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ARCHIVE - APRIL 2017 (KICKOFF APRIL 3RD) - Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS - DISCUSSION THREAD
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ISIS: A History by Fawaz A. Gerges
by Fawaz A. Gerges (no photo)Synopsis:
Readers with an interest in the roots of Middle Eastern violence may already be familiar with Fawaz A. Gerges’s books Journey of the Jihadist: Inside Muslim Militancy and The Far Enemy: Why Jihad Went Global, two very well-received books that explored the making of a world-wide phenomenon. Now, in ISIS: A History, Gerges looks at a new kind of jihadism: one intent on immediate and bloody change in its own backyard. Whereas Black Flags puts people like al-Zarqawi in the spotlight and The ISIS Apocalypse looks at the Islamic State’s theology, ISIS: A History analyzes the historical events and cultural upheavals that paved the way for ISIS and its apocalyptic vision for the future.
Gerges has also written a couple of other books on the subject:
both by Fawaz A. Gerges (no photo)
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Islamic State: The Digital Caliphate by Abdel Bari Atwan
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Abdel Bari AtwanSynopsis:
One of the things that is so often overlooked when we talk about ISIS is its presence in the digital world. The internet has been as important a part of the group’s arsenal as its knives and ubiquitous AK-47s. ISIS operatives create propaganda videos for dissemination on YouTube, recruit new fighters via Twitter, and search for funding in the shadowy corridors of the dark web. Palestinian journalist and new media entrepreneur Abdel Bari Atwan goes in search of the people behind the cameras and on the other side of the computer screens, and comes back with a story few others have bothered to tell.
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Age of Jihad - Islamic State and the Great War for the Middle East by Patrick Cockburn
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Patrick CockburnSynopsis:
How, and when, did ISIS become a major player in the Middle East? Some point to the chaos of the Arab Spring of 2011. Author Patrick Cockburn disagrees, suggesting instead that the gestation of the movement began years prior in the chaos of the Iraq War. In Age of Jihad, Cockburn looks at the theological conflict between Sunni and Shia Islam, and American involvement in the Middle East as crucial elements in the rise of the Islamic State
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The Fall of the Ottomans: The Great War in the Middle East by
Eugene Rogan
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Eugene RoganSynopsis:
The Middle East we know today was created in the aftermath of World War I. With the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, victorious Western powers carved the region into pieces with little thought given to its native people. Eugene Rogan’s The Fall of the Ottomans details how and why these decisions made nearly a century ago led to the chaos and instability of the present.
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In the Skin of a Jihadist: A Young Journalist Enters the ISIS Recruitment Network by Anna Grelle
by Anna Erelle (no photo)Synopsis:
ISIS is a media savvy organization that realized the value of social media long ago. Twitter, Facebook, and other internet communication platforms have been important tools in not only disseminating their message, but also recruiting new followers to their cause. Anna Grelle’s In the Skin of a Jihadist is an account of her undercover investigation of the terrorist group’s online seduction of young girls.
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No god but God - The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam by
Reza Aslan
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Reza AslanSynopsis:
There are those in the Western world who would lay the blame for Islamist violence on the religion its perpetrators claim to follow: the millions of peaceful muslims around the world would suggest otherwise. Gaining a better understanding of Islam is the best way to understand how twisted ISIS’ version of the religion really is. Scholar Reza Aslan’s No god but God is an approachable history of this influential faith suitable for the casual reader and armchair historian alike.
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The Terror Years - The Terror Years - From al-Qaeda to the Islamic State by Lawrence Wright
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Lawrence WrightSynopsis:
Lawrence Wright, author of The Looming Tower, returns to the topic of Islamist violence with The Terror Years: a collection of ten pieces he originally wrote for The New Yorker. Together, these articles present the history of a conflict, its major players, and how we went from fighting al-Qaeda in Afghanistan to ISIS in the Levant.
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Lawrence Wright
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ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror (Updated Edition) Hardcover – March 29, 2016 by Michael Weiss (Author), Hassan Hassan (Author)
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Michael WeissSynopsis:
Fully Revised & Updated Edition of the New York Times Bestselling and Highly Praised Book on ISIS
With newly added material and breaking news including:
—Interview with a former ISIS spymaster
—Why ISIS is targeting Europe and the US
—What Russia wants in Syria
—Revelations on the brutal ideology of ISIS
With brutal attacks in last year across the globe—Brussels, Paris, Beirut, Egypt, Turkey—the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has proved itself the greatest terrorist threat in the world today. They have conquered massive territories in Syria and Iraq in a bid to create a new Muslim caliphate under the strict dictates of Sharia law.
