In this book, Daniel Byman explores global jihadism from its
beginnings in 1979 to today, from the mujaheddin to the menacing Islamic
State…
Daniel Byman’s
Al Qaeda, The Islamic State, and the Global Jihadist Movement: What Everyone Needs to Know,
is one of those rare books that qualifies as an essential book. I say
essential, and not only to those with a special interest in jihadist
movements, or even for those who follow world affairs with a more than
passing interest, but for everyone who follows politics, which given the
role of terrorism in our lives since 9/11 ought rightly to be every
adult American.
In other words, take Byman’s use of “Everyone”
literally. Jihad is so much a part of our vocabulary today that it is
inexcusable for anyone to remain uninformed on the subject. Worse, there
is so much misinformation flying around that it is nearly impossible to
avoid it, even while attempting to remain diligent, and far too few
people make that attempt. Many of the rest are actively seeking
disinformation on places like Fox News, where talking points are
substituted for hard fact.
This book is eminently accessible. You don’t need a
doctorate to read it. Any jargon and acronyms used are explained. It can
be easily read – and understood – by any “intelligent reader” as the
author puts it. Byman uses a Q&A format, where he poses a question
and then answers it. He uses all sources available, speculates,
analyzes, and gives the best answer he can, admitting uncertainty where
it exists.
This unusual format means the book can be read front
cover to back cover, or used as a reference, looking only for that
information which interests you. Many of the questions he poses are
likely questions you have asked yourself since 9/11. Others are
questions you perhaps should have asked, and would have, had only the
mainstream media given you reliable information to go on in the first
place.
Byman
is an expert on the subject, which is one of the reasons his book is so
important. This is a man who is not a journalist, but someone who has
followed these jihadist movements professionally for the CIA, for Rand,
for
Brookings Institute, and for the
Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. If anyone is qualified to untangle to immense skein of false trails for the facts at its center, it is Daniel Byman.
Another reason this book is important is found in a
question he asks at the outset: Where does Al Qaeda begin and end?
Americans are so woefully ill-informed about the situation in the Middle
East that a book like Byman’s can only be a corrective to more than a
decade of conflicting accounts of what, exactly, has transpired in the
Middle East. And not just since 2001, when America entered the picture,
but going back to 1979, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and the
formation of the mujaheddin.
There is necessarily some overlap and repetition, as
some questions cover the same ground, for example, “How did Al Qaeda
become a suicide bombing factory?” “Why do other Jihadists criticize Al
Qaeda?” and “How does Al Qaeda justify killing civilians?” Nevertheless,
they are all important questions and the format enables readers to seek
answers to only those questions about which they are curious.
The
reader will discover what form of Islam Al Qaeda embraces (Salafism),
and what differences exist between Al Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood.
Contrary to Fox News, there are plentiful and significant differences,
not only between Al Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood, but between Al
Qaeda and the Islamic State, and other terrorist groups, like Hamas,
which Byman says has repressed Al Qaeda-like groups in the Gaza Strip)
and Hizballah (unlikely allies as they follow different forms of Islam).
Though the Islamic State is producing combat
soldiers rather than terrorists along Al Qaeda lines, you will learn how
your run-of-the-mill terrorists are trained (often very poorly), how
they are radicalized into terrorism, and whether or not we should be
worried about them – or simply laugh at their frequent ineptitude.
In a word, what Byman does here is de-mythologize Al
Qaeda, stripping away by layers the mystique they have built up around
themselves since 9/11, exposing them as porn addicts, hypocrites,
ignorant of their own holy scriptures and armed with cherry-picked and
misinterpreted verses instead. The reader will learn of opposition to Al
Qaeda within Islam itself, and how their embrace of careless
destruction has turned many of their own people against them.
It is significant in this regard that Byman
dismisses the myth that moderate Muslims have not spoken out against Al
Qaeda; he says they have “done so openly and repeatedly,” and not only
in reaction to the 9/11 attacks. He points out that Muslim approval of
Al Qaeda often drops in the wake of successful attacks. Of course, these
facts are unlikely to discourage anti-Muslim ideologues in our own
country, who, like Islamic radicals, do best when they ignore unwelcome
facts.
For those most interested in the Islamic State, this
terrorist organization is covered in depth in Chapter 8, though it
receives mentions throughout the book where appropriate. Twenty-three
pages are dedicated to discussions about what to call the group, who Abu
Bakr al-Baghdadi is, its origins, it’s opposition to Al Qaeda, it’s
goals and its strength. Byman also looks at the Khorasan Group, which
some readers may be familiar with, and asks whether the Islamic State is
a threat to the American homeland, as some Republican politicians have
contended.
The book concludes with a discussion of
counterterrorism, that is, the national security instruments (e.g.
military action, intelligence-gathering) used to fight these various
terrorist organizations. This includes also the role of diplomacy (yes,
diplomacy). We learn that other countries acquiesce to our activities,
or even request them, then publicly condemn us to save face (even
warning us they will do so).
Byman looks at legal systems both in the United
States and abroad (and the possible consequences from the aggrieved
terrorist cells), and military tribunals, including Gitmo, and rendition
and resultant human rights abuses and their consequences. Byman
discusses the use of drones (superior to air strikes, he says but still
damaging to America’s claim to the moral high ground). Finally, he asks,
how do we win the war of ideas? How do we counter radicalization? (A
difficult task, he tells us).
Suggestions for further reading are found at the end
of this tour de force. Some the reader might be familiar with, such as
Peter Bergen (through his role at CNN). Others are more esoteric for the
general reader. All such recommendations must be taken seriously,
though if the reader takes his interest no further, he will still come
away with a vastly improved understanding of global jihadism and
therefore the situation in the Middle East as it exists today.
Al Qaeda, The Islamic State, and the Global Jihadist Movement: What Everyone Needs to Know,
is published by Oxford University Press (2015). It can be found at
Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and other booksellers and is also
available in e-book format (e.g. Kindle, Nook), which is perfectly
usable here as the book’s 304 pages contain no maps or diagrams.
