No comments about The 911 Commission Report Executive Summary.

2 comments about Collusion: International Espionage and the War on Terror.

1. This is a book written by a couple of Italian investigative reporters and deals with the 'intelligence' operations related to the Iraq war. Even after reading the book (and some others) I'm not so sure that we really know what was going on. This book starts with a discussion with Hans Blix. Dr. Blix is reported to be very bitter and angry and has accused the U.S. and British governments of over dramatizing the threat of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
   
   
   
   On the other hand Kenneth Pollack, a member of Clinton's administration says in the Atlantic Monthly: 'Israel, Russia, Britain, China, and even France held positions similar to that of the United States' Dr. Particia Lewis, a Ph.D. physicist working for the UN says: 'It was not just the intelligence agencies of the UK and US that had misjudged the extent of the WMD programmes in Iraq in 2002-2003. Independent analysts all over the world had similar assumptions, including those in the United Nations.'
   
   
   
   Maybe we will find out what really happened in ten or twenty years, on the other hand it's been 40+ years and we still argue about the Kennedy assassination.
   
   
   
   There are a lot of things about the CIA and Italian intelligence agencies that make them look like something out of a Pink Panther movie. I hope they are better than that.
   
   
   
   The book says that there have been secret meetings between Iran and the US taking place in Milan. If so, I think that's good. Talking is certainly better than fighting.
   
   
   
   All in all, a fascinating book that brings up a lot of new points. I just don't know if I believe it or not.



2. Very well written account of the 2003 state of the union infamous `sixteen words' from an Italian reporter's perspective. Nice to know that our intelligence agencies aren't the only bozos in the world

1 comments about Get 'Em All! Kill 'Em!: Genocide, Terrorism, Righteous Communities.

1. 
   Bruce Wilshire's Get 'Em All! Kill 'Em! is a searching examination of terrorism and genocide. Wilshire resists the easy supposition that such horrendous acts arise simply out of "human nature." He opts instead for an explanation in terms of the search for immortality, the identification of the individual with the group and the terror of seeing that group's world undermined. In a non-linear series of reflections, Wilshire explores some of the deepest recesses of the human mind, disabusing us of the illusion that awful things "cannot happen here."
   
   This is philosophy that matters: soaring thought on a vital topic expressed in an accessible, elegant style. Not everyone will agree with Wilshire's understanding of genocide, but everyone needs to be familiar with it. Wilshire is one of a vanishing breed of public intellectuals who addresses the mind of our community and appeals to its conscience. Must reading.
   
   Reviewed by: John Lachs, Centennial Professor of Philosophy in Vanderbilt University
   
   Posted by: M. Brodrick, Graduate Assistant

5 comments about Masterminds of Terror: The Truth Behind the Most Devastating Attack The World Has Ever Seen.

1. This book gives the reader much insight into the leaders of the terrorist organization, al Qaeda, that planned September 11th. Additionally, the information has been gleaned by al Jazeera, and they seem to present information not previously published in the US. Unfortunately, for me at least, the book is tainted by the authors obvious disdain for the US and its politics. Also, he has the tendency to write rather glowingly of the criminals who hijacked the planes on 9/11. If the obvious slant of the book was left out, the book would have been great due to the new information it presented. However, I could never look past the bashing of the US which seems to flavor virtually all of the authors comments.



2. The information in this book comes straight from the lion's mouth. All the facts of the Al-qaida organization running up to 9-11: names, places, events, funding, coordination. It will open your eyes in many ways, from the simplicity of the organization at that time to which governments where paying for it (one which is currently conseidered an "ally"). This book should be the starting point for anyone interested in the truth behind 9-11.



3. I have a copy of this book which I bought last year and I am not looking to sell. By sheer conincidence, a lecturer on my journalism course at University managed to lure Yosri Fouda to a speak at a guest lecture in England in December 2004. I was lucky enough to meet Fouda and have my copy signed by him.
   
