5 comments about The Politically Incorrect Guide(tm) to Islam (and the Crusades) (Politically Incorrect Guides).

1. Zahra Maladan is an educated woman who edits a women's magazine in Lebanon. She is also a mother, who undoubtedly loves her son. She has ambitions for him, but they are different from those of most mothers in the West. She wants her son to become a suicide bomber.
   
   
   At the recent funeral for the assassinated Hezbollah terrorist Imad Moughnaya -- the mass murderer responsible for killing 241 marines in 1983 and more than 100 women, children and men in Buenos Aires in 1992 and 1994 -- Ms. Maladan was quoted in the New York Times giving the following warning to her son: "if you're not going to follow the steps of the Islamic resistance martyrs, then I don't want you."
   [Worshippers of Death]
   
   Zahra Maladan represents a dramatic shift in the way we must fight to protect our citizens against enemies who are sworn to kill them by killing themselves. The traditional paradigm was that mothers who love their children want them to live in peace, marry and produce grandchildren. Women in general, and mothers in particular, were seen as a counterweight to male belligerence. The picture of the mother weeping as her son is led off to battle -- even a just battle -- has been a constant and powerful image.
   
   Now there is a new image of mothers urging their children to die, and then celebrating the martyrdom of their suicidal sons and daughters by distributing sweets and singing wedding songs. More and more young women -- some married with infant children -- are strapping bombs to their (sometimes pregnant) bellies, because they have been taught to love death rather than life. Look at what is being preached by some influential Islamic leaders:
   
   "We are going to win, because they love life and we love death," said Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah. He has also said: "[E]ach of us lives his days and nights hoping more than anything to be killed for the sake of Allah." Shortly after 9/11, Osama bin Laden told a reporter: "We love death. The U.S. loves life. That is the big difference between us."
   
   "The Americans love Pepsi-Cola, we love death," explained Afghani al Qaeda operative Maulana Inyadullah. Sheik Feiz Mohammed, leader of the Global Islamic Youth Center in Sydney, Australia, preached: "We want to have children and offer them as soldiers defending Islam. Teach them this: There is nothing more beloved to me than wanting to die as a mujahid." Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a speech: "It is the zenith of honor for a man, a young person, boy or girl, to be prepared to sacrifice his life in order to serve the interests of his nation and his religion."
   
   How should Western democracies fight against an enemy whose leaders preach a preference for death?
   
   The two basic premises of conventional warfare have long been that soldiers and civilians prefer living to dying and can thus be deterred from killing by the fear of being killed; and that combatants (soldiers) can easily be distinguished from noncombatants (women, children, the elderly, the infirm and other ordinary citizens). These premises are being challenged by women like Zahra Maladan. Neither she nor her son -- if he listens to his mother -- can be deterred from killing by the fear of being killed. They must be prevented from succeeding in their ghoulish quest for martyrdom. Prevention, however, carries a high risk of error. The woman walking toward the group of soldiers or civilians might well be an innocent civilian. A moment's hesitation may cost innocent lives. But a failure to hesitate may also have a price.
   
   Late last month, a young female bomber was shot as she approached some shops in central Baghdad. The Iraqi soldier who drew his gun hesitated as the bomber, hands raised, insisted that she wasn't armed. The soldier and a shop owner finally opened fire as she dashed for the stores; she was knocked to the ground but still managed to detonate the bomb, killing three and wounding eight. Had the soldier and other bystanders not called out a warning to others -- and had they not shot her before she could enter the shops -- the death toll certainly would have been higher. Had he not hesitated, it might have been lower.
   
   As more women and children are recruited by their mothers and their religious leaders to become suicide bombers, more women and children will be shot at -- some mistakenly. That too is part of the grand plan of our enemies. They want us to kill their civilians, who they also consider martyrs, because when we accidentally kill a civilian, they win in the court of public opinion. One Western diplomat called this the "harsh arithmetic of pain," whereby civilian casualties on both sides "play in their favor." Democracies lose, both politically and emotionally, when they kill civilians, even inadvertently. As Golda Meir once put it: "We can perhaps someday forgive you for killing our children, but we cannot forgive you for making us kill your children."
   
   Civilian casualties also increase when terrorists operate from within civilian enclaves and hide behind human shields. This relatively new phenomenon undercuts the second basic premise of conventional warfare: Combatants can easily be distinguished from noncombatants. Has Zahra Maladan become a combatant by urging her son to blow himself up? Have the religious leaders who preach a culture of death lost their status as noncombatants? What about "civilians" who willingly allow themselves to be used as human shields? Or their homes as launching pads for terrorist rockets?
   
   The traditional sharp distinction between soldiers in uniform and civilians in nonmilitary garb has given way to a continuum. At the more civilian end are babies and true noncombatants; at the more military end are the religious leaders who incite mass murder; in the middle are ordinary citizens who facilitate, finance or encourage terrorism. There are no hard and fast lines of demarcation, and mistakes are inevitable -- as the terrorists well understand.
   
   We need new rules, strategies and tactics to deal effectively and fairly with these dangerous new realities. We cannot simply wait until the son of Zahra Maladan -- and the sons and daughters of hundreds of others like her -- decide to follow his mother's demand. We must stop them before they export their sick and dangerous culture of death to our shores.



2. Got it fast and in excellent condition! Very direct and concise. I haven't finished reading it yet, but so far the facts presented have checked out against other sources. Highly recomend both this title and this seller.



3. A backwards deathcult that wants to enslave others, defile and kill,rape, tourture non believers? Founded by a child molester/rapist?
   
   The truth will set you free.....