In this fully revised and updated edition of ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror, American journalist Michael Weiss and Syrian analyst Hassan Hassan explain how these violent extremists evolved from a nearly defeated Iraqi insurgent group into a jihadi army of international volunteers who, with slickly produced murder videos, are spreading violence and mayhem across the globe. Beginning with the early days of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the founder of ISIS’s first incarnation, Weiss and Hassan explain who the key players are—from their leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to the former Saddam Baathists in their ranks—where they come from, how they have attracted both local and global support, and how they operate—from their social media strategy to their illicit oil revenues. As money and matériel continue to flow into the region to combat the ISIS’s spreading terror, other forces—Assad’s regime, Russian planes, Iranian Quds Forces, and other Shiite militias—are gaining power and using the fight against ISIS as a means to leverage their agenda in the region.
Political and military maneuvering by the United States, Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Russia have fueled ISIS’s explosive expansion. In five new chapters, the authors delve further into the inner workings of the Army of Terror and what it is like to live under their ever-tightening rule. With invaluable and exclusive insider information, the authors explore the Islamic State’s enigmatic recruitment and training methods, the impact of their military successes and failures, and how they structure and empower home-grown cells worldwide to carry out their terror. Drawing on original interviews with former US military officials and current ISIS fighters—and brand-new interviews with a former ISIS spy, as well as Kurdish and Yazidi survivors of the ISIS’s assault on northern Iraq—the authors reveal the internecine struggles within the movement itself, as well as ISIS’s bloody hatred of Shiite Muslims, which is generating another sectarian war in the region. A new generation of terror has dawned in the world and to understand how to stop it, we must understand who they are.
Praise:
Times of London Best Books of 2015
Wall Street Journal Top 10 Books on Terrorism
"A remarkable book."
— Anderson Cooper
"Weiss and Hassan provide a detailed explanation of how the Islamic State 'manages savagery' on the ground . . . this account of the Islamic State in Iraq is a valuable summation and the most serious book-length study of the Islamic State to be published so far."
— New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice
"Weiss and Hassan capture the complexity of the . . . imbroglios that gave rise to the Islamic State . . . in this thorough and accessible book." —Foreign Affairs
"The first book to fully explain what ISIS is seeking and why they are such a threat to the world. An absolute must-read for anyone who wants to understand the risk we all face from radical Islam."
—Douglas E. Schoen, political analyst, author of The Russia-China Axis: The New Cold War and America's Crisis of Leadership
"A . . . detailed and nuanced story."
— James Traub, Wall Street Journal
"Easily the best history I've read of the evolution of the terror group."
— Kareem Shaheen, The Guardian
"Weiss and Hassan have produced a detailed and readable book. Their informants include American and regional military officials and intelligence operatives, defected Syrian spies and diplomats, and – most fascinating of all – Syrians who work for Isis (these are divided into categories such as politickers, pragmatists, opportunists and fence-sitters). The authors provide useful insights into Isis governance – a combination of divide-and-rule, indoctrination and fear – and are well placed for the task. Hassan, an expert on tribal and jihadist dynamics, is from Syria’s east. Weiss reported from liberated al-Bab, outside Aleppo, before Isis took it over."
—Robin Yassin-Kassab, author of The Road from Damascus, is writing (with Leila al-Shami) a book on the civil activists of the Syrian revolution, (The Guardian)
“Recounted in painstaking detail . . . the book presents a granular analysis of the IS’s organization, ideology, funding and recruitment.”
—Muhammad Idrees Ahmad, author of The Road to Iraq: the Making of a Neoconservative War (In These Times)
”ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror, by Michael Weiss and Hassan Hassan, does a first-rate job of describing the Islamic State’s layers . . . in Syria and in Iraq.”
— Paul Berman, author of A Tale of Two Utopias, Terror and Liberalism, Power and the Idealists, and The Flight of the Intellectuals (Tablet)
“Concise, valuable, and a compelling read for anyone—general reader or specialist—interested in ISIS.”
— Aymenn Jawad al-Tamimi, Syria Comment
“Incredibly rich and valuable for the specialist and non-specialist alike . . . it is a rich and nuanced piece touching on all the points that the arrival of ISIS has raised in Syria and Iraq.”
— Tam Hussein, The Huffington Post
“Michael Weiss and Hassan Hassan provide a comprehensive account of how the Islamic State came to be, who is to blame for its emergence, and why world leaders should be worried about its expansion.”
—Kevin Sullivan, editor of Real Clear World
"ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror is brilliantly easy to read . . . concise yet thorough, it will surprise and shatter the beliefs of many.”
—Kyle Orton, Middle East analyst, Left Foot Forward
"[A] superb piece of journalism, unsparing in its analysis of the folly of the Obama administration."
