why terrorist and insurgent attacks in Russia have increased sharply over the past four years. The Insurgency in Chechnya and the North Caucasus: From Gazavat to Jihad is a comprehensive treatment of this 300 year-old conflict. Thematically organized, refreshingly accessible and well-written, it cuts through the rhetoric to provide the critical lens through which readers can truly understand the "why" and "how" of insurgencies and terrorism - and lay bare the intricacies of the Chechen and North Caucasus conflict - one of the world's longest-running contemporary insurgencies. A fascinating case study of a counterinsurgency campaign that is in direct contravention of US and Western doctrine, this book is also the perfect companion to those studying insurgencies because it shows an enemy-centric approach to counterinsurgency in action. As such, it's been chosen as a textbook in numerous terrorism and insurgency programs throughout the world, and named to the "Top 150 Books on Terrorism and Counterterrorism" by the Terrorism Research Initiative. The book examines the differences and linkages between insurgency and terrorism; the origins of conflict in the North Caucasus; and the influences of different strains of Islam, of al-Qaida, and of the War on Terror. A critical examination of never- before-revealed Russian counterinsurgency (COIN) campaigns explains why those campaigns have consistently failed and why the region has seen such an upswing in violence since the conflict was officially declared "over" in 2006. The book's features include detailed statistics from the North Caucasus Incident Database (every violent incident in the region over a two-year period); charts showing the complex strategies of the insurgency and the Russian counterinsurgency campaigns; declassified intelligence reports; maps and a bibliography. Presented through the lens of counterinsurgency theory, doctrine and practice, this incisive analysis explores the historic roots of each issue, the key players, and the farthest-reaching effects.

A Touch of Deceit


Gary Ponzo - 2010
    The police can't stand watch over every household, so Bracco recruits his cousin Tommy to help track down this terrorist. Tommy is in the Mafia. Oh yeah, it gets messy fast. As fast as you can turn the pages. Stephen Carpenter, creator of NBC's hit show Grimm, said, "Couldn't put it down and now I want more. Bravo." Judith L. Pearson author of "Wolves at the Door," and "Belly of the Beast," said, "Gary Ponzo is simply the best new thriller writer out there."

Hamas: The Islamic Resistance Movement


Beverley Milton-Edwards - 2010
    How did Hamas grow to be so powerful? Who supports it? What is its future? This essential insight into Hamas answers these questions. -- From publisher's description.

Allah's Angels: Chechen Women in War


Paul J. Murphy - 2010
    His book covers the two wars with Russia in 1994 and 1999 and the present conflict with Islamic Jihadists. It argues that these wars forced Chechen women to venture far beyond their traditional roles and advance their human rights but that the current movement championing traditional Islam is taking those rights away. Drawing on personal interviews, insider resources, and other materials, Murphy presents powerful portrayals of women who fight in the Chechen Jihad, including snipers, suicide bombers and the mysterious Black Widows, as well as women who collect intelligence, hide arms, and perform other non-combatant roles.

The Psychology of Counter-Terrorism


Andrew Silke - 2010
    Secondly, the contributors focus on the challenging issue of how to respond to terrorism. These chapters provide information for those concerned with short-term tactical problems (e.g. interviewing), as well as those looking towards the more long-term strategic questions of bringing an entire terrorist campaign to an end. Ultimately, the individuals involved in terrorism require a more complex response from society than simply a quest for their apprehension. Believing inaccurate and misleading characterizations leads inevitably to damaging policies and deficient outcomes and campaigns of violence are needlessly prolonged. It is from this perspective that the concern arises with how researchers - and the policy makers guided by them - perceive the psychology of terrorists and of terrorism.This innovative book will be of great interest to students of terrorism and counter-terrorism, security studies, psychology and politics, as well as security professionals and military colleges.

Before the Shining Path: Politics in Rural Ayacucho, 1895-1980


Jaymie Heilman - 2010
    Using archival research and oral interviews, Before the Shining Path is the first long-term historical examination of the Shining Path's political, economic, and social antecedents in Ayacucho, the department where the Shining Path initiated its war. This study uncovers rural Ayacucho's vibrant but largely unstudied twentieth-century political history and contends that the Shining Path was the last and most extreme of a series of radical political movements that indigenous peasants pursued.The Shining Path's violence against rural indigenous populations exposed the tight hold of anti-Indian prejudice inside Peru, as rebels reproduced the same hatreds they aimed to defeat. But, this was nothing new. Heilman reveals that minute divides inside rural indigenous communities repeatedly led to violent conflict across the twentieth century.