4. "The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades)" by Robert Spencer is a non-fiction book in which he dispels commonly held myths about the `peaceful' nature of Islam. He establishes that Muhammad was a thief and a killer, and founded his religion on these principals (The Battle of Badr, pg. 7 and pg. 9). It then goes on to tell about what the Qur'an really says about being a warrior religion (Three Choices, pg. 35 and pg 41), about Muslim's intolerance of other religions (all of chapter 4) about women being decidedly subordinate to their husbands (chapter 5). It concludes part one with how it is a Muslim's duty to make the world a one religion planet. Part two covers what Mr. Spencer perceives as myths about what the Crusades were and weren't. Mostly he believes it was campaigns to avenge and protect Christian Europe against the invading Muslim marauders. And finally Robert Spencer explains how Jihad is more than just the war in Iraq, but also a subtle immigration movement to infiltrate America and Europe from the inside.
   
   No doubt about it, if the above synopsis offends you, then this book is most certainly not for you. To those it does appeal to it serve as a warning and a wake-up call; that we should be very weary of the reverse discrimination that is slowly filtering through our society. Spencer describes how the many crimes that should be classified as terrorism is not out of fear. What fear you ask? Fear of being labeled racist. Fear of retaliation by Muslims. And fear of alienating oil rich nations, whom some U.S. businessmen and politicians have a very lucrative oil deals with.
   
   So, what do I think? I admit that I do not have a lot of experience with the Islam faith, and have not studied it much. The only significant experience I had with Islam was when I was deployed to the Middle East with the Army (make of that what you will). So I do not know about any kind of counter argument you can make. But based on this book I must admit, I now have something interesting (and a little scary) to think over now.



5. An eye opening book that led me to other books on the subject. Highly recommended.

5 comments about While Europe Slept: How Radical Islam is Destroying the West from Within.

1. I haven't even finished reading this book but I know that it is true as I have lived in Saudi Arabia and I am quite familiar with Islam. Hurry to the bookstore and buy this book, then read it and pass it on. Christian Scriptures warn us of the Anti-Christ and Muhammad is it. Muhammad's words are filled with hate, not love as Jesus taught. Muhammad teaches that all Jews, Christians and all others who will not accept Muahmmad as the prophet should be killed or pay tax to the Muslim government. I suggest reading Religion of Peace Why Christinaity Is and Islam Isn't by Robert Spencer. The Western world is in great danger and we must either stop these racical Muslims or die by their hand.
   Wake up America! PLEASE! The greatest wars are religious wars. We have fought them before and must do so again. In light of what is going on, President Bush is not far wrong to fight the jihad. History will tell.



2. There are so many 5 star excellent reviews of this book I will only say I agree and read it!



3. As noted by other reviewers, this book does not present an unassailable case fortified by careful documentation. But if you don't expect it to, you'll get two excellent books in one: the personal story of a man who gains new appreciation for America's character after losing his idealized vision of European life in the course of actually living there, and a sweeping indictment of the political correctness and specious pacifism that could allow radical Islam to eclipse Western civilization on the European front.
   
   What makes Bawer's account compelling is not any claim on his part to be authoritative, but specifically the risk to his own person and the challenge to his beliefs and stereotypes that his experiences represented. Quit arguing with his approach long enough to stand in his shoes and you'll be alarmed, I'm certain.
   
   For Muslims offended by his take on Islam, I can sympathize. I often feel the same way when, as an evangelical Christian, I am lumped in with abortion clinic bombers and Fred Phelps. I am EAGER to denounce their behavior without equivocation and stand against them at every opportunity. That's all you can do with radicals (secular or religious) with a taste for hate and violence, because they must be vigorously opposed.



4. This book raises very important issues facing Europe and the West and its confrontation with forces of radical Islam. Having lived extensively in Denmark, I have seen first-hand the "culture clash" that is going on there.
   
   But this book -- although certainly engaging -- is extremely disappointing and flawed.
   
   First: argument by anecdote. Time after time after time the author uses some powerful anecdote, and then draws major sociological conclusions from it. But this is no way to make generalizations about the social world.
   
   Second: watch how he perpetually uses the term "many." He will profile some random Muslim immigrant who is clearly exploiting the welfare system in Norway, and then the author will conclude by saying: "many others do this." But what exactly is "many"? 5? 15? 500? 5,000? And what percentage of Muslims cheats the system: 5%? 25%? The author never tells us because this actually isn't a work of social science at all. It is an anecdotal rant. The only "facts" are what the author happens to personally experience or think.
   
   Third: the author often has a given conversation in a restaurant, and then extrapolates that what he hears is somehow indicative of what all Europeans think. Someone says something negative about America in France -- and viola, all French people feel this way. Someone says something anti-Jewish in Norway, and viola -- all Norwegians feel this way...etc..this method of argumentation is constant throughout the book. It is atrocious social science.
   
   Fourth: the author argues that if Europeans elect left-wing political parties who are against the American occupation of Iraq, they somehow are "for the terrorists." Please. One can be both against the immoral and bogus occupation of Iraq and still hate the evil terrorists.
   
   
   Fifth: the author's rosy-colored view of Americans is borderline absurd. He argues that Americans love immigrants and that "Americans can generally accept almost anyone from anywhere as a fellow American." Is this guy on crack? He clearly has no clue about the current anti-immigrant movement in America, nor the struggles that Asians and African Americans have endured for hundreds of years to be seen as truly and fully American. Well again, this is just a personal rant -- so facts don't really matter.
   
   Granted, it is true that certain Muslims are homophobic, anti-Semitic, violent, intolerant of democracy and secular values -- and to deny or ignore this is indeed blind. But this book provides very little helpful insight or sociological analysis concerning these matters.
   
   Ultimately, this is a very angry and provocative book written by a fearful author who had plenty of time to rant, but not enough time engage in reasonable, intelligent, or fact-based social science.
   
   Enjoy!



