Rating: 
Summary: Neither A Muslim Holy Warrior Nor American Loyal
Review:
In "My Jihad", the author attempts to project himself as both a Muslim holy warrior and a loyal American. Converted to Islam during serving his sentence as a teenager in the California Youth Center, Aukai Collins embarked after his release on a Jihad odyssey in 1993 to fight in Bosnia against the Serbs, but ended up in Islamic fundamentalists' camps in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the front lines of Chechnya and Kosovo. During his perilous journey, precisely while he was in Azerbaijan, he decided suddenly to work for the CIA and the FBI as an undercover agent to preserve the sanctity of Jihad, which he claimed was violated by the way Arab Jihadists run Jihad.
"My Jihad" is worth reading. It serves to show us how these so-called Jahadists manipulate the noble concept of Jihad in Islam "the internal struggle of self-discipline to teach one to contain one's own self and to develop the power of self-control against evil desires" to serve for their delusional and violent natures. For Collins and the likes of him, Jihad means "fighting that is not only the duty of every able-bodied Muslim, but the ultimate fulfillment of the faith." Ironically, they are eager to fight non-Muslim parties who abuse Muslims but forget that the majority of Muslims worldwide are abused by their fellow Muslims. It is very clear throughout "My Jihad" that Collins is far away from being a self-disciplined Muslim. His use of crude language, which a true Muslim ought not to utter, and thrill to describe scenes of violence and killing make it very clear that he is not committed to the noble values of Islam. He is obsessed with weapons, inpatient, and unable to follow orders within military or semi-military structures. His arrogance and self-asserted importance made him a burden not only for Jihadistist, but also for the FBI and the CIA.
By joining the FBI and the CIA, Collins stretched again the concept of Jihad to fit as a justification. After escaping an assassination attempt set up by an Arab Jihadist group, he decided to step into "the world of espionage and real-life spooks". In Baku in 1996, he walked into the American embassy with the intention to cooperate with the intelligence people to save innocent lives and, at the same time, protect his religion (Islam). He was outraged and felt betrayed because as he was shedding his blood in defense of Islam against the Russian Army in Chechnya, "a bunch of cowards in Egypt were killing old ladies and kids in the name of Jihad". Unfortunately, the timing of his joining the U.S. intelligence agency right after the failed assassination belies his stated intentions and makes it very clear that he was motivated by his personal grudge and the desire to take revenge upon the Arab Jihadists. He thought that "as long as Arabs control the way Jihad is handled, it will never progress or accomplish anything". He felt "big changes needed to be made." It is disturbing how he fits his conducts into his faith. Upon joining American intelligence agencies, he said: "I was as loyal to the Jihad then as I am now - and God willing always will be," to compel us to view him as both a Muslim holy warrior and loyal American. We knew, however, that he was not willing to cooperate with intelligence in Pakistan when his friend Umar, who received capital punishment for his role in killing Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, confided in him with a plan to take a group of British journalists and tourists hostage in Kashmir.
Collins also was not happy in working for the FBI and the CIA. He saw most of their agents as "clowns" who were not raised to the challenge of the pre 9/11 Al-Qaeda network. Both Agencies, as we are told by him, let go of an excellent chance to trap the Arab-sponsored terrorist networks inside the U.S., did not let him infiltrate into Osama Bin Laden's camp in Afghanistan when he had the chance, and did not heed his warning about one of the 9/11 hijackers. Instead, they were spinning wheels "by infiltrating pacifists in all the mosques of North America or detaining hardworking Pakistani store clerks for months on INS violations".
"My Jihad" is an account of a man who seeks to justify his obsession for rebellion, violence, adventures in a moral and religious quest, not a man of patriotic and religious sense.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting insights on our intelligence handlers
Review: After finishing this book, I read the reviews on amazon.com. The other readers' reviews of this book are dead on. Both the positive and negative reviews develop points that are correct. The book is not well written or edited. However, the author is not a professional wordsmith. The book, is written by a former car thief and "stick up man." He converted to Islam while in the California Youth Authority. I am sure he didn't spend much time studying literature.
I feel the books best value is the author's description of working as a Confidential Informant or "snitch" with both the CIA and FBI. He describes how our intelligence agencies are mired with incompetent ladder climbers more concerned with their respective careers than the mission. Even worse are the insanely stupid bureaucratic regulations, which hamstring our nations intelligence gathering. A perfect example of this is described in the book where the CIA would not allow the author to go to Chechnya unless he "promised not to engage in combat" due to rules prohibiting it's operatives from doing that.
Even scarier, on several occasions the CIA wanted to notify various foreign intelligence agencies of the author's status as an agent. His account of the way in which some of his handlers worked with him also raises red flags. One of them was a "born again Christian" who allowed his personal views to affect his agent handling.
