Product Description: Despite the saturation of global media coverage, Osama bin Laden's own writings have been curiously absent from analysis of the "war on terror." Over the last ten years, bin Laden has issued a series of carefully tailored public statements, from interviews with Western and Arabic journalists to faxes and video recordings. These texts supply evidence crucial to an understanding of the bizarre mix of Quranic scholarship, CIA training, punctual interventions in Gulf politics and messianic anti-imperialism that has formed the programmatic core of Al Qaeda.
In bringing together the various statements issued under bin Laden's name since 1994, this volume forms part of a growing discourse that seeks to demythologize the terrorist network. Newly translated from the Arabic, annotated with a critical introduction by Islamic scholar Bruce Lawrence, this collection places the statements in their religious, historical and political context. It shows how bin Laden's views draw on and differ from other strands of radical Islamic thought; it also demonstrates how his arguments vary in degrees of consistency, and how his evasions concerning the true nature and extent of his own group, and over his own role in terrorist attacks, have contributed to the perpetuation of his personal mythology.
Good service I received the book in good condition in a timely manner. Thank you.
Dean H. Harvey
Four Star Source for One Star Thought Many of these messages have been printed in whole or in part in other sources, however this book is unique and valuable in offering a very comprehensive collection of his statements and rationale. Osama bin Laden wages jihad against the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Israel, and those wishing to comprehend Bin Laden's actions should read this book. It is accompanied by excellent explanatory footnotes, offering concise factual context for Bin Laden's statements. While Bin Laden's thought rates only "one star" - he operates on the primitive logic of tit-for-tat violent retaliation - the book as a source for understanding his thought rates at least four stars. It is a good read for those wishing to understand his motivation for violent jihad.
Any who want insights on Bin Laden's thoughts and viewpoint must have MESSAGES TO THE WORLD. Osama Bin Laden's statements have been widely covered in TV and radio in bits and pieces; but they haven't been gathered together under one cover before; so to receive a unified presentation of all his admonitions, turn to MESSAGES TO THE WORLD: THE STATEMENTS OF OSAMA BIN LADEN. Statements issued in his name over the last ten years are here newly translated from the Arabic and annotated with a critical introduction by editor Lawrence, an Islamic scholar, which adds historical, political and religious context to the statements. Any who want insights on Bin Laden's thoughts and viewpoint must have MESSAGES TO THE WORLD.
Diane C. Donovan California Bookwatch
Hardly a Manifesto But Interesting As someone who has been critical of US foreign policy through a variety of administrations, it may seem inevitable that I would be drawn to someone like bin Laden. Having read my share of writings by sociopaths such as Hitler, Mao, and even Kaczynski, my only compliment for bin Laden would be that his thoughts aren't nearly as fractured and self-contradictory as others I've read. In a sense, I agree with the commentary provided in the foreword -- whatever his faults, he is very likely a true believer and not merely a charlatan.
On to the book. It enlightens on several fronts. It provides small glimpses into the world of Islamic expression -- I was never aware of the existence of Arabic literary forms such as the juridicial decree. It made me wonder how an American analog to bin Laden might communicate with the masses -- the newsletter, the Shakespearean sonnet, the folk song in 4/4 time, iambic pentameter, maybe even a film documentary. Could one man besides Bob Dylan be able to flow between media and literary forms with the ease of bin Laden?
Also interesting were some of the Arabic social trivia such as the uses of bin/ibn and Abu in Arabic names.
The sign of a good book (as with good research) is that it generates more questions than answers. For instance, why did bin Laden wait until 10/2004 to fully (or at least convincingly) accept responsibility for 9/11? Obfuscation? Maybe. The book itself does not hazard any speculation. My take is that he's reluctant to accept credit for something in which he did not personally participate. Once it was obvious he was going to get the rap anyway, he probably decided it was best politically to accept the credit. After all, he has to compete for resources with other jihadis, and "Mastermind of 9/11" is the jahidi equivalent to membership in the CFR or Trilateral Commission. We've seen recent (if less credible) examples of self-incrimination in the Moussaoui case.
