First published in 2005, this text still stands the test of time for the theses that it presented then. In this new edition, Fawaz Gerges writes hopefully and expectantly that the new U.S. President, Barak Obama, can overcome the mistakes he sees that the U.S. has made in its “war on terror.” His hopes will obviously have dimmed somewhat if not greatly in consideration of Obama’s actions in the Middle East, but Gerges’ essential thematic message remains important.
Two main themes underlie the ideas in the book. The first tells of the relationship between bin Laden and Zawahiri and how their ideas interacted and reacted to turn the jihadis from the ‘near’ enemy - the local regional governments - to the ‘far’ enemy - the United States. The second theme is the poor manner in which the U.S. has understood essential differences between ‘near’ and ‘far’ jihadis, the history of their development, and the major divisions within the jihadi proponents. Following from the latter theme, a missing context of Gerges arguments concerning U.S. actions in the Middle East is readily discerned.
Bin Laden and Zawahiri
Osama bin Laden is the iconic anti-hero of the al-Qaeda movement, shooting to prominence in the western media with the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center. Still at large presumably somewhere in the Afghanistan/Pakistan border region, bin Laden remains the iconic reviled evil of the Muslim world. Although active before 9/11 it was this singular act that brought him to global media attention. Considered to be the mastermind behind the attacks and all other atrocities designated to be by al-Qaeda, Gerges’ arguments present the al-Qaeda top echelon to be structured as much by Ayman al- Zawahiri, a prominent Egyptian jihadi gone global.
Categories : 
11:06 PM
Moderate Islamist here
0 comments:
Post a Comment