5. Solely as a recitation of recent events in Europe that are under-reported in Europe and the US, this is a must read. Bawer is a journalist who spent quite a bit of time living, working, and traveling in Europe, and his insight into how real events are morphed as they find their way into the evening news or morning paper can help one make sense of what's going on in Europe, the UK, and the US.
   
   This is not an academic excercise in "what's wrong with Europe". For that, perhaps try Weigel's "The Cube and the Cathedral".

5 comments about The Autobiography of Malcolm X : As Told to Alex Haley.

1. Not only one of the best autobiographies I have ever read, but one of the best books also. Malcolm X had a phenomenal life story to tell and we are lucky that he got it down before he died.



2. Without question The Autobiography of Malcom X as told to Alex Haley is an amazing educational experience and one of the best books I have ever read. I quickly became engrossed in this life story of such a strong, intelligent, and influential man--truly a person to be admired and celebrated for his ability to rise above his "past life", as well as his commitment to a better future for the people of our country. How lucky we are to have the opportunity to meet Malcom on a very personal level through his own words and to reassess our perceptions of him and his work.



3. The Autobiography of Malcolm X is, amongst many considered to be one of the defining autobiographical masterpieces in recent literary history. The story of Malcolm X is a very dramatic and awe inspiring one, from being a drug pushing pimp to being one of the biggest and most well known religious civil rights leaders of the 20th Century.
   
   Alex Haley a well known writer with his best known work being the novel Roots which became a very popular TV mini-series. Haley became the writer of the Autobiography of Malcolm X simply as a job and he started off with Malcolm as just a guy who was writing his life story, but through the time he spent with Malcolm he became on of Malcolms closest and most trusted friends.
   
   Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little in Omaha Nebraska to Earl and Louise Helen. His father Earl was a preacher who was killed by Klansmen while Malcolm was very young, which destroyed his mothers mental stability leaving him and his brothers and sisters to fend for themselves. Malcolm grew up to become a very successful pimp and drug pusher which he was forced into to survive. Malcolm was eventually arrested along with his friend shorty and charged for multiple burglaries and sent to prison.
   During his time in prison he discovers the gift of knowledge and through letters from his brother he learns about the Nation of Islam which was created by the Prophet Elijah Muhammad as a way to seperate the black man from the shackles of the white man and have them rise above the discrimination.
   
   That's all of the story I think I really have to give you to give you an idea of how special this book really is. The story of Malcolm X gave me my interest in the religion of Islam and how it can change a person's life for the better. This story made my life a better one simply through the idea that no matter how bad your situation, you can pull yourself up to be the best that you can be.
   
   Buy this book, I promise you wont be the least bit disappointed.



4. The incredible journey of Malcom X is documented artfully in this classic genre-bending autobiography by Malcom X and Alex Haley. Anyone reading it, must marvel at the transformation of this human being, at the will, vision, discipline and bravery that is as rare and fleeting as Haley's Comet. Like King, Malcom X became way too powerful a figure for this country and its times and so he was murdered, assasinated.
   
   The United States recruited among the black community for years, hiring snitchers, killers, theives among the desperate underclass. MX was not murdered by the Nation of Islam...alone.
   
   The story of the liberation of black people in this country is an incredible one, multifaceted, multi-driven, complex. No foreign country came to rescue us--we were either going to press our case or continue to live as wretched animals.



5. Even though i didnt enjoy being referred to as a white blue eyed devil every other paragraph. This book made me think and challenged me to treat my fellow man better. After reading about malcolms childhood and how he grew up i can now understand his bitterness and why he fought so hard for equality. I now see why time magazine voted it one of the best books of the century.

5 comments about Who Speaks For Islam?: What a Billion Muslims Really Think.

1. I purchased this book well aware of the articles the authors had already written about their findings. The articles would not give details of the poll results, and I had hoped to see the raw data in an appendix of the book. Unfortunately, this was not the case.
   
   This is not a book of scientific fact; it is an opinion piece masquerading as science. When the authors say that only 7% of Muslims worldwide consider the 9/11 attacks "completely" justified they do not say how many consider the attacks "somewhat" or "mostly" justified. Then, the authors go on to label the 93% who may or may not consider the 9/11 attacks somewhat or mostly justified to be "moderates". This is absurd, and it appears that the reason that the authors do not release the raw data is because they realize that the detailed poll findings would not conform to the spin that they decided to clothe their results in.
   
   An apparent example of question bias: the pollsters asked Muslims their opinion of democracy, and found that the "radicals" were more in favor of democracy than the "moderates." However, they do not illuminate these findings by asking questions about Western values like freedom of the press or freedom of religion, things that Westerners would associate with democracy but that Muslims may not. Could it be that the radicals are pro-"democracy" because they want to use democratic methods to establish a sharia state? The authors do not go down that path.
   
   Most polls will show how the questions are phrased, the order of the questions, and the demographic breakdown of the respondents. This book does no such thing. As such, it is worthless propaganda, and raises far more questions than it answers. My opinion of the Gallup organization has gone down considerably to promote such propaganda as if the authors opinions are proven by a scientific poll.



2. I took a look at this book in my school's bookstore expecting one of two extremes, either all Muslims are radicals or all Muslims are pacifists, but hoping for a balanced, unbiased report on the truth. Unfortunately, what we have here is an 'extreme' piece, one that claims the majority of Muslims are peaceful people who wish no harm to others. While I would love to believe this, I find it incredibly hard to when presented with the facts. Every poll released shows a majority view believing the west is wrong, that it is justified to murder innocent civilians, and that Islamic law should govern. Another propaganda piece to throw in the garbage. By that I mean get my money back on.