Fifty Key Thinkers on the Holocaust and Genocide


Paul R. Bartrop - 2010
    Studying each scholar's background and influences, the authors examine the ways in which their major works have been received by critics and supporters, and analyse each thinker's contributions to the field. Key figures discussed range from historians and philosophers, to theologians, anthropologists, art historians and sociologists, including:Hannah Arendt Christopher Browning Primo Levi Raphael Lemkin Jacques Semelin Saul Friedlander Samantha Power Hans Mommsen Emil Fackenheim Helen Fein Adam Jones Ben Kiernan.A thoughtful collection of groundbreaking thinkers, this book is an ideal resource for academics, students, and all those interested in both the emerging and rapidly evolving field of Genocide Studies and the established field of Holocaust Studies.

Tabernacle of Hate: Seduction Into Right-Wing Extremism


Kerry Noble - 2010
    history at that time. As one of the founders of the Covenant, Sword, and Arm of the Lord (CSA), a cult paramilitary group, he carried a bomb into a gay-affirming church, intending to murder over seventy congregants. In Tabernacle of Hate, Noble provides an unprecedented first-person account of how a small spiritual community moved from mainstream religious beliefs to increasingly extreme positions, eventually transforming into a domestic terrorist organization.Written after his release from prison, the author's cogent narrative reveals the deceptive allure of extremist movements and the unmatched power of charismatic leadership. Noble also chronicles the intense standoff with federal agents at the group's compound in northern Arkansas in April 1985. Originally published in 1998, this second edition includes an authoritative introduction placing Noble's narrative and the CSA into the broader picture of American religio-political extremism.

Willful Neglect: The Dangerous Illusion of Homeland Security


Charles S. Faddis - 2010
    Faddis served twenty years in the Central Intelligence Agency as an opera¬tions officer, holding positions as a depart¬ment chief at the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center in Washington, D.C., and as a chief of station in the Middle East. He is the author of Beyond Repair (October 2009, Lyons Press), a scathing critique of today’s CIA, and the coauthor of Operation Hotel California (Octo¬ber 2008 hardcover, May 2010 paper; Lyons Press), which recounts how he led the first CIA mission into Iraq in 2002 in preparation for the pending invasion. He lives in Davidsonville, Maryland. Charles S. Faddis served twenty years in the Central Intelligence Agency as an opera¬tions officer, holding positions as a depart¬ment chief at the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center in Washington, D.C., and as a chief of station in the Middle East. He is the author of Beyond Repair (October 2009, Lyons Press), a scathing critique of today’s CIA, and the coauthor of Operation Hotel California (Octo¬ber 2008 hardcover, May 2010 paper; Lyons Press), which recounts how he led the first CIA mission into Iraq in 2002 in preparation for the pending invasion. He lives in Davidsonville, Maryland. The Central Intelligence Agency’s most respected former Middle East counterterrorism officer applies a critical lens to the state of America’s Homeland Security system and asks, “Are we really any safer than we were on 9/11?” Have the vast new bureaucracies that have arisen and the billions spent translated into real protection? Or has complacency set in? His answer is terrifying.   Charles S. Faddis, the author of Beyond Repair and the coauthor of Operation Hotel California, was trained through his years in the field with the CIA to know what it is like to stand in the shoes of a terrorist and appraise targets. In Willful Neglect, he applies this expert knowledge to scrutinizing the preparedness of the nation’s critical infrastructure—military installations, passenger and freight rail systems, chemical plants, liquefied natural gas facilities, water treatment plants, dams, and nuclear power plants. America is still a land of opportunity, he finds—for its enemies.   From the author’s introduction   We had, on a strategic scale, plenty of warning that 9/11 was coming. Al Qaida told us they were coming, and they launched a series of preliminary attacks. . . . We did nothing.                       Three thousand people died as the result of that complacency.  Now, in the aftermath, it is our job to move as fast as is humanly possible to block any and all future attacks.  Amazingly, though, as you tour this nation and examine the prime targets that beg to be defended from terrorist attack, what you find, eight years later, is that virtually nothing meaningful has been done. True, large new bureaucracies have been created and huge shiny, new office buildings constructed, but in terms of concrete measures which will stand in the way of determined, evil men, there is very, very little.

