Rating: 
Summary: A Sobering View of the War on Terrorism
Review: This is a remarkable book well worth reading by anyone who wants to know how dangerous our opponents are and how difficult the war with terrorism could get. The author is described as "a senior U.S. intelligence officer with nearly two decades of experience in national security issues related to Afghanistan and South Asia." He was forced to publish the book anonymously because it is so different from the pre-September 11 analysis of his employing agency. His own disgust with the American intelligence bureaucracy is evident in his acknowledgments when he cites Mark Helprin about men who "knowing very little or next to nothing, take pride in telling everyone else what to do." He continues with praise for young civil servants "whose work ethic, intellectual honesty, and personal courage inspire awe and-if unleashed-are more than match for America's foes, foreign or domestic. Too often, however, their work is stymied by senior officers of my own generation. Mostly men, these senior officers have made careers by keeping silent in the face of unfairness, avoiding risk, and refusing to make decisions . . . Fortunately, most of the Republic's younger civil servants recognize with Helprin that this behavior is 'more than a pity, more than a disgrace, it is despicable'" (xiv). The current strategy of focusing narrowly on Al Qaeda, Bin Laden, and body counts "is the road to disaster, for the positions and force bin Laden has presented are a far more lethal and varied threat than that posed by any of those we have labeled as 'terrorists' over the past quarter century. The strength of his personality and message is likely to lead to an enduring legacy that will long survive his departure from the scene" (xvii). "The forces of bin Laden, then, are waging war on America in God's name; they have made it clear that their goal is not the tactical one of inflicting pain, but the strategic one of defeating the United States 'in the same way in which the USSR suffered humiliation at the hands of the Afghan and Arab mujahedin in Afghanistan.' In the United States before the events of 11 September 2001, however, there was almost no recognition that bin Laden's war is well under way. The first step in countering the forces that bin Laden has established is to listen more patiently to what he said in the past and to understand the personal, historical, and geopolitical contexts in which he thought, spoke, and acted" (xviii). Americans will find this book disturbing in part because the author uses American revolutionary war patriots' words to frame each chapter. His point is to drive home that the sincerity and intensity of our founding fathers can be matched by equal intensity and sincerity in Islam. He is arguing that the movement opposing us has a religious fervor, a systematic intensity, and a willingness to learn and use the advantages of a free society to defeat that very freedom. This is a sobering view of a deeply religious movement with the passionate commitment of those who are doing God's bidding and a willingness to kill Americans by the millions if they can find the right mechanism with which to do it. Anyone who reads this book will be deeply sobered by it and will reflect on how much bigger and longer our campaign to defeat the Reactionary Islamists will turn out to be.
Rating: 
Summary: I've been waiting for this hard truth.
Review: To know Anonymous is to know a person who cannot tell it any other way than the way most Americans don't want to hear it. As I have traveled extensively throughout the Middle East and the rest of the world, Anonymous brings us true needed knowledge as to how the most part of this region views the USA. Even admiting to disregarding the good intent of the USA, the eyes of this region wish complete failure of the American people. Anonymous reveals with factual data that behind closed doors , even those who publically support the USA, plan our failure. Evidense is presented to show there is extreme threat on the horizon and the current USA administration has more than its hands full to prevent future grand scale attacks. If you relate to Anonymous, I strongly suggest reading SB 1 or God by Maddox that takes a more indepth approach, predicted 3 years ago we would invade Iraq and leave Saddam Hussien and Iraq inept, but opens the door for intense Terror.
Rating: 
Summary: Stupid, stupid people
Review: When will Americans wake up and realize the far right is taking you for the fools you are? This book is pure claptrap, and the fact that the author is "Anonymous" means no one has to take the blame for the terrible writing, the lack of authoritative sources, and the lapses in credibility. Go ahead and buy these books but one of these days you'll realize you've been taken. Or maybe not.
Rating:
Summary: Best Al-Qaeda/Bin Laden Book Available
Review: Whenever the world is held in the grips of dramatic events, you can pretty much guarantee that around 50 percent of the press coverage concerning said events is going to be faulty. Reporters are humans like anyone else, and they too fall into patterns of overwhelming error inducing excitement and agreed upon misconception. This is very much the case concerning a lot of the reporting and analysis done on current War on Terrorism. A lot of it, in the opinion of this book's "anonymous" author, is absolute garbage. In this eye opening look at the enemies that face America, anonymous has presented a very different picture of the adversary. Through Our Enemies Eyes is a valuable book because it challenges the reader to look at the problem through their eyes, in order to better understand their motivation and tactics. Throughout the book we learn the depth of the Western misconception of Al-Qaeda and its dangerous consequences. We also learn, somewhat to my surprise, the extent of its international power and reach. Al-Qaeda did not emerge from the desert overnight, rather, it was an amazingly complex organization built with years of careful planning.
Anonymous begins with a somewhat startling comparison between American leaders such as Patrick Henry and John Brown to Osama Bin Laden. He is quick to point out that he does not consider these men equal, but he brings it up in order to better understand the extremist mindset. People look at John Brown with a sort of reverence, never mind the fact he was also a fanatic and cold blooded killer. This sort of fanatical resistance can and has been admired by Americans, just as it is admired by Muslim fanatics today. This is what Bin Laden represents, a kind of super strenuous resistance movement against "the West". This has led many in the western press to view and write of Bin Laden as some sort of mass cult leader, a man who espouses insane and archaic views. This is far from the case. Bin Laden is an educated and calculating political leader who understands the dynamic of his fight. In anonymous' estimation, he strongly believes in these religious views and is able to link his theological feelings to a broader political feeling.
The best part of the book is the brilliant historical analysis of Bin Laden and the formation of Al-Qaeda. Osama's childhood, his development into a pious and religious mand, and his transformation into a Muslim fighter is all detailed in this section. We see Bin Laden using his money and his exceptional skills as a construction engineer to aid the Afghan resistance against the Soviets. Obviously, Bin Laden learned at an early age how to build and run effective organizations, as he set up both training camps and private enterprises all around the world. These constructs and the personal network he was developing would soon become Al-Qaeda. Once American troops were ensconced on the territory of Saudi Arabia, Bin Laden had his new enemy. He also became persona non grata to the Saudi royal family whom he knew very well, having grown up with many of them. He traveled to Sudan, where he, along with his growing network of veteran terrorist aides, methodically formed a deadly terrorist group with global reach. Finally, after several failed assassination attempts and pressure on the government of Sudan, Bin Laden returned to Afghanistan, where he was kept safe by his allies in the Taliban movement. The rest of the story, as one could say, is well known history. Anonymous ends his book with his predictions for the war on Al-Qaeda, some of which I disagreed with but none of them were uneducated guesses.
Anonymous has become a political firestorm since his most recent book, Imperial Hubris was released. I disagree with that book and I feel he makes many mistakes in this book. However, some of the parts of the book are so good and so eye opening that even I can overlook the more overtly political passages. His ideas concerning the nature of our enemy should be required reading by everyone who teaches or speaks on the subject. Anonymous warns of the threat Al-Qaeda creates for the United States, but he nevertheless spells out how we can and should win against the organization who seeks to destroy us anyway they can. I took away from this story a greater respect for the danger Bin Laden personally poses, as he is shown to be a near brilliant organizer and a deft politician as well. A great book.
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