Inside Al-Qaeda and the Taliban : beyond Bin Laden and 9/11 / Syed Saleem Shahzad.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Shahzad, Syed Saleem, 1970-2011.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Qaida (Organization).

Taliban.

Islam and politics.

Terrorism--Religious aspects--Islam.

Terrorism.

Physical Description:

xx, 260 pages : maps ; 22 cm

Place of Publication:

New York, N.Y. : Pluto Press, 2011.

Summary:

President Obama has delivered on his campaign promise to kill Osama bin Laden, but as an Al-Qaeda strategist bin Laden has been dead for years. This book introduces the new generation of Al-Qaeda leaders who have been behind the most recent attacks.

Syed Saleem Shahzad, a Pakistani investigative reporter, has a level of access to Al-Qaeda and the Taliban that Western journalists can only dream of. He has interviewed many top-level strategists and fighters in both movements on multiple occasions in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Jordan. In Inside Al-Qaeda and the Taliban he uses first-hand accounts and his own local knowledge to build up a convincing and compelling picture of the aims and motivation of the leaders and fighters in radical Islamic movements.

This is a version of the 'war on terror' that has never been told. It will fascinate anyone concerned with the strategy and tactics of the most controversial Islamic movements. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 A new world: destruction, migration, friends, and foes 1

Playing with fire 3

Al-Qaeda's new approach 6

2 The politics of war and peace 11

New Al-Qaeda players and actions 13

The spring offensive 2006: Al-Qaeda's watershed 21

The new Taliban strategy 34

Back to base 35

The wrath of the United States 38

Setting up the Af-Pak theater of war 47

Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan: Al-Qaeda's brood 53

Iranian Jundullah: Al-Qaeda's new syndication 56

Planning NATO's Waterloo 59

A Swat whirlpool set to sink the Af-Pak strategy 62

Old wine in new bottles 65

3 First step: leadership building and transformation of the "sons of the soil" to "blood brothers" 72

Captain Khurram, the martyr 82

The rise and fall of Major Haroon 92

Arrest 97

Major Haroon's ideological journey 100

The Neo-Taliban in Taliban ranks 103

The Haqqani network: the Taliban's real strength 104

From the shadows to the shadow army 108

Al-Qaeda's soul in a new body: Laskhar al-Zil 114

Al-Qaeda's blood brothers saga: Somalia and Yemen 120

4 Takfeer and khuruj: an ideological thesis for the separation of Islamists and states 124

The takfeer: orchestrating a clash 140

Literature that changes the mind 141

Roots of the ideological evolution 145

Ibn Tamiyyah, an ideologue for the next 1,000 years 146

5 Antithesis: debate on the legitimacy of the resistance 150

6 The synthesis 156

The beginning of revolt 165

7 Building the eagles' nest 177

How the Taliban maneuvered 181

An insurgent world in the Hindu Kush 183

Tribal insurgency: a battle before the real battle 186

Revolution in the mountains 190

Al-Qaeda takes steps for broadening ties with Iran 192

An amazing maze 194

8 The theater of war 199

Ghazwa-e-Hind 206

The harvest is ready but ... 208

Al-Qaeda splits the spoils of war 210

Harkat-ul Jihad-i-Islami: from ISI to Al-Qaeda 210.

Notes:

Includes index.

ISBN:

9780745331010 :

0745331017

OCLC:

701811076