In the Name of God and Country: Reconsidering Terrorism in American History


Michael Fellman - 2010
    With insight and originality, Michael Fellman argues that terrorism, in various forms, has been a constant and driving force in American history. In part, this is due to the nature of American republicanism and Protestant Christianity, which he believes contain a core of moral absolutism and self-righteousness that perpetrators of terrorism use to justify their actions. Fellman also argues that there is an intrinsic relationship between terrorist acts by non-state groups and responses on the part of the state; unlike many observers, he believes that both the action and the reaction constitute terrorism.Fellman’s compelling narrative focuses on five key episodes: John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry; terrorism during the American Civil War, especially race warfare and guerrilla warfare; the organized “White Line” paramilitary destruction of Reconstruction in Mississippi; the Haymarket Affair and its aftermath; and the Philippine-American war of 1899–1902. In an epilogue, he applies this history to illuminate the Bush-Cheney administration’s use of terrorism in the so-called war on terror. In the Name of God and Country demonstrates the centrality of terrorism in shaping America even to this day.

Negotiating with Evil: When to Talk to Terrorists


Mitchell B. Reiss - 2010
    Reiss has been at the center of some of America’s most sensitive diplomatic negotiations. He is internationally recognized for his negotiation efforts to forge peace in Northern Ireland and to stem the nuclear crisis in North Korea. In Negotiating with Evil, Reiss distills his experience to answer two questions more vital today than ever: Should we talk to terrorists? And if we do, how should we conduct the negotiations in order to gain what we want? To research this book, Reiss traveled the globe for three years, unearthing hidden aspects of the most secret and sensitive negotiations from recent history. He has interviewed hundreds of individuals, including prime ministers, generals, intelligence operatives, and former terrorists in conflict-torn regions of Europe, Asia, North Africa, and the Middle East. The result is a fascinating examination of the different methods countries have employed to confront terrorist movements, the mistakes made, the victories achieved, and the lessons learned.           Negotiating with Evil is a penetrating and insightful look into high-stakes diplomacy in the post-9/11 world and a vital contribution to the global security debate as the United States and its allies struggle to confront terrorist threats abroad and at home.

The Routledge Handbook of Terrorism Research


Schmid Al Alex - 2010
    Together, they guide the reader through the voluminous literature on terrorism, and propose a new consensus definition of terrorism, based on an extensive review of existing conceptualisations. The work also features a large collection of typologies and surveys a wide range of theories of terrorism. Additional chapters survey terrorist databases and provide a guide to available resources on terrorism in libraries and on the Internet. It also includes the most comprehensive World Directory of Extremist, Terrorist and other Organizations associated with Guerrilla Warfare, Political Violence, Protest and Organized- and Cyber-Crime.The Routledge Handbook of Terrorism Research will be an essential work of reference for students and researchers of terrorism and political violence, security studies, criminology, political science and international relations, and of great interest to policymakers and professionals in the field of counter-terrorism.

Novels by Doris Lessing: The Good Terrorist, the Marriages Between Zones Three, Four and Five, the Sirian Experiments


Books LLC - 2010
    Commentary (novels not included).

The Lord's Resistance Army: Myth and Reality


Tim Allen - 2010
    From the issue of child soldiers to the response of the Ugandan government, the book looks at every aspect of this most brutal of conflicts, and even includes a remarkable first-hand interview with Joseph Kony himself.

Talking to the Enemy: Faith, Brotherhood, and the (Un)Making of Terrorists


Scott Atran - 2010
    Based on the author’s unprecedented access to and in-depth interviews with terrorists and jihadis—including Al Qaeda, Hamas, and Taliban extremists, as well as members of other radical Islamic terror organizations—Talking to the Enemy provides fresh insight and unexpected answers to why there are people in this world willing to kill and die for a cause. A riveting, compelling work in the tradition of The Looming Tower and Terror in the Name of God, Talking to the Enemy is required reading for anyone interested in making the world a safer, more secure place for everyone.