|
Class of 1957 Book Review Site. ©2007. To add a Book Review, or to comment on a book already in this listing, send your material or review to Sam Coulbourn at Persnav@shore.net. Photo at top of each page shows ENS Arleigh Burke beneath 14-inch gun aboard Battleship USS Arizona, 1923. Revised 27 March 2008. |
|
MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS
MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS Assassin's Gate, The: America in Iraq
By George Packer, 2005.
Recounts how we became involved in Iraq with in depth reporting on the Iraq exiles in the academic world and their influence on our policies. Packer, a liberal Democrat reporter For the New Yorker takes you behind the scenes in both Iraq and the U.S. and does a fairly good job of presenting what happened up until mid 2005.
MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS Because They Hate: A Survivor Of Islamic Terror Warns America
By Brigitte Gabriel, 2006.
It is an absorbing read by a Lebanese Christian Lady who went through the PLO/Syrian takeover of her country. Having met the general she refers to in the book in the 80's and observed 1st hand many of the traits of Arab Muslims that she describes, I am in agreement with everything she talks about in the book. Her childhood experience in Lebanon is a precursor of what can happen to western civilization one country at a time. A sobering read.
MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror
By Stephen Kinzer, 2003.
A fascinating history of the American involvement in the secret overthrow of the Iranian government in 1953. This seldom told history partially explains the resentment of the Iranians to the United States and Britain. The book reads like a novel and Kinzer did a great job on researching what was going on as we were struggling with Plebe Summer.
MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS The Crisis of Islam
By Bernard Lewis, 2003.
A historical look at the roots of the Islamic World and the acts of terrorism that are being committed today. Lewis, a Professor at Princeton, has a firm grasp of both the Islamic Religion and what may inspire those who commit acts of terrorism today in the name of Islam.
MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS The Final Move Beyond Iraq: The Final Solution While the World Sleeps
MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS Reading Lolita in Tehran
By Nafar Nafisi, 2003.
Bernard Lewis said of this book, “A memoir about teaching western literature in revolutionary Iran, with profound and fascinating insights into both. A masterpiece.” The author, for a period of two years, met secretly every Thursday with seven of her female students in the professor’s apartment to study Jane Austen, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Henry James, and Vladimir Nabokov. Censorship and morality squads were the order of the day as the fundamentalists controlled the university, but Nafisi found a way to open the minds of her students to otherwise prohibited ideas. A most timely and perceptive analysis of the radical Islamic ideology and of the triumph of the human spirit.
Reviewed by Paul Roush.
MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS What Went Wrong: The Clash Between Islam and Modernity in the Middle East
By Bernard Lewis, 2002.
Lewis, a professor emeritus of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton, attempts to explain “what went wrong” with Islam in its contention with Christendom as “a world faith and a world power.” He identifies social and cultural barriers to Muslim progress. He identifies Islamic barriers to modernity and social equality. He describes the “numerous restrictions and disabilities imposed by Muslim law and traditions on Christians,” and Jews as well, as dhimmis. And he notes “There is, for example, no distinction between canon law and civil law, between the law of the church and the law of the state, crucial in Christian history,” i.e., the supremacy of theocracy evident in Iran today. He observes that Muslims are more likely to ask, “Who did this to us?” (external influence) than “Where did we go wrong?” (self examination), suggesting a mind-set wherein a return to medieval Islam will consequently provide the recapture of Islamic glory. Lewis makes clear that the world once again faces a conflict between Islam and Christendom, the sword wielded against the cross, for world civil and spiritual hegemony. His perspective of the Islamic mind is well worth reading.
Review by Sam Coulbourn, September 2006.
MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS God's Terrorists; The Wahhabi Cult and the Hidden Roots of Modern Jihad
By Charles Allen, 2006.
This is a fascinating account of the migration of Islamic Puritanism of the Sunni Wahhabi cult originating in the central Arabian peninsula to the Indian subcontinent and beyond beginning in the early 19th century. The author, a noted Brit historian who has written extensively on British rule in India, was put on the trail of "Hindustani fanatics", actually Muslims, on a trip to Kabul through the Khyber Pass a few years ago researching the rise of the Taliban. Pulling the thread of Mullah Omar and the fanatics in the region he traced them back through India, Pakistan and Bangladesh establishing a genealogy, the likely family tree that can be traced to the first Wahabbi influence. He noted the uprisings and campaigns that occurred as the Brits attempted to rule--all attributed to "Hindustani fanatics"; 'wahabbees' were specifically identified in the 1850s, and the Deobandis, a wahabbi offshoot, a decade later. The author noted that Mullah Omar was educated in a madrassah; some 10,000 of these religious schools existed in Pakistan in 2002. Of the 1.7 million students, 1.25 million were receiving Deobandi-based or Ahl-i-Hadith (traditional Sunni) training. It's a fine read, but the tale is complex. I suggest tabbing the five chartlets before you begin, along with the appendices that include a glossary, key names and the family trees involved. In the charts, I struggled to identify locations early on, only to find them in charts later in the book. For those who have read the wonderful book: "The Great Game: the Struggle for Empire in Central Asia", by Peter Hopkirk, 1990, "God's Terrorists" is a good supplement that moves into this century.
MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS The Next Attack--The Globalization of Jihad
By Benjamin, Daniel and Simon, Stephen, 2005.
The authors, who both served in Clinton's National Security Council in the '90s, offer a knowledgeable assessment of the path that Islamists extremists have taken up through the London bombings last
MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades)
By Robert Spencer, 2005
Praised by an Islamic Website with these words: "May Allah rip out his spine from his back and split his brains in two, and then put them both back and then do it over and over again. The author points out that: (Quote) - Islam teaches that Muslims must wage war to impose Islamic law on non-Muslim states -American Muslim groups are engaged in a huge cover-up of Islamic doctrine and history -Today's Jihad terrorists have the same motives and goals as the Muslims who fought the Crusades - Muslim persecution of Christians has continued for 13 centuries-and still goes on (Unquote)
The book a short read of 231 pages is liberally sprinkled with quotes from the Qur'an and cites numerous other sources. Of unnerving note is the Muslim article of faith which commands that believers should not befriend or enter into treaties with non-believers, unless it is to further Islam and then only on a temporary basis.
MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS Dawn Over Baghdad
By Karl Zinsmeister, 2005.
Description: Chronicles the author’s experiences while an embedded reporter with US military units in the Sunni triangle during periods in 2004 and 2005. He compares the situation during both tours, offering evidence of improvements and setbacks. He identifies the US military personnel who are establishing the roots of a democratic society while conducting operations against insurgents, gives examples in which the Iraqis are participating in representative government, reveals the methodology by which Iraqis are polled and analyzes the results of Iraqi provided responses to questions. He also critiques the media’s coverage of US operations, using quotes and comments from media sources.
MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS Saddam's Secrets: How an Iraqi General Defied and Survived Saddam Hussein
By General Georges Sada, Iraqi Air Force, 2006.
An autobiography by a former Iraqi Air Force General narrating what it was like to serve in the military under Saddam. Sada was trained to fly MIGs in Russia and also went to flight training in the US. His account tells of the way Saddam took over and ran the country. Sada says that Saddam had the WMD's shipped to Syria via a commercial 747 and 727s and commercial trucks as humanitarian assistance when Syria had a flood.
MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS Shadow War
By Richard Miniter, 2004.
Miniter has researched what has been accomplished on the war against terror since 9/11. He contends that the war on terror is a long term effort more like the Cold war than Vietnam or WW2. He points out that more than 3000 al Qaeda operatives have been seized or slain since 9/11. He also documents the relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda.
MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS Fighting Back
By Bill Salmmon, 2002.
The author covers the White House from the inside. He was given unprecedented access to President Bush 43 for exclusive interviews in the WH and aboard Air Force ONE. His book gives the reader a factual account of what happened in the period shortly before and in the hours after 9/11; how the counterstrikes were planned; how the press underestimated W and how biased, ill-informed reporting misrepresented the Afgan War; how the President bonded with families of the victims of terrorist attacks; and the President's plan for defeating global terrorism.
MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS The Case for Democracy: The Power of Freedom to Overcome Tyranny and Terror
By Natan Sharansky, 2004.
Sharansky is the Soviet political dissident whose efforts along with Andrei Sakharov were instrumental in hastening the collapse of the Soviet Union and its repressive society. He argues that there is linkage between freedom and peace and tyranny and terror; that freedom is rooted in the right to dissent and that publicly declaring one’s views should not result in punishment or reprisal. Societies/governments that do not protect that right can never be reliable partners for peace. He maintains that the democracy that hates us is much safer than the dictator that loves us. The author develops his thesis by discussing the performance of the Soviet Union and other, notably, Mid-eastern states in the area of human rights. A good portion of the book is devoted to a historical analysis of the Israeli/PLO peace process, concluding that hostilities in that region will not cease until true democracy and the respect for human rights are instituted in Arab lands. Not surprisingly, Sharansky believes that the US must take the lead in making this happen. |
