The Search for Al Qaeda: Its Leadership, Ideology, and Future
Riedel, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and senior adviser on the Middle East to three past presidents, reviews how al-Qaeda has flourished since the September 11 attacks with �franchises� mushrooming around the world. The author surveys al-Qaeda�s origins, workings and key members and introduces fresh information about the organization�s ideology and future plans. Riedel warns against conflating the war against al-Qaeda with the current war in Iraq (�the president chose to declare war not on al Qaeda, but on 'terrorism,� a concept that he and Vice President Dick Cheney arrived at by confusing 9/11 with Saddam Hussein�s Iraq�) and demonstrates how U.S. actions compound �the public�s ignorance and vulnerability.� He argues that concentrating forces in Iraq has diverted attention and presence from Afghanistan and Pakistan, the hotbeds of jihadist organization, and suggests redirecting the military back to the �badlands� of the Afghan-Pakistan border while offering economic aid to forestall the extremism that thrives in destitute areas. Riedel�s argument in favor of greater U.S. involvement in the Arab-Israeli peace process is persuasive, and his prescriptions are well-evidenced, unfailingly sound and refreshingly sensible.Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.--This text refers to theHardcoveredition.