Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror by Michael Scheuer Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror
Book Review: My Attempt to Understand Jihad
Summary: 4 Stars
Good read. A bit dated now in 2007, but still relevant. Also read "Future Jihad" by Waleed Faras if you want to learn about where these animals are coming from and "Perfect Soldiers", also sheds light on the breeding and conditioning of subhumans who would strap bombs on their children and send them to oblivion or attach innocent civilians in the name of a "prophet" who robbed the cradle, committed puligamy, and robbed and murdered his way to fame.
Islam, the "Religion of Peace"....or is that "Follow Allah and be Blown to Pieces"?
If you aren't serious now about the problem, either you will be after reading these books or there's no hope for you.
Book Review: Best analysis, even if you don't always like his conclusions..
Summary: 5 Stars
This guy knows what he's talking about. His judgment has been proven right by subsequent events. I don't always like his alternatives, especially when it comes to killing "the enemy" - when we are the invaders we have no right to go around killing anyone. But he's dead on -pardon the pun - in his analysis of the various players and how they interact in this morbid game. And he's free from an agenda of his own.Book Review: Analysis pretty imprecise
Summary: 2 Stars
Mr. Scheuer gives a simplistic portrayal of Islam and his analysis for why Islam motivates extremists like UBL and others is likewise lacking in depth. He comments at the beginning of the book indicate that he views Muslims as inherently "hyper-religious" (even more than evangelical Christians, apparently!) and because of this, they are more motivated to go to the extreme and kill those who they perceive are threatining Islam. This is a wrong analysis and suprising coming from someone who was an analyst for such a long time. Muslims are not more "religious" than any other orthodox adherents to a religion- this should be obvious if Scheuer has ever met a religious person. Moreover, Mr. Scheuer bases his view of Muslims and motivations for Islamic insurgency on the analysis of Dr. Bernard Lewis and Daniel Pipes. These two are perhaps the most extreme in their views that something in the Muslim "psyche" (whatever that is) tends toward violence. Granted, Dr. Lewis is well educated in Islamic history and the Arabic language, but he is not the only one with an opinion on the present crisis. Where were the sources from John Esposito, Carl Ernst, and others who are equally well versed in this history yet hold different views that would have made Mr. Scheuer's analysis much more comprehensive and less biased?
The one thing that Mr. Scheuer gets right (and what he repeats over and over in this book) is that American policies in the Muslim world motivate Islamic extremists. I wish he would have done research on the historical points though. His list of American policies and their effect on countries like Afghanistan and Iraq are insufficient and barely give the history behind these events. I recognize that this is not an academic book, but surely Mr. Scheuer can do better than this.
If you want a book that gives on the ground insight into the struggle against insurgency, please read Robert Baer's "See No Evil". Mr. Baer has personal experience in the ME and is in a much better position to analyze insurgents' motivations and critique U.S. response than Mr. Scheuer.
Book Review: Very sad but accurate predictions
Summary: 5 Stars
I read this book in the fall of 2004, shortly after coming back from a mobilization of my National Guard unit. My unit went to Baghdad and I stayed behind, as we were overstrength at my duty position. I was anxious to go and make a contribution and thought I would have to wait several years. My concerns were ill founded, I am currently deployed and can see no end is sight in the near future for more deployments for myself and the rest of the Army. After reading this book and seeing the accuracy of his predictions on the resurgence of the Taliban and jihadist fervor in general coming true, I agree that until we take proactive stances on the issues he illuminates, we will be sending troops overseas for many years. Book Review: Intelligent and Truthful
Summary: 4 Stars
It was a pleasure to read a book that didn't have the party line but the truth as its guiding light. It now becomes apparent why we ARE losing the war on terror and where we went wrong.
Excellent reading!