   Sitting through that enthralling lecture, you would see that Fouda is an intelligent, unobjective individual. He was quick to emphasize keenly that night how much he loved America and how much his friends loved America too. I just wish to say, I personally have nothing against American citizens, just the president. In short, I would recommend Noam Chomsky's articles to you, and you will see the whole picture.



4. This is a fine piece of journalism. There is more here than the "scoop" of Ramzi Binalshibh and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed taking credit for 9/11. There is a lot of fascinating stuff about ISI (Pakistani intelligence) playing both sides of the street. In particular, the book spells out the relationship between ISI and Omar Sheikh, who spilled the beans on ISI's funding of an al-Qaeda satellite group. This is the story Daniel Pearl was working on. The editor of Karachi's leading paper was forced to flee the country after he published Omar Sheikh's story.
   
   And, do not forget to read the second appendix - a statement by al Qaeda, dating from somewhere between mid-September 2001 and April 2002. A diatribe against the U.S. ends with an appeal to Allah: "We ask Him to chastise their state, make the earth quake under their feet, defeat them, and..."
   
   Though we have suffered devastating hurricanes (gleefully welcomed by Pat Robertson) and tornadoes roaring across Christian County, Kentucky, the earth really quaked under their feet in northern Pakistan. The Tsunami, of course, chastised the Islamic fundamentalists in Aceh. Perhaps God is trying to tell us he wants a secular world? After all, he sent Jesus to us with an appeal for a separation between Church and State. Remember, "render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's, render unto God that which is God's."



5. "Masterminds of Terror" is a compelling account of the planning and execution of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. It is written by Al-Jazeera journalist Yosri Fouda with the help of British journalist Nick Fielding. What makes this an interesting work is that it is written by an Arab Muslim, and it essentially supports the "official" version of events espoused by the US government. With so many conspiracy theories surrounding the attacks-mostly accusing our own government of being involved-this book enforces the view that al-qaeda, and al-qaeda alone carried out the attacks. What makes this work even more interesting is the fact that Mr. Fouda met and interviewed the principal planners of the attacks, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, and Ramzi Binalshibh.
   
   Working in London in April 2002, Yosri Fouda was contacted by an al-qaeda representative requesting a meeting. With the first anniversary of the attacks approaching, al-qaeda wanted to air it's justifications of the "Holy Tuesday Operation." With all the conspiracy theories floating around, it seems that al-qaeda was concerned about "attempts to strip the brothers of their credit." This led to a meeting in Karachi, Pakistan between Fouda and none other than Mohammed and Binalshibh. Not only did they admit their role in the attacks, but they provided detailed information of how and why they did it. The book also goes into detail about the 19 hijackers, Osama Bin Laden, and Khalid Shaikh Mohammed's extensive career in the terrorism business. While much of the information in this book has been published elsewhere, Fouda's up-close and personal acquaintance with these "Masterminds of Terror" make this an original and valuable contribution to the works about 9/11.

1 comments about Good Cops: The Case for Preventive Policing.

1. David Harris, a University of Toledo Professor of Law, has made a significant contribution to the literature on policing in his book Good Cops. Harris' Preventive Policing may well be the bridge between Community Oriented Policing model of the 1990s and the yet jelled Homeland Security Policing model of the post 9/11 era.
   
   The Preventive Policing model's concepts are summarized at page 131 of his book, where he writes:
   Strong, active, committed leadership as absolutely critical to the success of preventive policing. The core concepts of preventive policing-partnership with citizens based on trust, becoming proactive problem solvers instead of responders and establishing accountability - all represent fundamental breaks with the long-held beliefs and traditions if law enforcement going back well into the twentieth century.
   
   Harris' book is broad in scope, and he weaves comments upon almost all the current controversies in modern policing from the PATRIOT Act and Consent Decrees to partnerships with federal authorities to enforce immigration law and the racial profiling controversy to name just a few.
   
   The book's nine chapters are subdivided into three sections - The Theory Behind Preventive Policing, Preventive Policing in Action and The Future of Policing. His approach is to blend theory and commentary with vignettes from several cases (from Pittsburgh to Providence, with Boston, Los Angeles, New York, Detroit thrown in for good measure) to buttress his argument that there are successful alternatives to current practice. However, with more than 18,000 law enforcement agencies nation-wide establishing the "norm" or "current practice" is no small task.
   