— Nick Cohen, The Spectator (UK)
“Weiss and Hassan give a concise yet detailed account of the rise of the terror movement, anybody who wants to work out where they stand on Iraq and Syria will find this book invaluable”
— Daniel Finkelstein, The Times Best Books of 2015
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And then we have this:
The FCC is reviewing a joke that Stephen Colbert told on late night television. You must be kidding. Anything that he said was already bleeped. The inequities are shocking here. Colbert was very very crude and some folks might not like that (I could have done without a couple of the phrases) and maybe he might have been able to substitute a couple of those phrases - but then again we are not seeing videos where someone is cutting a person's head off while these agencies and the tech companies do nothing. And we are worried about the bleeped joke that Colbert told after 10PM at night?
http://ew.com/tv/2017/05/05/fcc-revie...
Do you think that an extremely - extremely crude joke (which was bleeped and was on after 10PM) needs more attention than videos of decapitation or discussing horrific plans to hurt folks worldwide? What are your thoughts about the comparison?
Finished the book in April, but didn’t get around to write my 2cents:1. As others have already commented before I think that the book was extremely well written. It was highly informative on a difficult subject, and even though there were a lot of names, events and places to remember, it managed to be a page turner nevertheless.
On the one hand the book made me curious to learn more about the Middle East, its conflicts and the advance of fundamentalism, but on the other hand I felt a bit overwhelmed or even helpless by the complexity of this issue.
Overwhelmed, because so many aspects play into hand: there doesn’t seem to be a solution - or even hope - how to reach peace and stability in the Middle East and suppress fundamentalism.
The book changed my initial impression that the Islamic State was sort of an unstoppable machine from the get-go. I think there were several occasions where the movement had actually lost momentum or even support, but due to badly made decisions by people who might have been able to stop it or even just horribly timed coincidences, ISIS managed to get up on their feet again. Unfortunately though, I feel like now they are at a point in their development where it’ll be harder and harder to get rid of them.
2. The fallacy “terrorists are Muslim and hence all Muslims are terrorists” seems to become more popular with people in Europe and the US. I liked how the book showed that even though the Islamic State fights in the name of Islam and has itself committed to the mission of jihad, they do not represent the Muslim faith or Muslim communities.
For example, Zarquawi hadn’t even read the Quran and several brutal acts of his and his successors were condemned by other Muslims for being not compatible with their faith.
And of course King Abdullah of Jordan who seemed to have tried so many things in order to prevent the rise of fundamentalism.
I like the following quote by him: “The ability of a few extremists to influence perceptions through acts of barbarity places greater responsibility on the moderates, of all religions, to speak up. […] If the majority remains silent, the extremists will dominate the debate.”
My final impression of the Islamic State therefore was that once more religion is just being used as a means to an end: they just picked the quotes from the Quran that helped their cause (they didn’t pick the part where the Prophet stresses the importance of respecting all religions! For a quick read: Tolerance of Prophet towards other religions). And their cause I suppose was rather to gain power and control in a region that is destabilized and chaotic.
Btw: for anybody interested in the teachings of the Quran I can recommend the book If the Oceans Were Ink: An Unlikely Friendship and a Journey to the Heart of the Quran“ by Carla Power.
3. Michael, you mentioned that you are a leader in the Christian Church: Do you have events (like picnics, or festivals or even worship services) where you reach out to the Muslim community or did you ever have somebody from the Muslim community reach out to you? I’m just wondering, if there are efforts by religious leaders to counter the ever-increasing division between Christians and Muslims. By that I don’t mean that this is what you should do. It is just pure curiosity on my side.
4. And finally, many thanks to Bentley for being a great discussion leader for this book. It's fantastic that you dedicated so much time and research to this book and provided the extra material.
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Carla Power(Edit: Fixed the Quotation).
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I agree it was extremely well written.
There is always hope even though it appears hidden. If the Sunni have a better narrative than their Shiite brothers are giving them in Iraq and elsewhere - that would give some hope. If the poor and disenfranchised and the folks who have no place to go to better their lives are assisted and not forgotten - that might help too. But it has been a sad situation where murder is being done on innocents in the name of a religion which is of course islamism not islam. But it is hard for the average person to make the distinction considering how some European countries are having such a hard time with refugees and immigrants.
You are right there will always be an al qaeda 4.0 or 5.0 with different names and ideologies - thuggery knows no bounds nor religious boundaries. Although we can hope otherwise.
King Jordan is right - "If the majority remains silent, the extremists will dominate the debate.” And unfortunately with their silence many are attributing that to complicity.
Eva - we do not use the links for books as you have done except when there is no book cover. We add the book cover, the author's photo and then the author's link - you almost have it perfect for Carla's book - just switch the author's photo from the last position to being in front of the link.
