Through Our Enemies' Eyes

Description:

This seminal work on modern terrorism is the one book to read in order to truly understand the reasons why radical Muslims such as Osama bin Laden and his followers have declared war on America and the West. In order to win the war against terrorism, argues Michael Scheuer, former head of the CIA’s Bin Laden Unit, we must first stop dismissing militant Muslims as "extremists" or "religious fanatics." Formulating a successful military strategy requires that we see the enemy as they perceive themselve—highly trained and motivated soldiers who believe their cause is righteous.

This revised paperback edition provides a more extensive study of Osama bin Laden and the sources of his thought. Scheuer has added a good deal of bin Laden’s words, focusing on those issues that have been most misunderstood or ignored and therefore are most in need of exposition. These include bin Laden’s personality; his early years as a nonviolent Saudi dissident and reformer; the causes motivating al Qaeda and its allies, especially their perception that U.S. foreign policy threatens Islam’s survival; bin Laden’s long history of interest in and support for the Palestinian cause against Israel; his evolutionary growth as an Islamic hero and leader between 1996 and 2001; and the profound impact the Afghan-Soviet War had and continues to have on bin Laden, al Qaeda, and worldwide Sunni Islamic militancy. Only by understanding these words can the West appreciate the threat it faces and formulate a strategy to defeat it.

Reviews/Endorsements:

"Among the ‘war on terrorism cognoscenti’ in and around Washington, D.C., mere word-of-mouth established [Through Our Enemies Eyes] as required reading for anyone seeking to understand bin Laden, the movement that he cofounded and led, and the profound threat that it posed (and continues to pose) to the United States and to international peace. Accordingly, the book’s reputation spread as a thoroughly reliable, trenchant, and commendably clear exegesis of al Qaeda’s ideology, goals, and alarming ambitions. . . . The key to success in warfare, the Chinese strategist Sun Tzu wrote, is to ‘know your enemy and you will know yourself.’ In Through Our Enemies Eyes , Scheuer answers the first part of that irrefutable formulation."
-- From the foreword by Bruce Hoffman, senior fellow, Combating Terrorism Center, U.S. Military Academy, and author of Inside Terrorism

PRAISE FOR THE FIRST EDITION:

"[Scheuer’s] examination of al Qaeda is a bracing corrective to much that has passed as analysis about the group."
-- CNN terrorism analyst Peter Bergen in the Washington Post

"A highly informative analysis."
-- The Washington Times

"A masterful job at . . . interpreting what bin Laden is trying to tell America but that has fallen on deaf ears."
-- Studies in Conflict and Terrorism

"A sobering portrait of Osama bin Laden."
-- The Christian Science Monitor

"This is a book that all professional soldiers should read since it represents, in significant detail, the views and motivation of one of our primary adversaries, while clearly defining the severity of the ongoing threat."
-- Armor