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Bin Laden: The Man Who Declared War on America Paperback – September 21, 2001
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Here is a comprehensive account of the rise of bin Laden. In meticulous detail, world-renowned terrorism expert Yossef Bodansky uncovers the events in bin Laden's life that turned the once-promising engineering student into a cold-blooded leader of radical Islam. In the process, Bodansky reveals a chilling story that is as current as today's headlines but as ancient as the Crusades—a story that transcends bin Laden and any other single man. This book is a sobering wake-up call.
"This fascinating account of Osama bin Laden's war against America illustrates the murky world of Islamic extremism and state sponsored terrorism."
—Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, Leavey Professor, Department of Government, Georgetown University
"Americans need to know about Osama bin Laden, and the best place to find out is in this trenchant study of the man. A brilliant work."
—Fred Barnes, executive editor of The Weekly Standard
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Print length464 pages
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LanguageEnglish
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PublisherPrima Lifestyles
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Publication dateSeptember 21, 2001
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Dimensions5.95 x 1.17 x 8.96 inches
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ISBN-100761535810
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ISBN-13978-0761535812
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Editorial Reviews
Review
--Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, Leavey Professor, Department of Government, Georgetown University
“Americans need to know about Osama bin Laden, and the best place to find out is in this trenchant study of the man. A brilliant work.”
--Fred Barnes, executive editor of The Weekly Standard
From the Inside Flap
Here is a comprehensive account of the rise of bin Laden. In meticulous detail, world-renowned terrorism expert Yossef Bodansky uncovers the events in bin Laden's life that turned the once-promising engineering student into a cold-blooded leader of radical Islam. In the process, Bodansky reveals a chilling story that is as current as today's headlines but as ancient as the Crusades a story that transcends bin Laden and any other single man. This book is a sobering wake-up call.
"Thi
From the Back Cover
--Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, Leavey Professor, Department of Government, Georgetown University
“Americans need to know about Osama bin Laden, and the best place to find out is in this trenchant study of the man. A brilliant work.”
--Fred Barnes, executive editor of The Weekly Standard
About the Author
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Osama bin Laden is not the only Islamist who has abandoned a good career and comfortable lifestyle in order to wage a jihad. Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri -- bin Laden's right-hand man -- now in his late forties, could have been one of Egypt's leading pediatricians but gave up a promising career and affluence to fight the Egyptian government. He then refused political asylum in Western Europe (with a generous stipend) and ended up living in eastern Afghanistan not far from bin Laden.
Although bin Laden and Zawahiri are the most notorious Islamist terrorists, there are hundreds like them. These dedicated commanders in turn lead thousands of terrorists in a relentless and uncompromising holy war against the United States and the West as a whole. The bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998 were the latest but by far not the last shots in this rapidly escalating war of terrorism. What makes these individuals -- the leaders and symbols of the new Islamist upsurge -- commit themselves to this kind of war?
The rise of the new radical Islamist elite is a recent phenomenon in the developing world. These leaders, from the affluent and privileged segment of society, are highly educated and relatively Westernized. They are not the underprivileged, impoverished, and embittered isolates who usually constitute the pool that breeds terrorists and radicals. These Islamist terrorist leaders are different from the typical European middle-class revolutionaries and terrorists -- from the anarchists of the nineteenth century to the Communist revolutionaries of the late twentieth century -- because the Islamists have become popular leaders of the underprivileged masses, while the European terrorists remained isolated from a generally hostile population. Only Ernesto "Che" Guevara -- the Argentinian doctor turned revolutionary fighter of the early 1960s -- came close to being the kind of populist leader these Islamists are.
To understand these Islamist leaders -- particularly Osama bin Laden -- one needs to understand their break with their past, their motivation, the fire in their veins, and the depth of their hatred of the United States and what it stands for.
OSAMA BIN LADEN, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and their compatriots, mostly Saudis and Egyptians, are the product of the tumultuous 1970s and 1980s. Their entire lives, from their early years up until the time they rejected a luxurious lifestyle and embraced radicalism and militancy, were strongly influenced by key events unfolding in the Middle East -- most importantly, the Arab prosperity and identity crisis that accompanied the oil boom in the 1970s, the triumph of revolutionary Islam in Iran, and the rallying cry of the jihad in Afghanistan in the 1980s.