All in all I think this is a very interesting account of the experiences of a "front line soldier of Islam." It is very current and should be read by anyone concerned with intelligence gathering or curious about it.
Rating: 
Summary: Why we failed to penetrate Al Qaeda
Review: Anyone who wants to understand the U.S. intelligence failures in the War Against Terrorism needs to read this book. The author, an American jihadi who could pass without question among the most extreme elements of the Islamist movement, was frustrated at every turn by his efforts to act as an undercover agent for the U.S. among the Islamists. So extreme were the self-imposed limitations on the use of counter-intelligence agents by the FBI and CIA that the author had to vow not to be engaged in military activities when acting as a CIA spy in Chechenya, even though he would be going there as a purported guerilla fighter. Then the CIA insisted that it would have to inform both the Russian and Azerbaijan governments that the author would be entering Chechenya through Azerbaijan due to an agency rule requiring the "host" government be informed any time a U.S. agent entered its territory. This despite the author's first hand experience that both the Russian and Azerbaijan governments were thoroughly penetrated by the Islamists and their organized crime colloborators. Finally the author's opportunity to meet directly with Bin Laden himself is vetoed by his CIA/FBI handlers. If these are reflective of policies imposed by the Clinton Administration then clearly Clinton merits the charge that he sabotaged U.S. intelligence gathering activities in the 90s. However, it is by no means clear where the policies in question came from nor whether the current administration has jettisoned them. Indeed, what make Collins's account so plausible is that he himself makes no efforts to relate his experience to the American blame game and instead is simply intent on telling his own story.
I note that certain reviewers are rating this book according to whether they admire the author or not. This is not, in my view, an appropriate use of the review process. The author is the product of a severely disfunctional family and was well on his way to becoming a professional criminal when he found a religion which provided a means for sanctifying his already well-established proclivities towards violence. His performance in the jihad in many way illustrates all that is repugnant about U.S. foreign policy - strident self-righteousness, profound ignorance about foreign cultures, unwillingness to cooperate with others, open racism, and easy betrayal of friends. None of this changes the fact that this book offers a virtually unprecedented direct look into the life of a genuine jihadi, as well as a compelling illustration of why U.S. human intelligence has fallen into such a disasterous state.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting but of dubious integrity
Review: Aukai Collins has certainly traveled to some exotic places and participated in some singular experiences, but many of the details (especially regarding his role) ring false. At a tender age he went to Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Chechnya, and Kosovo to pursue jihad. While his descriptions of attending training camp in Afghanistan jive with other works on the subject, much of the tale is marred by Collins' insistence that he's smarter, quicker, and more talented than nearly everyone else around him. Time and time again he describes striking out on his own because "he was the only one who could see the right way to do it." Probably because of his impetuousness, the training camp coordinators sent him to be cannon fodder in Bosnia and Chechnya. In the late 90's Collins returned to the U.S. and began working as a source for an FBI agent, who like all the others wasn't bright or insightful enough to earn Collins' respect (do you see a pattern here?). He claims to have met Hani Hanjour, one of the 9/11 hijackers, and deemed him no threat to anyone (Last I saw, the FBI denied that Collins ever mentioned Hanjour). Ultimately he goes back to fight yet another jihad, this time in Kosovo, and ends up a bounty hunter back in the U.S. I don't doubt that Collins did a lot of the things he writes about. The cheap adventure-tourist tone of his book, as well as his continued inability to break out of his extremely narrow understanding of events and people around him, made the book a tedious and ultimately unworthwhile read.
Rating:
Summary: SORPRENDENTE
Review: Es muy interesante la manera en que Aukai a sido capaz de recrear en nuestra mente el mundo del terrorismo mundial y la actuacion de las agencias gubernamentales de las principales potencias.
Rating:
Summary: Religion as a tool of violence
Review: I rate this book as 4 stars because one must understand how people lose their humanity through religion. Aukai Collins presents his conversion to Islam as a gift to his ideology, however it should be read as a discourse on the dangers of religion as a tool of violence. This book is written with the viewpoint of taking certain ideas from one religion to fit personal violent and sexual desires. Sadly, he displays why so many Westerners dislike Islam and demonstrates that prison is a breeding ground for felons justifying their animalistic desires of killing without reason. Collins attempts to argue to the reader his feelings of how the "World has done him wrong" due to his upbringing and how is actions are religiously inspired. Thus, because of his childhood, his murders of innocents is forgiven by his careful choosing out of context verses from the Koran. ... ...The author demonstrates the age old lesson of why religion is a method in which to continue violence... One portion demonstrates his glee while watching Islamic terrorists slowly cut the heads off of his enemy, who as he describes, "Deserve a painful death." Then the author stalks his next wife so he is not without a concubine while away from his wife. ... ...
