There has been no room for such complexities in the Western media, however. The schism within the jihadist movement—sparked by a momentous religious and philosophical debate—simply does not fit the template of terrorism as it is regarded in the West. Much more common is an acceptance of Osama bin Laden's own terms: a clash of civilizations and the inevitability of conflict between Islam and the West. "Both camps," says Gerges, "overlook and neglect history and substitute ideology and propaganda for critical analysis and reflection on a highly complex subject."
The Edward Said quote at the top of this review, even though it was written over a decade ago, still applies. A journalist who cannot speak Arabic and has not been immersed in the culture about which he or she is reporting could never have written a document as revealing—and important—as The Far Enemy. The primary target of Said's derision was Judith Miller of the New York Times, who didn't speak Arabic but felt qualified to write stacks of articles and books about the Islamic world nonetheless. Up until her role as a mouthpiece for the Bush administration's WMD claims was exposed, she was a well-regarded expert in the field. The problem is that sloppy, shallow reporting leads to shallow thinking and half-baked ideas. More often than not, when seen through the lens of the Western media, the multiplicity of cultures in the Islamic world merges into an undifferentiated soup of anger and discontent. As Gerges points out, nothing could be further than the truth.
One of the reasons that people tend to conflate Al Qaeda's nihilistic vision with general Muslim sentiment is that too much Al Qaeda propaganda has been taken at face value. Gerges takes the governmental 9/11 Commission to task for their heavy reliance on Al Qaeda sources who are likely to be self-serving and misleading. The transnational jihadis, who represent a tiny fraction of a tiny fraction, would very much like people to believe that they carry more weight than they do or that their decisions were the result of years of careful thought. We shouldn't bolster their cause by taking their word for it.
The Far Enemy makes a very convincing case that Al Qaeda, after the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, was highly degraded and on the verge of collapse. It was Bush's decision to invade Iraq that breathed new life into the organization. The Bush administration has, both through their rhetoric and their actions, played into Al Qaeda's hands by uniting a substantial portion of the ummah in opposition to what they perceive as America's imperialist aims.
Article comments
1 - ss
Nice review, and I plan to read this one. Also, thanks ti Blogcritics, I doubt I would have heard of this book at all if I hadn't heard of it here.
I read the other day that a man publishing a women's rights magazine in Afghanistan had been arrested. The article described sharia scholars who function as advisers to the Afghani Supreme Court.
It seems like Bush might be pushing the idea of 'spreading freedom' here in the States by showing elections and dictators on trial. Meanwhile in Afghanistan and SCIRI controlled Iraq he's letting the al-Qareeb take a leading role in the courts.
The worst case end result, if we play into the al-Baeed's hands by creating more virulently anti-West young Muslims, would be less freedom in the country we bled (and made others bleed with us) in, and more martyrs for the al-Baeed.
Although on the bright side, for us, we can still count on the al-Baeed to use their new found recruits and munitions to kill other Muslims instead of taking advantage of our tactical errors.
There doesn't appear to be much of a bright side for modern Muslims in all of this.
2 - Silvana
No offense, but Fawaz Gerges is a Lebanese Chrsitian from the North of Lebanon. Just wanted to correct this mis-information.
Thank you