Through Our Enemies' Eyes: Osama bin Laden, Radical Islam, and the Future of America [Paperback]

He has an important message: Osama has a large following: is seen by his followers as a dedicated and devout Muslim; has proclaimed himself at war with the US since 1996; is trying and may have succeeding in securing WMD; and has built an organization that will likely outlive him.

Scheuer asserts that it is more useful to think of Bin Laden as an insurgent than as a terrorist. While asserting that modern western man cannot understand the religious mindset of Islamic fundamentalists, Scheuer makes tedious recurring efforts to compare Osama to historical American figures like John Brown (useful), Tom Paine and other founding fathers (less useful).

This book should be recommended to anyone ignorant of Osama and Al Qaeda. Or someone who had heard of neither before 9/11.

One of the most powerful sections of the book is the summary of all of Osama's acts after declaring war on the US in 1996 and the tepid US response--what on earth were Richard Clarke, Michael Scheuer, and Bill Clinton thinking and doing??

Someone already aware of the history will wish this was a short article in Foreign Policy.

Scheuer feels that our Foreign policy is fatally flawed. From his analysis the three biggest problems with US policy seem to be:
1. The US backing of Israel,
2. The US willingness to bomb Muslims,
3. The US unwillingness to wage total war on Al Queda and its backers.

Unfortunately Scheuer gives no guidance on how #2 and #3 can be reconciled and no thoughts on how to constructively abandon Israel. Maybe--when he has more time--he can think through some solutions.

Early reviews of "Imperial Hubris" indicate that it is largely a retread of this book, only Bush's actions rather than Clinton's lack of action are criticized.

I had picked up this book, thinking, it was going to read like the Pentagon Papers and just give me a bad headache.

I was wrong. Instead, I found that Anonymous gave insightful information and different angles on the subject. It's about reality and less hocus pocus. S/he showed parts of the situation I never explored or even bothered to care about. S/he is very descriptive without getting wordy or over-exaggerated and gets to the meat of it. This author talks/discusses with you and not over/at you. It's simple, short but descriptive enough to read. You don't need to know the complete, in-depth history of x, y, or z. It's a nice quick reference book about bin Laden: from his education to the Taliban connection and Muslim point of view. I actually want to learn more and answer the questions that the book brought up and the ones I've made as well.

Anonymous precisely focuses on the topic and rarely strays from it. You know what s/he will be talking about in every chapter. Within each chapter, there are also subdivisions and headings that tell you what s/he will be discussing. S/he really zeroes in specifically and makes sure that it's not confusing. The break up of the chapter helps make it more focused and I didn't get as lost at all.

Another really helpful bit is the complete index and reference page at the end of the book as well as a short glossary of terms that may be unfamiliar. S/he also emphasizes certain points to the reader to make sure we don't start jumping to conclusions. I'd suggest reading the author's note to the glossary.

I found that Anonymous mostly asking the reader to have an open mind and keep things in perspective. S/he made a point about the media representations by US/West and bin Laden's own propaganda in MidEast. I think s/he did his best to give a picture of both sides. S/he uses quotes from many resources and wants the reader to judge for him/herself what it means. Anonymous makes sure that when quoting, the reader understands who, what, where, why, when of the quotes and it's not just some quote from somewhere. It's quite easy to be biased and I hope people will give this great book a chance.

Some people may be put off by the fact that the book doesn't put the US/West in a 'pretty light', but the Author also shows the violence/illusions of bin Laden as well. Neither parties are saints. One of the most important points Anonymous brings up is the fact that, at one time or another, we (US or Western civ, etc) held the same beliefs and passions of bin Laden. That in the end, we (humans) are all the same. You may not agree or like it, but it's one angle of reality that cannot be ignored because ignorance only festers more ignorance.