Rating:
Summary: Really Good Book
Review: I read this book to understand the thinking of the insurgent and to learn a little bit about organizational structure. The author's account makes clear how disorganized this type of warfare can be, at every level. His arrival, training, the command and control structure of mujahideen organizations, supplies and logistics all depict how this type of warfare depends as much on individuals and their commitment as on weaponry, tactics and luck. What I disliked was the books poor editing-it could've been MUCH better.
This is an interesting text to compare against other accounts such as John Reed's "Insurgent Mexico" and the theoretical frameworks of Guevara and Mao.
Rating:
Summary: An Eye Opening Memoir of Life in the Jihad
Review: I wasn't expecting much from this book, but I bought it because of my interest in Chechnya. The book turned out to be totally gripping, and a complete revelation about the relationship between international Muslim fundamentalism and the US prison and juvenile detention systems. Collins is a superb narrator of his harrowing experiences, everywhere from the California Youth Authority to the hills outside Grozny. His life intersects with people now well known through the war on terror, such as the killers of Daniel Pearl. It is also a depressing indictment of the ineptitude and callousness of our intelligence services. Read this book and it will be no surprise how 9/11 happened, or why we were so blindsided by it. This book deserves a wide audience.
Rating: 
Summary: My, What A Life
Review: I would say that either this author has lead an exciting and dangerous life or he is an arrogant and delusional truth stretcher out to capitalize on the post 9-11 terrorism interest. The problem was I could not tell which it was. At times the authors life story seamed interesting and passable, there were even mundane sections of his life detailed in the book. It was just that he kept coming into contact with this terrorist or that terrorist that has gone on to be involved in such memorable events like the 9-11 attacks or the Daniel Pearl murder. Couple this with his soldier of fortune cover story like tail of military combat, and I started to wonder where the truth ended and the Rambo like fictional excitement to sell books started.
To be fair the author spent far more time slogging his way from one cheap hotel to another in search of combat action in various Muslim combat hotspots of the 90s then he did actually firing a weapon. The fact that he detailed out this constant and aggravating wandering did lend credence to the stories of when he actually does come into contact with the opposite party. It was just that when the bullets or heated words started flying, he turned into some unstoppable and completely free of fear machine that would make any B movie start proud. Who knows, maybe the author is truly a fearless fighter of the highest order, but the combat daring do did leave me a bit skeptical. And what was with the title, mentioning Usama Bin Laden was nothing more then a bait and switch tactic to get you to buy the book. This guy has had as much contact with old Usama as I have. If you are going to use his name in the title of the book I would at least expected the author to have met the man.
His detail with his work with the FBI and the CIA also seamed to be far more words then action. It was a classic case of he talked a good game, but rarely got on the field come show time. Again it seamed to me that he exaggerated what he did and the contacts he had to make this a more exciting story. Unfortunately for me it just made be further question the accuracy of the book. I mean if this guy had done all of these things, met with all of these terrorists, wouldn't he be on every talking head TV program there is? Overall the book was entertaining and there were some nice details about Chechnya. It was just that it seamed to me that the author took a few too main liberties with the truth given the very exciting and dangerous life that he details. Then again it could have all been true and I am just put off by the authors rather large ego and chip on his shoulder. It is rare that you come across someone so in awe of their own talent that they truly think they can walk on water.
Rating:
Summary: Worth Reading, though Take the Author with a Grain of Salt
Review: If you ever wondered what goes through the mind of a Jihadist this is the book for you. Although the author is clearly unbalanced he provides some interesting insights into the international Jihadist movement. Now why do I say the guy is unbalanced? He claims he went to the Chechen Republic to defend Islam; but if you read between the lines you can see even the rebels got tired of him, bouncing him around from group to group because of his inability to follow orders. Additionally, he seemed to relish killing Russians just a little to much(also the author has this fixation about being considered a military man despite the fact that he has an obvious problem with authority, the guy would never last in a real army.) This all starts to make sense about half way through the book when we learn he converted to Islam in prison and had a way bad childhood. Ok so the guy is out there, still the book offers valuable insights.
For one, we learn that an uneducated, self-important no-goodnick, can do a pretty good job of infiltrating the Jihadist movement, at one point even meeting one of the 9-11 hijackers. What does this say about our intell services? Next, when for reasons never fully explained, the author decides to rat out his new found friends by becoming an informer we learn how incomptent our intell service are. This part of the book rings depressingly true. So in sum, you may not like the author, what he believes, or what he has to say, but...he does offer some very valuable insights based on first hand experience. For that reason alone the book is worth your time.
|