3. Based upon a Gallup Poll of thousands of Muslims living all over the world, this poll claims a confidence rating of 95%. It shows Muslims as strongly condemning the 9/11 attacks, as valuing rights, democracy, and many of the same things as Westerners also value. An easy read, it may help clear up tragic misperceptions about the Islamic religion. John Esposito and Dalia Mogahed have fine credentials, and bring to even the beginning reader a picture of what Muslims really want - the right to practice their religion, freedom, democracy, and prosperity. While there are radical Muslims in the world, the survey indicates that voiced support for the 9/11 attacks amongst Muslims is only 7%, and only a fraction of these are actually committed to violent acts. It is a refreshing reminder that Muslim people and their values are not intrinsically different or alien from Christians in the West



4. In a time of growing animosity between the West(Christianity) and Muslims world wide(Islam),this book provide us with a balanced approach to understand 'what a billion Muslims Really Think'. Most people belonging to the Christian way of life either have no interest in the Muslim way of life or have an extremely biased view of their perspectives. Ignorance and propaganda feed indignation, and indignant people will become more lenient towards subversive forces.This book should form part of prescribed literature in schools and colleges if we are serious to prevent extremism, creating a fair society and honest communication bridging the void.



5. This book nose-dived to a three and even a two as I was confronted with what appeared to be a Saudi-USA sponsored propaganda piece that did not properly consider India (largest Muslim population after Indonesia) and that addressed what Muslims thought without being explicit about US misbehavior, what I think of as Dick "Not the Virgin" Cheney's "immaculate conception" of the most amoral, costly, and destructive global war in our history. Bless him--had he not taken the Republic over a cliff and into insolvency, the two thirds of the voters who have tuned out the two party spoils system ("you pay, we'll make it legal to steal") would not be coming back into 2008 steaming mad and with both feet.
   
   However, I persisted, and ultimately this book settled at a four. What I found was a series of offerings that allow this book to be a very fine "Muslim 101 Lite" for the general public. I totally admire the reviewer that has listed more in-depth works for consideration and have urged him to edit the review to use the Amazon feature that allows links to the pages for each of those books.
   
   I also detect a real disconnect in that the book lists all Muslim countries up front, but the fine print says the survey only covered the 10 predominantly Muslim countries, and that list specifically excludes India, which has the second largest Muslim population after Indonesia, and in my mind that discredits the study by perhaps 20%.
   
   Highlight provided early on by the authors:
   
   + Muslims do not see West as monolithic (and also see distinctions between Americans, America, US Government, US military, and the bellicose presence of US forces in their countries). I found this also in a Strategic Communication survey across the 27 countries in the US Central Command Area
   
   + Muslim majority, and especially women, want jobs, development, opportunity, not jihad and certainly not US occupation or corruption
   
   + Muslim silent majority rejects attacks on civilians (but I would say the book does not do as well as it could on showing that they also feel USA "deserved" 9-11--regardless of let it happen or made it happen allegations). Today the USS Cole belligerents got a free pass and we are reminded that it was Bill Clinton that took Madeline Albright's advice to ignore the attacks on Khobar Towers (Iran), two Embassies (al-Qaeda?) and the USS Cole (al-Qaeda?).
   
   + Religious moderates are in the majority, consider democracy a FOREIGN concept, and look to find ways to accommodate faith, family, and state without their being exclusive or compartmented. One could even say moderate Muslims are pre-disposed to be holistic!
   
   + The one thing the West could do to improve relations with Muslims is to show more respect and press for more understanding (in both directions).
   
   + Majority favor religious law as a source of legislation, but do not want clerics to have a direct role in drafting the constitution (I am reminded of how Israel went too far toward extremism when it yielded to its religious extremists--and of course Israel used the tactic of terrorism against the British to good effect, and ignored Gandhi's observation that "Palestine is to the Palestinians as France is to the French.")
   
   + My valuation of this book takes a definite leap upwards as I appreciate three facts that come together:
   
   - Within the limits of prostitution toward those who pay their bills, the Gallup book does a good job--but I have BLAND in one section--of raising hard truths that those in power have no interest in, but could be helpful to voters.
   
   - Each section has little gray boxes worth a look.
   
   - Each section ends with key points summarized.
   
   + The book ultimately loses one star because it does not cite many books for context and when it does, tends to go with the discredited Fukiyama and the discredited Blair. This is an undergraduate reading that needs several more layers of study, and hence I recommend the other books suggested by an earlier reviewer.
   
   + I am totally absorbed by the book's account of how the Pope, with the best of intentions and relying on his top "experts," made many mistakes in his speech attempting to reconcile with Islam, and was so told by over 100 Muslim scholars. This drives home both the limits of experts embedded with any leadership figure, and the importance of multicultural appreciative inquiry. The three candidates for President of the USA today are out of touch with citizens and out of touch with reality because they are giving stump speeches instead of leading nation-wide conversations on the ten high level threats to humanity outlined in A More Secure World: Our Shared Responsibility--Report of the Secretary-General's High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change and the twelve policies that must be recovered from the special interests that hijacked them to steal from the many for the benefit of the few. See also The Global Class War: How America's Bipartisan Elite Lost Our Future - and What It Will Take to Win It Back
   
   + The book does cite Professor Pape's Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism and adds primary research to the effect that the radicalized are not poor or illiterate, but rather educated and moderately well-off. This was my own finding in 1976 when I did my first Master's thesis on the prediction of revolution. The book astounds me in noting that while only 7% of the Muslim population is radicalized, this number is NINETY ONE MILLION. The book also documents the plain fact that the primary motivation for suicidal terrorism is almost invariably FOREIGN OCCUPATION.
   
