Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror by Michael Scheuer Summary and Reviews
|
List Price: Our Price: $6.15 You Save: $4.80 (44%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $3.98 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror
Book Review: Limited Hangout
Summary: 2 Stars
Except for being longer than it needs to be, this book would be perfectly all right if the official 9/11 story were true. But anyone who has actually studied for a while the readily available relevant material will conclude that 9/11 most certainly was an elaborate staged false flag operation. The author, as of the time he was interviewed for the recent History Channel program on 9/11 "Conspiracy Theories," doggedly supported the official, completely discredited, version of the events of 9/11.
While it is all well and good to oppose the hubristic policies of the Bush regime, the truth of the matter is that we are dealing with a reality that is quite different from the one Scheuer presents to us.
Book Review: Hit me baby one more time...
Summary: 5 Stars
...Or 8 more times and hit me harder, who knows. But that is in essence what we seem to be saying (among other things) to our enemies as we sit on our hands trying to fight a politically correct and "safe" war.
Mr. Scheuer has raised many points of view gleaned by 17 years of analysis in the very subjects we are fighting, or playing tit for tat with. He gets past the arguments of simpletons that say they attack us because we are free, or hate our pop-culture, clothing, etc. He breaks down the 6 main reasons why bin Laden and company attack us repeatedly. Additionally he breaks down bin Laden himself, even comparing him to - brace yourself - our very own Abe Lincoln. The comparison is in reference to how he is viewed in the Islamic culture, and how he is fighting for the cause and what's right in the Islamic religion. He lays out a very detailed profile of bin Laden, going against the grain in terms of labeling him just a terrorist, a megalomaniac, mass-killer, etc. Basically he gets deep, and honest and some of it is disconcerting to read but none-the-less informative.
Additionally, he breaks down where we (Clinton and Bush) went wrong fighting this war. Why did it take a month to get into Afghanistan after 9/11? Why didn't we use assets we had from assisting in Afghan-Soviet war? Why does it seem we are sitting on our hands? Do these people even want to be "free" and democratized? What about the propping up of puppets in government that don't have the support of their countrymen?
The book also talks of Islam in general and why and how our country and its policies are on a crash course with the insurgents fighting against us. One such example is man-made law vs. God's law. Mr. Scheuer also suggests certain policy changes that we need to make, lest we let our children continue fighting this war. I hate to use a clich?, but he calls for the "gloves to come off", really come off and you may not agree with some of his ideas (bringing back land mines to mine areas of mountain passes we cannot protect or block or basically bombing the country/is into submission, so much so that they lose all hope or at least support from the people of the country, stopping our support of Israel - which is one of the 6 reasons they attack us, and more) but other options need to be on the table because so far we aren't really winning.
The fact that bin Laden himself references this book as the reason we are losing this war, should be seen as a kick in the nuts because he knows that we do not have the stomach to do what is necessary to win. And he may be right.
Book Review: Recommended by Osama bin Laden
Summary: 4 Stars
Most infamously recommended as "further reading" by Osama bin Laden in his message of 9/7/07, this work by the former head of the CIA's bin Laden unit is a must-read for those wishing to fully educate themselves on the issues in the War vs. Terrorism.
Scheurer's book is a well-reasoned treatise focusing on the strengths of bin Laden's "humiliate/bleed America to death" strategy in the current Iraq campaign. Differentiating himself from the Steve Emerson's and Daniel Pipes of the world, Scheuer paints a politically incorrect picture of the Al Qaeda movement as a very sane response to Western policy rather than simply the rantings and ravings of a group of abhorrent fanatics.
Neither far left or far right, Scheurer is a refreshing centrist who opines that the Islamists rightfully have a bone to pick with the imperial hubris of the US. While we may not want to agree that we're losing the War on Terror, Schuerer makes a very solid case and offers myriad tangible solutions.
Warning: it's not always a comfortable read for those with a great deal of hope for the long-term survival of this country. Scheuer's view is that, collectively as a country, we are "whistling past the graveyard" and that merely the first shot has been fired in this long and bloody war.
"If you want to understand what's going on and if you would like to get to know some of the reasons for your losing the war against us, then read the book of Michael Scheuer." - Osama bin Laden, 9/7/07
Book Review: Author Fails to Drill in on the President
Summary: 3 Stars
Mr. Scheuer was persuasive with his argument that Americans need to be re-awakened from a wasteful diversion into Iraq and the downgrading of bin Laden as a threat. Mr. Scheuer certainly awakened me to the bin Laden menace and hopefully it will be the catalyst to reawaken an American sleeping giant (again). He puts forth the proposition that U.S. forces have fought incorrectly in Afghanistan by not pursuing an all out war against bin Laden, like the WWII battle against Hitler and Emperor Hiroshima. Civilians standing in the way were not spared in the bombing of the civilian populations in Dresden, Germany and the atomic bombing of two cities in Japan. The WWII U.S. fight was massive with total destruction to both German and Japanese forces. In contrast Mr. Scheuer says our strategy to "fight and win quickly; do not kill many of the enemy, destroy much of his property, or kill many of his civilians; and above all, lose the barest minimum of U.S. soldiers," has been a primary reason for our defeats in wars since WWII.
