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Imperial Hubris:

Why the West Is Losing the War on Terrorism
Front Cover
10 Reviews
Potomac Books, Inc., 2004 - History - 309 pages
Though U.S. leaders try to convince the world of their success in fighting al Qaeda, one anonymous member of the U.S. intelligence community would like to inform the public that we are, in fact, losing the war on terror. Further, until U.S. leaders recognize the errant path they have irresponsibly chosen, he says, our enemies will only grow stronger.

According to the author, the greatest danger for Americans confronting the Islamist threat is to believe—at the urging of U.S. leaders—that Muslims attack us for what we are and what we think rather than for what we do. Blustering political rhetoric informs the public that the Islamists are offended by the Western world’s democratic freedoms, civil liberties, inter-mingling of genders, and separation of church and state. However, although aspects of the modern world may offend conservative Muslims, no Islamist leader has fomented jihad to destroy participatory democracy, for example, the national association of credit unions, or coed universities.

Instead, a growing segment of the Islamic world strenuously disapproves of specific U.S. policies and their attendant military, political, and economic implications. Capitalizing on growing anti-U.S. animosity, Osama bin Laden’s genius lies not simply in calling for jihad, but in articulating a consistent and convincing case that Islam is under attack by America. Al Qaeda’s public statements condemn America’s protection of corrupt Muslim regimes, unqualified support for Israel, the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan, and a further litany of real-world grievances. Bin Laden’s supporters thus identify their problem and believe their solution lies in war. Anonymous contends they will go to any length, not to destroy our secular, democratic way of life, but to deter what they view as specific attacks on their lands, their communities, and their religion. Unless U.S. leaders recognize this fact and adjust their policies abroad accordingly, even moderate Muslims will join the bin Laden camp.

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Review: Imperial Hubris: Why the West Is Losing the War on Terror

User Review  - Ben - Goodreads

While I disagree vehemently with some of the policies Scheuer promotes (eg drilling in Alaska, allowing mass-slaughter to occur world-wide so long as it isn't a 'direct' threat to US interests), he ... Read full review

Review: Imperial Hubris: Why the West Is Losing the War on Terror

User Review  - Stephen - Goodreads

This book is still worth reading, for its often stunning prescience as well as the snapshot it offers of the particularly crazy time in America's public life surrounding the invasion of Iraq and its ... Read full review

All 8 reviews »

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Selected pages

Contents

SOME THOUGHTS ON THE POWER OF FOCUSED PRINCIPLED HATRED
1
AN UNPREPARED AND IGNORANT LUNGE TO DEFEATTHE UNITED STATES IN AFGHANISTAN
21
NOT DOWN NOT OUT AL QAEDAS RESILIENCY EXPANSION AND MOMENTUM
59
THE WORLDS VIEW OF BIN LADEN A MUSLIM LEADER AND HERO COMING INTO FOCUS?
103
BIN LADEN VIEWS THE WORLD SOME OLD SOME NEW AND A TWIST
127
BLINDING HUBRIS ABOUNDING INFLICTING DEFEAT ON OURSELVESNONWARS LEAKS AND MISSIONARY DEMOCRACY
163
WHEN THE ENEMY SETS THE STAGE HOW AMERICAS STUBBORN OBTUSENESS AIDS ITS FOES
209
THE WAY AHEAD A FEW SUGGESTIONS FOR DEBATE
237
No Basis for Optimism
261
Notes
265
Select Bibliography
291
Index
299
The Author
309
Copyright