That being said, I wish bin Laden much ill. If anything, he has given America an excuse to shed any vestige of self-reflection about its' past. What we've done to the Muslim world is a drop in the bucket of blood compared to what the Cherokee nation or African-Americans have suffered. If he has come to collect damages, the line forms in the WAY BACK.
Timely in the Extreme This collection of translated and annotated statements by Osama bin Laden is the sort of primary source collection I had begun to fear would never be published.
In order to understand the "War on Terror" environment in which we currently live, it is imperative to understand the rhetoric of both sides. Regardless of which viewpoint one supports, it is important to know exactly what the other side is fighting for. This knowledge is abundant on the non-terrorist side, but has so far been available on the terrorist side purely through analyses by expert commentators. Thus, being able to read the actual words of the major ideologue of world terrorism at the moment is a considerable boon.
I say "ideologue" for very good reason. As these statements and their accompanying (and copious) notes and introductions demonstrate, there is a distinct ideology involved in this movement. It may be an ideology directed against everything the West holds dear, but it is an ideology nonetheless. Osama bin Laden has clearly thought about a great many issues prior to initiating the campaigns of violence he has. As case in point, the significance of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is often debated by academics and policymakers: Is it central to the globalisation of terrorism, or is it merely a convenient justification to use when asked? As even the earliest statements here demonstrate, this is a key plank in al-Qa'ida's ideology - perhaps even more so than many writers have realised.
While one particular statement (the "Declaration of Jihad against the Jews and Crusaders") will be familiar to any reader interested in this conflict as it has been included in a great many works (Gunaratna's "Inside Al-Qaeda" being the most well-known), many of these statements appear never to have been translated fully into English before. In this case, the team involved in this collection deserve even more praise for enabling those with an interest in understanding these issues to do so - particularly when, as they frequently note, the websites originally hosting these messages have been shut down.
The scope of these statements will probably be debated for many years to come. One review here makes the dogmatic assertion that these are not all of the statements made by bin Laden, for example. While this may be true - and bear in mind that many of these statements have been excerpted by various news outlets at various times, which may create the impression of there being more than there are - it seems rather immaterial. Far from only presenting a reasoned side of the man, these statements present his ideas in a clear form. Those translated from audio and video tapes, for example, never make mention of any gestures or tones of voice, since to do so would be rather pointless in my opinion.
Taken as a whole, these statements tend to appear rather repetitive - the only notable change from one to the next being a slightly different emphasis on particular events as they've changed. That said, reading the book cover to cover is probably not the best way to go about it anyway.
The copious amounts of footnotes and introductory matter are also a great strength of this collection. While it is possible to criticise the scholars involved (and it's almost a hobby for some of the reviewers here already), they have at least attempted the difficult task of placing Osama bin Laden in context. He's not a representative of all Muslims, but neither is he the "monster under the bed" for the new millennium. The footnotes, too, provide a wealth of Qur'anic and Hadith references - including remarks on when the verse or tradition has been taken out of context or deprived of a section of text. Similarly, key figures and events (both past and present) referenced in the text are explained concisely in the notes. Unfortunately, the sheer volume of these notes has presumably caused the poor proofreading which some statements suffer from. There are a number of words and phrases footnoted which do not have an accompanying note below, and some of these are germane to the text. Further, one of the introductory notes makes the comment that Yemen is a "military dictatorship" (along with Pakistan and Nigeria). In reality, Yemen is a multi-party democracy (the only such in the Arabian Peninsula) and was so both at the time the book was written and at the time the statement was made. Admittedly, the country may not have a stable and entrenched tradition of democracy, but it is far from the military dictatorship described in this note.
In conclusion, "Messages to the World" is an invaluable aid to those who want to understand the current conflicts "from the source" as it were. It is somewhat heavy reading in places and will remain a controversial book for much of the foreseeable future. Its publication, however, represents a great step forward for much of the world.
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