   + Page 84 lists the Muslim perceptions surveyed has of the USA, we learn that they are:
   
   - Ruthless (68%)
   
   - Scientifically & technologically advanced (68%)
   
   - Aggressive (66%)
   
   - Conceited (65%)
   
   - Morally decadent (64%)
   
   The book does a very good job of addressing how the civil rights conflict is closer to the Muslim-Christian-Jewish conflict, calling this a clash of cultures (to which I would add, a clash of economic corruption and predatory looting versus commonwealth exploitation by, of, and for indigenous peoples) and specifically discounting the clash of civilizations as the model. Readers interested in the whole question of belief systems can find the Technical Preface by Robert Garigue free online or at Information Operations: All Information, All Languages, All the Time.
   
   The book does well at portraying Muslims world-wide as feeling under siege from the USA, and concludes from its primary research that Muslim anger is based on US foreign policy and its effect on their own peace and development. This is not rocket science, but I assure you, Henry Kissinger, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Madeline Albright, Condi Rice, even Strobe Talbott--they are NEVER going to come to grips with the fact that US foreign policy today is lunatic, out of control, costly, and totally out of touch with how to wage peace at one third of the cost of war. See for example Breaking the Real Axis of Evil: How to Oust the World's Last Dictators by 2025
   
   The book ends on a note that suggests that both Muslims and Christians deeply want and need more erespect and understanding at a public diplomacy level, but the book is also quite specific in noting how US public diplomacy (and I would add, Strategic Communication) is completely out of touch with reality. You can no longer manufacture consent or use propaganda to mislead the majority of the world. As Joe Trippi points out, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised: Democracy, the Internet, and the Overthrow of Everything--Trippi is a genius, but I would note that we have moved one step beyond--cell phones, not the Internet, are the primary intellectual, emotional, cultural, and asymmetric warfare tool of choice today, one reason why the National Security Agency is freaking out--they cannot build a computer that weights next to nothing, runs on almost no energy, and can do petaflop calculations per second--the human brain (these are the last three words in Jim Bamford's book, Body of Secrets: Anatomy of the Ultra-Secret National Security Agency. US intelligence is "inside out and upside down" as I explained in Forbes ASAP, and desperately needs a draconian redirection of funding from the %60B we spend on the 4% we can steal, to rebalancing the use of all national powers and especially education, rule of law, and infrastructure here at home, and public diplomacy as well as open source or public intelligence that can exploit all information in all languages all the time.
   
   I liked the details on the survey that are included in the appendix.
   
   On balance, the book does a good job within the constraints of funding, US management, and the need to pander moderately to an Administration that has no regard for reality at the White House level (our flag officers and top civil servants and some political appointees such as the Secretary of Defense have rediscovered their integrity and are fighting a holding action for all of us here at home).
   
   I would like to see two new surveys: one of all the countries they missed, and one of India alone, ideally done in partnership with the government of India. I regard India, Malaysia, and Turkey as well as Indonesia as major success stories, and the US Government does not seem to be ready to recognize that these four countries can and should be major partners in offering peace and development instead of corruption, occupation, and exploitation, to all Muslims everywhere.
   
   Three other books within my limit of ten:
   Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: America, the Cold War, and the Roots of Terror
   The Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 (Vintage)
   Web of Deceit: The History of Western complicity in Iraq, from Churchill to Kennedy to George W. Bush

5 comments about The Truth About Muhammad: Founder of the World's Most Intolerant Religion.

1. This is the best of the books in recent years on Islam and Muhammad.
   
   Now, it's true that the entire world in the seventh century was very different from how it is today, and our post-black-plague view of the value of the individual, and our twentieth century experience thanks to medicine, that people just don't die often or young, is a set of experiences whose cause we take for granted. It was a brutal, ignorant and cruel world. So, we cannot look at Muhammad through today's eyes. He was a man of his place and time.
   
   While I'm at it, I don't think Spencer's opinions should be a suprise. Moses was an awful person, if what we've been able to piece together is true. Muhammad was far worse, and that evidence is far less difficult to validate. Jesus of Nazareth embraced poverty and motivated a peasantry to help topple the prosperity created by the order of the Roman empire and assisted in driving Europe into a millenium of darkness. Buddha, who gives comfort to millions, invented a godless religion to which his descendents added gods, myths and the punishments of hell - and doomed them to everlasting poverty.
   
   None of these people is someone to admire, and Muhammed the least admirable. If the only measure of a philosophy is the economic status of it's adherents, then all these people are essentially selling abdication of reason and effort in exchange for endemic poverty.
   
   Muhammed is just the most recent addition to the list and he is the most intolerant, antagonistic and viscious. It's too bad we can't have Zeus again - even if he was an awful god to worship. However, Spencer shows that what current voices of Islam state is not true. It is a religion of ignorance and violence because it's author was a man of ignorance and violence. And all violence is not equal in measure. Alexander's conquest was to bring something else altogether to the world, and had he lived and written his memoirs it would have perhaps been a better "book" to study than that of all the monotheists combined.
   
   Spencer does a wonderful job, especially in the first few chapters, of creating a human being we can all understand, and judge. And it is judge that we should.



2. New York Times bestselling author and Islam expert Robert Spencer offers an honest and telling portrait of the founder of Islam. This is not a politically-correct recounting of Mohammad's life and teachings.



3. If you only are able to buy one book about Muhammad -- buy this one. This book gives you an honest understanding of the man Muhammad and what his life and philosophies really were. This is not right wing propaganda -- it is a brief, but razor sharp depiction of the life of Muhammad from the texts of Islam, i.e. the Quran and Hadith. You won't find empty accusations and hysteria in this book, only solid factual stories of Muhammad's life, backed up by 17 pages of citations from Islamic sources.
   
   This book is chilling in it's frank explanations of the foundation of Islam. Spencer is very knowledgeable about Islam and the history of the religion as well as the details about the life of Muhammad from the very texts of Islam.
   
   There are plenty of books out there on Islam and the life of Muhammad, but none more rooted in the Islamic texts themselves. Some people may not like the truthfulness of this book but they won't be able to deny it unless they are willing to argue against the very foundation of Islam, the Quran and Hadith.
   