Osama bin Muhammad bin Laden was born in the city of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, probably in 1957. At the time his father, Muhammad bin Laden, was a small-time builder and contractor who had arrived from Yemen in search of employment. Osama was one of numerous siblings -- his father had more than fifty children from several wives. Muhammad bin Laden was conscientious about education and advancement in life and tried to provide his children with proper schooling. During the 1960s the family moved to the Hijaz, western Saudi Arabia, and ultimately settled in Al-Medina Al-Munawwara. Osama received most of his formal education in the schools of Medina and later Jedda, Saudi Arabia's main commercial port on the Red Sea.
The oil boom of the 1970s changed Muhammad bin Laden's fortunes. The development boom in the Hijaz brought him in direct contact with the Saudi elite, and he soon developed a special relationship with the upper-most echelons of the House of al-Saud as both a superior builder and the provider of discreet services, such as the laundering of payments to "causes." His contacts at the top enabled Muhammad bin Laden to expand his business into one of the biggest construction companies in the entire Middle East -- the Bin Laden Corporation. The special status of the bin Laden company was established when the House of al-Saud contracted with it to refurbish and rebuild the two holy mosques in Mecca and Medina. During the 1970s, the bin Laden company was involved in the construction of roads, buildings, mosques, airports, and the entire infrastructure of many of the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf.
Osama was destined to follow in his father's footsteps. He went to high school in Jedda and then studied management and economics at King Abdul Aziz University in Jedda, one of Saudi Arabia's best schools. His father promised him he would be put in charge of his own company, which would enjoy the bin Ladens' direct access to the Court to gain extremely profitable contracts.
Osama bin Laden started the 1970s as did many other sons of the affluent and well-connected -- breaking the strict Muslim lifestyle in Saudi Arabia with sojourns in cosmopolitan Beirut. While in high school and college Osama visited Beirut often, frequenting flashy nightclubs, casinos, and bars. He was a drinker and womanizer, which often got him into bar brawls.
Ultimately, however, Osama bin Laden was not an ordinary Saudi youth having a good time in Beirut. In 1973 Muhammad bin Laden was deeply affected spiritually when he rebuilt and refurbished the two holy mosques, and these changes gradually affected Osama. Even while he was still taking brief trips to Beirut, he began showing interest in Islam. He started reading Islamic literature and soon began his interaction with local Islamists. In 1975 the outbreak of the Lebanese civil war prevented further visits to Beirut. The Saudi Islamists claimed that the agony of the Lebanese was a punishment from God for their sins and destructive influence on young Muslims. Osama bin Laden was strongly influenced by these arguments.
The drastic personal change in Osama bin Laden's life in the mid-1970s reflects the turmoil of the Arab Middle East, specifically Saudi Arabia, during the 1970s.
What began as a period of Arab self-respect and great expectations -- derived from the self-perceived restoration of "Arab honor" in the 1973 Yom Kippur War (the coordinated Egyptian-Syrian surprise attack against Israel that ended with an inconclusive Israeli military victory) and then the great affluence and influence resulting from the oil boom that followed the embargo of 1973-1974 (which the oil-producing states of the Arabian Peninsula declared in order to force the West into adopting anti-Israeli policies) -- quickly turned into an era of acute crisis and trauma due to the Arab world's inability to cope with the consequences of its actions. The sudden increase in wealth of the ruling elite and the upper and educated strata and exposure to the West led to confusion and a largely unresolved identity crisis resulting in radicalism and eruptions of violence. Improved media access and availability throughout the region brought home crises in other parts of the world. Be-cause of its conservative Islamic character and sudden wealth and influence, Saudi Arabia was uniquely influenced by these dynamics.
In Jedda, Osama bin Laden was constantly exposed to the often contradictory trends influencing Saudi society at the time. As Saudi Arabia's main port city on the Red Sea coast, Jedda was exposed to Western influence more than most other Saudi cities were. Sailors and experts came to Jedda, while the increasingly rich local elite, including the bin Laden family, visited the West. Coming from generally conservative and isolated Saudi Arabia, these visitors were shocked by their encounter with the West -- by the personal freedoms and affluence of the average citizen, by the promiscuity, and by the alcohol and drug use of Western youth. Many young Saudis could not resist experimenting with the forbidden. When they returned to Saudi Arabia, they brought with them the sense of individualism and personal freedoms they encountered in the West.
The wealth and worldly character of Jedda also transformed it into a shelter for Islamist intellectuals persecuted throughout the Muslim world. Several universities, primarily King Abdul Aziz University in Jedda, which bin Laden attended from 1974 to 1978, became a hub of vibrant Islamist intellectual activity; the best experts and preachers were sheltered in the universities and mosques, providing an opportunity to study and share their knowledge. They addressed the growing doubts of the Saudi youth. Their message to the confused was simple and unequivocal -- only an absolute and unconditional return to the fold of conservative Islamism could protect the Muslim world from the inherent dangers and sins of the West.