   A skilled and trained advocate, he uses his talents fully to make his argument. However, his frequent and repetitive attacks on what he refers to "Ashcroft Policing" quickly become tiresome. Harris maintains that Ashcroft and the Department of Justice have initiated a domestic response to terrorism that undermines the hard won progress realized through community policing nationwide and in his words Ashcroft's efforts are in
   ". . . precisely the wrong direction".
   
   Although you may not agree with some or most of his points, his book is well written and logical in presentation. It is an interesting argument from an advocate of community policing. Time will tell if his "preventive policing model" has an enduring impact on the nation's police departments.

No comments about The USA Patriot Act.

No comments about The West at War: U.S. and European Counterterrorism Efforts Post-September 11.

2 comments about The Terrorism Reader.

1. The book takes a fundimental look at the origins and the philosophy of terrorism from ancient times to 1987. It needs to be updated to include the changes of various terrorist organizations and their philosophies to include the use of violence/terror by enviromentalist. Excellent Bibliography for endepth studies and epanded research on the topic of terrorism. Drawback: Dated information



2. ...or Freedom fighter? A must read for anyone interested in the evolution of 20th century incidents. TR provides an in-depth look at 19th century writings and how some manifestos have been integrated into today's environment. A good investment for those in AT circles.

1 comments about Death of a Hero: Captain Robert Nairac, Gc and the Undercover War in Northern Ireland.

1. This book does a good job of reporting the interagency turf wars in Ulster, which bear an uncomfortable resemblance to the blue--on--blue "mine is bigger than yours" squabbles described in Yves Lavigne's <<81's at War>>, Carsten Stroud's <>, all of Dick Marcinko's novels, and the last chapter of Colonel David Hackworth's <> The essential difference is that Ulster had in Bob Nairac and Ian Phoenix unique heroes of a character and charisma powerful enough to infect others with their overwhelming sense of mission, which was powerful enough to at least temporarily diminish the petty internicine chicanery.

   This book also exposes the backgrounds of the little darlings of the First Tuesday newsmagazine segment which, CNN "Valley of Death" style, accused British Intelligence of complicity in the 1974 Dublin/Monaghan bombings. Holroyd is revealed to be a heavy drinker with marital problems, a Walter Mitty wannabe despised by everyone with whom he worked. Colin Wallace is revealed to be a jealous husband convicted of manslaughter, a fact not at all surprising given the murderous gleam in his eyes and the cold, hard expression, completely devoid of human empathy, on his face during the First Tuesday interview. The much maligned Bob Nairac, by contrast, was very well liked by his co-workers, who seem to genuinely mourn his loss. The author demolishes Holroyd and Wallace's credibility by pointing out the patent falsehood of their assertions that Bob Nairac "was SAS."

   These revelations, however, are unfortunately eclipsed by the horrible style of the author. Every page is packed with run-on sentences and sentence fragments that go nowhere.In other places, it seems that the author simply transcribed each interview he did, word for word, when a lot of them are saying the exact same thing. It would have been far more effective (and palatable to the reader) if the author had instead written what was unique about each interview, and then connected each account by saying "In this regard, Source X is corraborated by Source Y, who also states..." The net effect is that a highly attractive story comes out like a textbook on analytic geometry or organic chemistry; you have to re-read four-fifths of the sentences multiple times before they begin to make any semblance of sense. I cannot speak for the UK, but in North America, such bad writing would merit an F minus, if it were submitted as a kindergarden writing assignment.

   The information in this book is extremely important, not only to the Ulster conflict, but to any in law enforcement and anti-terrorism who want to cooperate effectively with other agencies with the aim of effectively neutralising the tangos. It is therefore a tragedy that Yves Lavigne, Carsten Stroud or Jack Holland did not do the writing.

No comments about Blood and Rage: The Story of the Japanese Red Army (Issues in Low-Intensity Conflict Series.).