   It's a wakeup call that can't be refuted by anyone who is unwilling to deny the validity of the Quran. If you believe the Quran, you have no choice but to concede to truth about Muhammad in Spencer's book.
   
   Buy it. Make everyone you know read it. I bought multiple copies to give out to key people in my community and I recommend you all do the same.



4. Robert Spencer has pulled out all stops to expose the truth about Muhammad. This is not for the faint hearted or people living in denial or who belive that all is merry and wonderful (The 70+ reviewers that have derated this book). A must read for everyone who's interested in knowing more about Islamofacism and the threat it poses to the Western Democratic free societies. Robert Spencer does not sugar coat Muhammad's hatred of the Jews and the Christians. Spencer is a real sandblaster and it is evident from his extensive research of the religion. A Must Read!



5. Spencer's Book, The Truth About Mohammad, is essential reading for anyone who would like the truth about the Prophet. This is a book about how Mohammad developed Islam, from what Spencer states "convenient revelations". If the reader wants a clear understanding of the intentions of Muslim's who believe in the strickest form of Islam, this is the book to read. The reader will have a very different view of Islam, from what many claim to be the religion of compassion.

5 comments about The Faith Club: A Muslim, A Christian, A Jew-- Three Women Search for Understanding.

1. What could have been a wonderful book of three women of the three Abrahamic faiths discussing their religions and the issues that divide then and unite them never realizes it's potential. What are presented are three women of marginal religious observance who see their religions more as a cultural identity than real faith. A book with observant women discussing their everyday rituals and finding common and contrasting ideals in their lives would have made a more relevant read.
   We could have seen how Jewish and Islamic dietary laws make them feel closer to the divine will of God. We could learn how a Christian and Muslim witness to spread the word and how they have a common duty. I would love to see how three Observant and religious women discuss their roles and how they integrate their practices with modern life.
   I wanted to see three women discuss the relevant events of today, the Iraq war, Israel, and terrorism. How do three religious women come to terms with their differences on these difficult issues? How do there views differ from how three men might view the same events?
   What you get instead is three affluent women really discussing nothing of real substance. They really just discuss how they are spiritual and create a comfortable faith that is more about themselves than anything else.



2. The most striking features of this book are the authors' thought processes made manifest, with actual transcribed dialogue broken up by first-person narration, and theology made practical, with stories and teachings presented not in their entirety but in their relevance. I have not yet learned much in specific doctrine of any of the three faiths from this discussion, but I have envied the authors their trust in each other and in their own power to *search for* reason and understanding. There is pluralism out there -- go, if I may borrow from rabbi Hillel, and learn it.



3. How wonderful! Coming from the heart and very gutsy. We men can never do that. I loved the focus on the basic values that unite us as opposed to the differences that has caused so much hardships and wars over the centuries. You go girls!



4. This book is written in a way that helps the reader relate to each woman as an individual, while they blow away stereotypes about their respective religious groups. It demonstrates that getting to know each other, one on one, one at a time, really is the way to spread peace in the world. One poignant quote in the book (from a rabi): "Tolerance is too negative a word." We must do more than tolerate each other, we must appreciate, celebrate, and care about one another. And this book is a step in the right direction.



5. As Martin Luther King mentioned, religion is the most socially segregated dimension of our society. And after 9/11, three New York mothers of three different faiths worried that walls of silence between religious communities were a danger to their children's future. Hoping to promote some understanding by writing a book for children, these women introduced themselves and formed a committee. And near as I can tell, they never ended up writing the children's book. It's just that along the way they found something greater -- a live circle of friends where unstintingly open conversation became a process of self-discovery. As the Muslim woman of this trio, Ranya Idliby says,
   
   "We were breaking an unspoken social rule. We were talking about God and religion at a time when the stakes were high ... Our relationship was turning into something sacred, something we called our "Faith Club". We signed no official pact, but we lived by a certain code: honesty was the first rule of the Faith Club, and with that tenet as a foundation, no topic was off limits."
   
   I found this long running conversation surprisingly dramatic and seriously entertaining. I read it aloud with my wife, and it's better than TV. I came away suspecting that such networks of real friends are the most powerful force for security in the world. Not to mention what they can do for personal growth.

5 comments about Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil.

1. This book provides an excellent insight into the daily ups & downs for the women of Afghanistan. I was impressed that the author gave up her life and clients in America to live very differently in Kabul. My son was in Afghanistan for a year - I felt like I knew some of the places from his descriptions & photos. Very delightful book.



2. Well written, highly personal story of a wonderfully gregarious woman who tried to help Afghani women become more independent by teaching them hairdressing and how to set up beauty salons. She sounded as if she would make a social success wherever she went and her dedication is admirable.



3. First, let me say that the writing in this book is not bad - it's not great either, but it is readable. The content is a different story. The first chapter of this book describes how Debrorah saves her friend by tricking her friend's new husband (and everyone else in the family) into believing that her friend was a virgin when she got married. I spent the next 15 minutes leafing through the rest of the book, hoping to see that the friend had somehow escaped what was undoubtedly the death sentence that Deborah had committed her to when she published her book. Not getting any such assurance, I have been hoping since then that Deborah was lying through her teeth. I can not believe that anyone who knew fully well what would happen, could have been so irresponsible. Deborah comes across like Amazonian airhead - after all, she must be fairly muscular to collar a fully grown man when he groped her bottom and drag him across the street to a cop; and marrying a man who she knew absolutely nothing about can't be considered the wisest move in world. She is obviously very proud of being feisty and not standing for any nonsense, but she has an American passport and could (and did) get the hell out of Dodge when the going got rough. All those girls she "liberated" and then wrote about might not agree that their lives were worth the story she lived to tell.