In March 1975, in the midst of the oil boom and the Islamic intellectual backlash against it, Saudi Arabia's King Faisal was assassinated. The assassin, Prince Faisal ibn Musaid, was the king's deranged nephew. He was also thoroughly Westernized and had visited the United States and Western Europe frequently. Both Islamists and Court insiders expressed apprehension that exposure to Western ways had caused Faisal ibn Musaid to go insane. Although the succession process worked and the kingdom suffered no ensuing crisis, the seed of doubt and discontent was sown. The assassination was a turning point for Saudi Arabia. For both the Saudi establishment and the conscientious elite, the assassination of the beloved king served as proof that the...
Product details
- Publisher : Prima Lifestyles; Second Printing edition (September 21, 2001)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 464 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0761535810
- ISBN-13 : 978-0761535812
- Item Weight : 1.26 pounds
- Dimensions : 5.95 x 1.17 x 8.96 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,538,333 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,248 in African Politics
- #1,644 in Terrorism (Books)
- #2,093 in Middle Eastern Politics
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I don't have the expertise to judge Bodansky's claims. But I find it interesting that for him, the true villains seem to be unscrupulous government officials. Bin Laden comes off well.
...
Bodansky tells a different story. He explains the background of the Islamist movement. Then he mentions specific things that happened when bin Laden was in his teens, that contributed to turning Saudi youth against "Westernization." He also reports an atrocity of that earlier Afghan war, for which bin Laden wrongly believed the U.S. was responsible.
He goes on to say that after the war, bin Laden seemed ready to settle down. Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait changed everything. Bin Laden, with genuine war-hero credentials, tried to persuade his government to let him put together a Muslim force to defend the country and liberate Kuwait. They turned him down. (One wonders how different history might be if they'd let him try.)
Bodansky says bin Laden was far from alone in opposing the presence of U.S. forces in Saudi Arabia. He was actually a moderate among Saudi Islamists. But the government didn't appreciate his moderate stance, and tried to muzzle him. When it became clear the Americans would be there for the long haul, he had to leave--to protect his extended family from threatened economic reprisals.
Bodansky says he apparently didn't go to Sudan to become an agitator. Once again, he was ready to settle down. The Sudanese recruited him for the international terrorist movement--initially, because of his expertise at setting up financial networks. Within the movement, he became a loyal team player who rose gradually through the ranks. There's no indication he's ever been power-hungry.
I've seen criticism of Bodansky's claims about an alleged "deal" between the Clinton Administration and Islamists. (Note: I'm a left-of-center Democrat.) The critics have overlooked his statement that the same CIA agent approached Ayman al-Zawahiri a decade earlier, when Republicans were in power. Zawahiri supposedly broke off that contact because he thought he was being asked for $50 million. The second time around, the [individual] made clear he was offering that sum. But Bodansky doesn't claim any money was paid. If his story is true, it's possible the whole thing was CIA skullduggery.
His point, however, is that the Islamists believed they had a deal and were betrayed. They promised not to do certain things in the Balkans; their agents didn't do those things, and the U.S. had them arrested anyway.
Writing in 1999, Bodansky actually mentions a three-nation terror "axis"! His axis--more plausible than Bush's--consists of Iran, Iraq, and Syria. He claims Iran and Syria are the two main terrorist-sponsoring states, and they don't want to see Iraq taken over by a pro-Western regime because it's the land route between them.
I am puzzled by small discrepancies that make me less trusting of the work as a whole. I have no way of knowing who's wrong. But Bodansky mentions bin Laden's father being alive when he was a young man; I've heard elsewhere that he died in a helicopter accident when Osama was 13. Also, Bodansky translates "al-Qaida"--which he says was originally the name of a semi-bogus charity, wrongly applied to the actual terrorist group--as "Islamic Salvation." Other sources say it means "The Base," and refers to a computer database of supporters' names.
I was disappointed that this book makes no mention of the rumors about bin Laden's health. Perhaps they weren't circulating in 1999. ...
Whatever else this book teaches, surely most important is that alien beings walk openly under Western skies and will remain a danger to innocents for some time to come. Bin Laden and the defecation he ministers, the stench he releases into our free world is but a point of focus, an image to grasp in a poppy field of black blooms, a kind of ooze seeping from his decayed, cultural landfill through one of many openings into the groundwater of our world.
This book is a must read for any concerned Western Thinker living above and unaccustomed to the creeps that promote hate from below.