Mr Scheuer makes a lot out of the fact that the U.S. lost the initiative by delaying for several months attacking bin Laden and his al Qaeda forces. Here he absolutely misses the most important reasons behind the U.S. defeat in Afghanistan and failure to capture bin Laden and his al Qaeda forces. I almost think, as a conservative, he was trying not to offend the radical right; or perhaps he just did not know. Here is what he left out, information that would have made his arguments stand out and given his book more attention.
(1) Troops Moved to Iraq. Two months after 9/11, late November 2001, The Whitehouse distracted top military commanders from the hunt for Bin Laden with rushed plans for a new war in Iraq. About half of the intelligence and Special Forces assets in Afghanistan were diverted to support the war in Iraq. This shifted focus at a critical moment, when US forces thought they had corned Osama in the White Mountains (Spin Ghar). With too few troops, bin Laden was able to escape.
(2) Reinforcements Never Sent. Despite CIA leaders' direct appeals in Dec 2001 to the Whitehouse (by phone) for 1,200 marines, sitting idly in Kandahar, to be deployed to the White Mountains (Spin Ghar), they were never ordered into battle.
(3) Cease-fire Allows Most Al Qaeda Fighters to Escape. A cease-fire was declared on Dec. 12 2001 with Al Qaeda forces in hopes that some would surrender in the White Mountains (Spin Ghar). This allowed a large contengent of al Qaeda forces to slip through the valleys and over the White Mountains into Pakistan.
(4) Whitehouse - Musharraf May Have Cut Deal to Let Bin Laden Go. Pakistani president, General Pervez Musharraf said that he was sending in Pakistani Special Forces to cut off Bin Laden's escape into Pakistan in Dec 2001 during the battle of Tora Bora in the Spin Ghar mountain range. Those forces never came. His lack of action gives credibility to a 25-Aug-03 report in the UK London based paper, the Guardian, suggesting the Whitehouse and Musharraf had stuck a deal not to seize Bin Laden after the Afghan war for fear of inciting trouble in Pakistan. The Guardian asserts that after Bin Laden's escape the Pakistanis set up three elaborate security rings which stretched 120 miles in diameter around Bin Laden in order to protect him from capture.
(5) Army Misdirects Attack on bin Laden's Retreat. Al United States Central Command in Florida directed the CIA forces to Tora Bora, not Zhawar Kili, in the pursuit of Bin Laden and his Al Qaeda forces in Dec 2001. Bin Laden most likely used Zhawar Kili as his escape route which was 70 miles south of Tora Bora. Tora Bora consisted mostly of natural caves that were not interconnected. By comparison Zhawar was a nine-square-mile complex including tunnels, built with U.S. assistance during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in 1986. And then in Aug 1998, in retaliation for bombing of U.S. embassies in eastern Africa, it was bombed with cruise missiles as directed by the U.S. Central Command in Florida. Despite having bombed Zhawar Kili, and in a possible attempt to cover up Whitehouse orders to allow Bin Laden's escape, Central Command claimed ignorance about Zhawar. A spokesman for General Tommy R. Franks, the Commander in Chief, United States Central Command, stated, "Had we known in November 2001 of ...the place... we'd have paid more attention to it, I suspect."
(6) Bin Laden Capture Low Priority for Whitehouse. The President has always focused on Iraq (even before becoming President) and has stubbornly refused to consider Osama a serious threat. Weekly Standard editor Fred Barnes appeared on Fox September 14, 2006 to discuss his recent meeting with President Bush in the Oval Office. The key takeaway for Barnes was that "bin Laden doesn't fit with the administration's strategy for combating terrorism." Barnes said that Bush told him capturing bin Laden is "not a top priority use of American resources." Mr. Scheuer does say that our involvement in Iraq took the eye off the real enemy, but he never actually drills in on the President. In my opinion, a strategic mistake that takes a lot away from the book.
Book Review: One Of The Best
Summary: 5 Stars
Michael Scheuer's work is without a doubt the seminal work on how the Muslim world views bin Linden and he points out that we need to pay attention to that. He also notes that the Bush Administration failed to check the CIA "checkables" on Afghanistan and that we will pay for that error. Were I still teaching history at the secondary level, this work would be required reading for all my students. A non-fiction work that reads like a thriller, the academic community needs to make it a part of their curriculum. I intend to acquire additional works by this very polite former CIA analysist.