4. It's worth reading if only for a view into cultural insensitivity and the lack of reflection that plagues our society. One can only marvel at Rodriguez' inability to reflect on the danger in which she places her former friends in Kabul by publishing this memoir. Her veracity is suspect in many passages (a solitary woman crossing the Hindu Kush without proper documents?)and the reader finds herself astonished at the author's refusal to reflect on how her beauty school perpetuates the subjugation of women in Afghanistan. Written in a folksy tone that only heightens her cloddish behavior, it's hard to be a patient reader.



5. I suggest this book to everyone. It was an amazing memoir that reads like a novel. You will see the country of Afghanistan in a new light. Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil

5 comments about The Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 (Vintage).

1. I have read extensively about Islamic terrorism and Al Qaeda and The Looming Tower is by far the most compelling and comprehensive book on this subject. It clearly lays out the social, philosophical and theological progression and foundations that led to 9/11. Though you may not agree, by the end of the book you clearly understand the radical extemist's rationale and the historic time line of the people and events that led to 9/11. Though it provides history, The Looming Tower reads like a novel which I could not put down. It is the seminal book on this subject.



2. A must read for any informed U.S. citizen. We all need to recommend it to our legislators for their reading..



3. wright prepared an excellent book. it's written as engagingly as a novel, but it is choke full of detail which has been corroborated. this was a fantastic page-turner. it did not provide the kind of detail that i sought regarding the actual attacks of 9/11, how individuals were trained and supported, etc. - it provided a comprehensive background on what was going on and who was involved. looking at the pages of interviews, pages of references, i am convinced of the thoroughness of the author and i appreciate why this book was the winner of the pulitzer prize. outstanding work!!!



4. Looming Tower should be required reading for all Americans. It is by far the best book about Al Qaeda and its antecedents. While it is extremely comprehensive, it is never boring. I find it extraordinary how Wright was able to develop such a book so soon after 9/11. It reads more like a book written 20 years after the fact rather than just 5 years.
   
   Wright is particularly good at "developing the characters of his story." In this it reads more like a great novel, rather than a typical non-fiction book. Wright creates fascinating portraits of Sayyid Qtub (the intellectual founder of modern Jihadism), Abdullah Azzam (the cleric who gave a fatwa calling on all Muslims to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan, Ayman Al Zawahiri (the intellectual and organizational founder of Al Qaeda) and finally Osama Bin Laden (the financier and symbolic leader of Jihad), Jamal Al-Fadl (the defector who first told the incredulous FBI of the existence of the Al Qaeda), Ali Mohammed (who infiltrated the US Special Forces, copied their manuals and started the How to wage jihad encyclopedia).
   
   Particularly interesting is how all of these radical leaders came from the upper-crust of Arab societies. One might expect that their anger and violent rhetoric came from very poor people, but that is not the case.
   
   Also interesting is how Al Qaeda's strategy and organization gradually evolved out of a serious of historical accidents - the visit of Qtub to the USA; the imprisonment of Zawahiri after Sadat's assassination; the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan; Zawahiri's work in a Kuwaiti hospital with radical Jihadi doctors; the near destruction of infant Al Qaeda in one small skirmish with the Soviet army; squabbles within Al Qaeda after the Soviets withdrew resulting in the assassination of Assam; the inability of the Arabs to return to their country after the war due to government hostility against the very people they recruited; the coup in Sudan which gave Al Qaeada a base just when they were losing their old one in Afghanistan; the USA passing up Sudan's offer to extradite bin Laden due to lack of evidence to prosecute him.
   
   Wright also dismantles the myth that Al Qaeda brought down the Soviet Union by destroying their army in Afghanistan. This is a foundational myth for Al Qaeda and key to understand their seemingly irrational desire to attack the USA. Wright shows that only a few hundred Arab troops were actually in combat, and they did so mostly after the Soviets started withdrawing. Arab troops did not come in large numbers until after the Soviets completely withdrew, and they spent most of their time fighting against Afghan Muslims and each other. Even by the end of the war, the organization was just one of dozens of almost irrelevant radical organizations.
   
   Wright somehow manages to maintain an objective perspective despite the murderous rhetoric, thoughts and action of his subjects.



5. It's encouraging that this is the #1 book on the topic of 9/11 in Amazon. It deserves to be. Not content with depicting the terrible events of 9/11, Wright brilliantly and logically draws out the origins of the nihilist religious movement that formed the ideological motor of 9/11. The roots of 9/11 are twofold: in the writings of Egyptian expatriate Sayyid Qutb, who ironically wrote his most inflammatory works while an academic guest in Colorado (some of Qutb's works form the Mein Kampf of Islamic extremism); and the toxic Wahhabi Muslim sect in Saudi Arabia. When you finish the chapters on these topics, you will thoroughly understand the repellent underpinnings of Saudi-specific culture, which in fact have very little to do with the humane face of Islam.
   
   Obviously, the central figure in this book is Osama Bin Laden, and you will also find yourself knowing more than perhaps you really wanted to know about this unusually prolific mass-murderer. In Qutb's and Bin Laden's world, the deaths of innocent Muslims are of no more value than blowing your nose in a Kleenex.
   
   The ultimate issue exposed beyond debate in this book is the calamitous incompetence of the CIA, coupled with the hidebound bureaucratic stupidity pervading all levels of the FBI, with its institutional rigidity and lack of acceptance of technology. The lion's share of the blame for the failure of the United States to forestall the attacks really has to be laid at the doors of President Bill Clinton and his CIA directors, who were responsible for the policies disallowing the CIA from sharing any intelligence information whatever with law enforcement authorities inside the US. Secondary blame has to be laid at the door of the Bush Administration, who had ample warning of impending attacks and had absolutely no interest in proceeding even with the lamentably weak anti-terrorism policies of the Clinton administration.
   