Common terms and phrases

11 September attacks Afghan Afghanistan AJSCT Al-Ansar Al-Ansar Internet al-Fahd al-Zawahiri Allah allies America Arab Army Ayman al-Zawahiri believe Bernard Lewis bomb camps Chechnya checkables civil clerics coalition Crusaders defeat defensive jihad democracy destroy elites enemy example February fight foreign policy fought groups hate hatred Hizballah hubris Ibid intelligence officers Internet version Iraq Iraqi Islamic world Islamist Islamist insurgency Israel Israeli Kabul Karzai killed Ladin leaks March Masood Mohammed mujahideen Mullah Omar Muslim world national security Northern Alliance November October Osama bin Laden Pakistan Palestinian Pashtun political post-11 September Qaeda Ralph Peters regime religious Saudi Arabia scholars senior U.S. September 2001 Shaykh Soviet Sunni Taleban targets terrorism terrorist threat tion tribal U.S. actions U.S. forces U.S. government U.S. intelligence U.S. leaders U.S. military U.S. officials U.S. policies ummah United Usama victory waging warning Washington weapons West Western words wounded wrote Yemen

References to this book

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Edward V. Linden
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From Google Scholar

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References from web pages

Imperial Hubris - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror (Brassey's, 2004; ISBN 1-57488-849-8) is a book originally published anonymously, but authored by ...
en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Imperial_Hubris

Imperial Hubris- by Justin Raimondo
... my ears pricked up: Kerry was taking a page from Michael Scheuer's recently published book, Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terrorism ...
www.antiwar.com/ justin/ ?articleid=3705

Book Excerpt: 'Imperial Hubris' : NPR
Read an excerpt from Imperial Hubris: Why the West Is Losing the War on Terror by Anonymous, an active senior CIA officer -- and former head of the agency's ...
www.npr.org/ templates/ story/ story.php?storyId=1977111

How to read Imperial Hubris. - By Bryan Curtis - Slate Magazine
The anonymous CIA analyst who wrote Imperial Hubris: Why the West Is Losing the War on Terror managed to preserve his cloak of anonymity until two weeks ...
www.slate.com/ id/ 2103748/

Michael Scheuer on Imperial Hubris (Aaron Swartz: The Weblog)
Michael Scheuer on Imperial Hubris. February 1. Michael Scheuer's head. Michael Scheuer, the man known for so long as the bold Anonymous, is in reality an ...
www.aaronsw.com/ weblog/ 001642

Imperial Hubris Author Quits CIA » Outside The Beltway | OTB
Former Chief of cia's Bin Laden Unit Leaves (Dana Priest, wapo) Ex-chief of cia’s bin Laden unit leaves (MSNBC-Newsweek) Michael Scheuer, the author and ...
www.outsidethebeltway.com/ archives/ 2004/ 11/ msnbc_-_ex-chief_of_ciau2019s_bin_laden_unit_leaves/

Imperial Hubris: Why the West Is Losing the War on Terror | Army ...
Imperial Hubris: Why the West Is Losing the War on Terror from Army Lawyer in News provided free by Find Articles.
findarticles.com/ p/ articles/ mi_m6052/ is_/ ai_n13629120

The Contradictions of Michael Scheuer author of Imperial Hubris ...
A Common Man Looks at the War on Islamic Terror. up home page bottom Add a comment Bookmark. French · German version · Spanish version · Italian version ...
pierrelegrand.net/ 2006/ 06/ 29/ the-contradictions-of-michael-scheuer-author-of-imperial-hubris.htm

Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Loosing the War on Terror ...
[Archive] Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Loosing the War on Terror General Discussion
www.militaryphotos.net/ forums/ archive/ index.php/ t-18731.html

A spook speaks out | Salon Books
THIS ARTICLE. "Imperial Hubris: Why the West Is Losing the War on Terror". By Anonymous. Brassey's Inc. 352 pages. Nonfiction ...
archive.salon.com/ books/ review/ 2004/ 07/ 13/ hubris/ index.html

Bibliographic information

QR code for Imperial Hubris
TitleImperial Hubris: Why the West Is Losing the War on Terrorism
ContributorBrassey's (Firm)
Editionreprint
PublisherPotomac Books, Inc., 2004
ISBN1574888498, 9781574888492
Length309 pages
Subjects ›  › 

History / Middle East / General
History / Military / General
Political Science / International Relations / General
Political Science / Security (National & International)
Political Science / Terrorism
  
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