Mission accomplished.
Second, I wondered how Bodansky could know all of these "facts." He details the names, dates, locations, even conversations of SECRET terrorist meetings and SECRET agreements and SECRET government sponsorships of terrorists. I looked up his list of sources: it's all newspaper articles, most of them from Arab publications. Most of the time he simply states information as objective fact (he knows how the intelligence organizations of closed societies like Iran and Saudi Arabia collect information, make decisions, etc.) with zero footnotes or reference to sources. Sometimes he mentions the information came from a named source; the vast majority of the time oral sources are POSITIVELY ANONYMOUS.
Third, he leans, bends, prostrates in a blatantly conservative direction. He roundly blasts Clinton at several points, even claiming that "if certain terrorist sources are to be believed" Clinton made an evil deal with the Islamists; supposedly that the US would tolerate the overthrow of the Egyptian government and installation of an Islamist regime in return for no terrorist attacks on US troops in Bosnia.
I was further perplexed by his claim that the President of Iran, widely considered to be a moderate in favor of liberal reforms, is personally involved in planning terrorist acts against the US. Bodansky asserts that Iran was behind the bombings of US embassies in Africa. Really? Why haven't the American people been told? It took us years to figure out a couple of Libyans were responsible for the Lockerbie disaster. Once we had the facts we were relentless in our pressure on Libya to hand them over. If our government knows Iran bombed our embassies, why are we not doing the same with them? The cause of the crash of TWA flight 800 has never been determined. But omnicient Bodansky knows it was IN FACT a terrorist bombing, that Tehran was behind it, he even knows the type and placement of the explosive; "A small, twin-charge bomb was placed against the middle of the forward wall of the central fuel tank... The twin charges were a blast charge made of powerful plastic explosives (SEMTEX-H class)... The direction of the explosion was toward the tail of the aircraft (p.179)."
The back of the book says Bodansky is "an internationally renowned military and threat analyst, is the director of the Congressional Task Force on Terrorism..." I noticed that both of the plug quotes on the book are from staunch conservatives: Jean Kirkpatrick (former Reagan appointee who fired off a letter with fellow arch conservatives to President Bush urging expansion of the war to Iran and Iraq) and Fred Barnes.
I did some research on Bodansky on the internet and found a biography (biased also, as it is written by Fred Abood of the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee, but the only profile of Bodansky my search found) that states: 1) Bodansky was the editor of the Israeli Air Force's official magazine in the 1970's, 2) , Bodansky became the technical director of the newsletter JINSA (The Jewish Institute of National Security Affairs), 3) . In the early years of the first Reagan administration (1980-84), Bodansky was hired as a Defense Department consultant, 4) In 1985, shortly after Naval intelligence employee Jonathan Pollard was caught as an Israeli spy, Bodansky dropped out of sight. According to sources, Bodansky was one of Pollard's controllers and had, they say, always operated as an agent of LEKEM, the Israeli defense ministry's technological espionage branch, 5) . In 1989, Bodansky became director of the House REPUBLICAN (my caps) Research Committee's "Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare."
The man is a former Israeli citizen who now works for REPUBLICAN congresspeople. In fact, the "task force" is unofficial. It's a body dreamed up by Republicans, given an official sounding name, and appointed conservative members. (Rep. Saxton, the "task force " chair, admits as much in his remarks to Congress on August 7, 1998; "As the chairman of a group of Republicans... [known as] the Task Force on Terrorism and U.N. Conventional Warfare.") This blasts Bodansky positively out of the orbit of what we would call "objectivity." My concern is that people will buy this book, thinking it's an objective account of bin Laden and the Islamist movement, as I did (this book is now a best seller here at Amazon; it glares off the shelves as the featured bin Laden book at a major book chain). I did a search on bin Laden books and thought, hey, here's one that sounds good, and bought it. I'm sure much of this stuff is true; a great deal jibes with what I've read since 9/11 (Pakistan has been an incubator for terrorism, Saudi Arabia has tons of Islamist sympathizers and citizen patrons, etc.) but I have no doubts much of the content is pro-Israel rhetoric. And it's packaged in a way that makes it sound like an objective study, which it clearly ain't. Which parts are true and what is propaganda I couldn't say. But I can say for certain it's a dry read chock full of minutae, NOT a biography of bin Laden, and deviously biased.
Americans want to know about bin Laden, and this book clearly appears to be the number one book they are snatching up to learn about him and the Islamists. It is shaping opinions with false, biased, uncited information, and this is positively dangerous.