   But, ultimately, as I've noted, the CIA is really to blame as an institution for allowing the 9/11 attacks to succeed. It leaves an indelible impression of decadence and decline in America, and that particular institution should be disbanded and those CIA functionaries who did not share vital information with the FBI really should be thrown in prison for the rest of their lives, starting with ex-Director Tenet. There is no excuse for such meretricious incompetence. Absolutely none. My fondest hope is that one or two of the people mentioned in the book as having committed these acts of arrogant stupidity will read these words or those of others on this page. These CIA people have as much blood on their hands as Bin Laden, as far as I'm concerned.
   
   Can you tell I'm really, really angry with these people? You will be too, by the time you finish reading this book. The final chapter, "The Big Wedding," painstakingly describes the attack on the USS Cole and its aftermath, and clearly draws a direct line between that attack and the one that single-handedly (and ironically) ensured George Bush a second term. The book climaxes with a strikingly brief but utterly visual and devastating real-time narrative of the attacks as the ex-FBI man John O'Neill (another central figure in the book, who reminds me strongly of Tony Soprano if Soprano was a big-time FBI man) experienced them. This book will be read and discussed a century and more from now. It is an essential work of our time.

5 comments about Infidel.

1. I found this book to be spell binding. It is the best explanation of Islam and it's role in society today that I've ever read. I think it should be required reading in high schools and universities all over American.



2. If you're interested in an inside look at the way Muslim women are viewed and treated, this is a book you need to read. Ayaan Ali's writing is engaging from the first sentence. Although many of her experiences were shocking and sad, she doesn't wallow in self pity. She's a woman to be admired for telling the truth about a controversial subject.



3. I found Infidel absolutely riveting! The early mapping of clans, and their names was somewhat difficult to follow, but necessary to the story line. This woman speaks the unspeakable which nearly cost her her life and still may. She makes us realize that just the ability to think and have opinions is not a right, it's a privlege we westerners take for granted. She is an inspiration in honesty and courage that sets the bar very high for the rest of us.



4. Ms. Hirsi Ali is an amazing woman and at the top of my list of heroes. She struggled against religious oppression and sexism by leaving her home, her family, her community, her country. Having developed an exemplary life and career in the Netherlands, She learned English, became a member of the Dutch parliament, yet she didn't sit back and enjoy her new life of freedom, which she had worked so hard and risked her life to attain. Instead, she became an articulate writer speaking out against Islam, making her a target for murder by radical Islamists and causing her to have to leave the Netherlands and live her life under armed guard. She did this in an attempt to educate others about the reality of Islam and to speak out on behalf of women, who are enslaved within Islamic countries because of religious beliefs. Ms. Hirsi Ali is a hero for sacrificing her own freedom in an effort to end the enslavement of others. The book is a real eye opener and a must read if one wishes insight into the Middle East.



5. A revealing and insightful book by a courageous woman. I wrote in my novel Standup Comedian: The Secret and Beyond "Believing God condones inhumanity is foolish. Believing God needs a man's help to run the world is vanity."
   
   Sadly, in the West such thinking still exists, but sadder still is how deeply such rot permeates thinking, or should I say, lack of thinking, in other areas. Show me a third world country and I will show you a country that doesn't educate their women. Half the mind power of such nations is wasted.
   
   Fortunately for mankind Ayaan Hirsi Ali escaped and is free to speak out against discrimination; sexual, religious, political,and racial. Everyone should read this book.
   
   Kenneth Ray Taylor author of Beyond the Shadow of Death: Book One of the Adam Eden Series

5 comments about Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time.

1. Greg Mortenson is an American who was raised by missionary parents in Tanzania. These parents left a legacy in Africa of one of the best hospitals led by African Doctors and a leading international school. They also modeled to a cross-cultural son about aiming high. Greg became a nurse who loved mountain climbing, dreaming of one day also conquering K2.
   
   This is the story of his near fatal attempt to climb that mountain. The failure led him on another journey: to a very poor village in the Karakoram mountains and to the conservative Muslim tribal worlds of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
   
   Greg, emaciated and exhausted from his failed attempt, is taken in by a local family and nursed back to health. During his recuperation, he hears of some of their dreams for their village and makes a promise to return to build a school for their girls.
   
   The name of the book derives from what a local village chief said, "Here (in Pakistan and Afghanistan) we drink three cups of tea to do business; the first you are a stranger; the second you become a friend, and the third, you join our family, and for our family we are prepared to do anything--even die."
   
   Greg is thrown into another cross-cultural world that is far different from his world in Africa. It is a world of tribal chiefs, imams, the poor trying to survive in incredible circumstances and the impact of poverty upon the lives of children. These people wonder why an American would make a promise that looked so impossible to keep and how this turned into Greg's destiny.
   
   'Three Cups of Tea' is a story of wisdom learned from the local culture over the centuries. It is seeing the practical difference that education makes in the lives of poor villages of Pakistan and Afghanistan one school at a time. It is a story of deep, lasting cross-cultural friendships in a world that has been defined by its geo-political and religious divides. Read it and weep......Read it and get involved.



2. Excellent book. Gives an amazing view of the country of Pakistan and Afghanistan and its people. Greg Mortenson is one of a kind with his single-mindedness and determination. Many young people, especially girls will have a chance at an education because of him.



3. I have told everyone I know who reads a lot to buy this book. It is very good



4. Greg Mortenson lives a truly inspiring life. Three Cups of Tea is a well-written story that is filled with adventure, challenges, and proof that a dream and persistence can have far-reaching results. Friends and family have thanked me for guiding them to this wonderful book. Enjoy.



5. I was sold on what this book was going to be about. I mean who doesn't want to read about great things! But it's too bad that they couldn't get a better writer to tell a great story. What a SHAME!