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Title: Seeds of Terror : An Eyewitness Account of Al-Qaeda's Newest Center of Operations in Southeast Asia by Maria Ressa ISBN: 0-7432-5133-4 Publisher: Free Press Pub. Date: 02 December, 2003 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $26.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.27 (11 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: The present situation is scarier than you think
Comment: Maria Ressa is a long-time CNN correspondent in Southeast Asia which is home to an underappreciated terrorist network. She has reported on numerous terrorist groups in the region, and in this book, she reveals the reasons for the rise to prominence of such groups as the Abu Sayyaf in the Philippines and the Indonesian-based Jemaah Islamiyah. Most people are only aware of bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, but Ressa's book clearly shows that the extremist network in the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore is just as dangerous.
Ressa enumerates the reason for the reasons for the rise of Islamic extremism in Southeast Asia: establishment of religious schools that double as recruiting centers for terrorism, widespread police and military corruption, lack of strong intelligence, and the governments' unwillingness to crack down on terrorist groups for fear of being labelled anti-Islamic. 9/11 may have been the most significant terrorist attack in recent history, but the Bali blasts, the multiple simultaneous bombings in Singapore a few years back, and the terrorist-backed uprisings in places such as Ambon, Indonesia signify a possibly greater threat arising in Southeast Asia.
Ressa clearly outlines the connections between terrorist groups in Southeast Asia with al-Qaeda. An Indonesian, Hambali, sits on al-Qaeda's governing council. Funds channeled from al-Qaeda helped fund both the bombings in Bali and Singapore. Many terrorists in the region trained under and met Osama bin Laden during the "jihad" in Afghanistan, and many are products of al-Qaeda's many training camps.
The importance of this book is that it awakens us to the dangers that are arising in Southeast Asia. Ressa does a fantastic job on reporting on these pressing issues because she has access to many politicians, bureaucrats, and other leaders that few get to speak to, and she even presents evidence never before published.
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in understanding the dangers that have not directly affected the US yet but are sure to hurt us in the future if not stopped now.
Rating: 5
Summary: Absolutely a must read of the professional and layman alike
Comment: The Seeds of Terror: An Eyewitness Account of Al-Qaeda;s Newest Center of Operations in Southeast Asia, Maria Ressa (Free Press: New York, 2003)
Maria Ressa has walked the walk and now is ready to talk the talk and put pen to paper to tell the real story of terrorism in Southeast Asia. Few journalists, and for that matter, few military and intelligence professionals are as qualified to analyze and assess the threats in Southeast Asia as Maria Ressa. She has written a book that must be read by every professional in the military and the government who has a role in the War on Terrorism. However, concerned and interested citizens and anyone with business, family, social, or political connections to Southeast Asia will also find this book extremely enlightening and valuable.
What she has done is to fuse together information and analysis from many sources throughout Southeast Asia that is in many ways superior to that provided by intelligence services of any single country. Her access to high level sources in and out of governments in the region as well as the trust she has established with many well-connected civilians from all walks of life has allowed her to piece together the complex mosaic of how Al Qaeda has emerged as the over-arching threat in Southeast Asia. No single intelligence service could match her work and unless all the intelligence services in Southeast Asia are willing to cooperate and share information they will not rival Maria Ressa's analysis of the War on Terrorism in Southeast Asia.
One of the most valuable contributions this book makes is the assessment of the West's weaknesses that if not understood and addressed will allow Al Qaeda to continue to operate and expand its influence and connections with other terrorist organizations such as Jemaah Islamiyah, the Abu Sayyef Group, and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to name a few. Her assessments also could rival any counter-insurgency expert. While the world focuses on the counter-terrorism aspect of the War on Terrorism she correctly understands that it must be viewed as an insurgency on a global scale and that the West must do a better job of fighting ideology with ideology because law enforcement and tactical military operations will not be enough to defeat this threat. The center of gravity is the moderate Muslims of the world and the West must embrace them and ask to help support their efforts to eradicate the radical elements that are perverting the Islamic faith for their own power and ideals. We have much to fear from Al Qaeda because according to its own manual Islamic governments "are established ...by pen and gun, by word and bullet..." Mao Zedong believed that power grew out of the barrel of a gun too, but despite this belief communism has been discredited and neutralized around the world because of the superiority of the ideology of freedom and self-determination. The real question that Maria implies but does not ask is can the West use the same skills and have the same determination and patience in defeating the Al Qaeda ideology as it did to defeat communism?
This book must be read and studied by anyone who wants to think critically about the War on Terrorism.
Rating: 2
Summary: Not bad - but "CNN-style" rather than academic
Comment: Maria's book is well researched (although at times highly questionable ; as in her assertion that the OKC bombing may have been linked to Al Qaeda). Her style is a little too much a reflection of her work at CNN - lots of hyperbole and drama and use of the first person. On the whole a fast read that offers some insights amid a lot of self-back patting.
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Title: Militant Islam in Southeast Asia: Crucible of Terror by Zachary Abuza ISBN: 1588262375 Publisher: Lynne Rienner Publishers Pub. Date: 01 September, 2003 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Terrorism in the Philippines: The Bloody Trail of Abu Sayyaf, Bin Laden's East Asian Connection by Dirk Barreveld ISBN: 0595206360 Publisher: Writers Club Press Pub. Date: 01 November, 2001 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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Title: Al-Qaeda: Casting a Shadow of Terror by Jason Burke ISBN: 1850433968 Publisher: I.B. Tauris Pub. Date: 06 November, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: The Road to Al-Qaeda: The Story of Bin Laden's Right-Hand Man (Critical Studies on Islam) by Montasser al-Zayyat, Sara Nimis, Ahmed Fekry ISBN: 0745321755 Publisher: PLUTO PRESS Pub. Date: 20 January, 2004 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 by Steve Coll ISBN: 1594200076 Publisher: The Penguin Press HC Pub. Date: 23 February, 2004 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
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