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Carla PowerWe actually did that book for one of the Book of the Month selections and the author actually posted. It is a good read.
I do hope Michael gets back to you - that is a fantastic question.
And you are most welcome - it was a timely topic and there was a lot of material, news articles, ancillary books, videos, podcasts, documentaries and interviews to choose from.
And don't forget to do the full citation for the other book - ah just realized that it was an audio.
I felt that the Middle East folder was a better place to house the discussion and the glossary thread for further reference.
Discussion group,I am on the last two chapters of "Black Flags" and I've just got to say it's a good read. Every Pulitzer Prize winning book that I have read has always lived up to the accolades. I can say that if you've read or are going to read this book, try starting with "The Looming Tower", then the "The Terror Years" by Lawrence Wright. (See bottom) They are to the beginning and middle of the Terrorism story of Al Qaeda and ISIS, what "Black Flags" is the the end. Not the actual end but I'm sure you understand.
This idea that moderate muslims aren't speaking up to try and slow the spread of the ideology that corrupts mainstream Muslims, in my opinion isn't what us westerners think. How would any of us, the average news watching population know when a moderate Muslim in another country is speaking out? Just because it's not on our news programs doesn't mean it's not happening. Just like us most people in the Middle East want to live their lives without worrying about what death & destruction terrorists are trying to bring. There are a lot of people too afraid to make that step, to come out against their terrorist leaders, local Imams, and government officials because of retaliation. Do we in a country that doesn't know the overpowering tentacles of the sort of terrorism that takes place in the Middle East blame them? I'm not sure I could say I can.
I also think that most immigrants from Northern Africa, the Middle East, and Afghanistan are good people. All most all of the terror attacks that have happened in Europe were not committed by immigrants. Most were by citizens of that' country or people with dual citizenship. Others were just terrorist that went through the checkpoints designed to stop them in the first place. The problem with immigrants is they believe that their life will be better in the countries they end up in. Unfortunately it doesn't always happen. To many people not enough resources, jobs, housing etc... That then becomes the recruiting tool for terrorists. Countries should always allow immigrants it helps make they're own societies better, more diverse. In Europes case the problem is that their open border policy created the problem. They did not initially control the flow of people coming in. The steps they took were way to late.
The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 by Lawrence Wright
The Terror Years: From al-Qaeda to the Islamic State by Lawrence Wright
Eva wrote: "3. Michael, you mentioned that you are a leader in the Christian Church: Do you have events (like picnics, or festivals or even worship services) where you reach out to the Muslim community or did you ever have somebody from the Muslim community reach out to you? I’m just wondering, if there are efforts by religious leaders to counter the ever-increasing division between Christians and Muslims. By that I don’t mean that this is what you should do. It is just pure curiosity on my side." Eva, in answer to your question I cannot say that any group I have been involved with has not done any of these things. Having said this I have not lived in places with larger, formalized groups of Muslims. However, I was on an advisory council for our Mayor in one town where I lived. Our Mayor at that time was a Muslim man and a friend of mine. I had quite a bit of interaction with him. In Seminary were were assigned readings in the Quaran for a course on Islam and I went to my Mayor friend to discuss his favorite passages so that I could make them a part of my reading. I know of a Christian church and a Mosque in one of our Canadian cities that have been working to together to collect furniture and necessities for Syrian refugees who have come to Canada. So these bridge building opportunities do happen.
Michael wrote: "Eva wrote: "3. Michael, you mentioned that you are a leader in the Christian Church: Do you have events (like picnics, or festivals or even worship services) where you reach out to the Muslim commu..."Thanks for your reply, Michael. I'm glad that there are such opportunities. It hopefully helps to counter the whole "them-vs-us" narrative.
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Source: The Economist
The History Book Club
Books mentioned in this topic
The Terror Years: From al-Qaeda to the Islamic State (other topics)The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 (other topics)
If the Oceans Were Ink: An Unlikely Friendship and a Journey to the Heart of the Quran (other topics)
If the Oceans Were Ink: An Unlikely Friendship and a Journey to the Heart of the Quran (other topics)
ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Lawrence Wright (other topics)Carla Power (other topics)
Carla Power (other topics)
Michael Weiss (other topics)
Lawrence Wright (other topics)
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The ISIS Apocalypse: The History, Strategy, and Doomsday Vision of the Islamic State by William McCants
Synopsis:
The director of the Brookings Institution’s Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World, and a former senior advisor on violent extremism to the U.S. State Department, McCants is one of America’s preeminent experts on militant Islamists and their beliefs. McCants works with leaked emails, interviews, and his own translations of influential religious texts to present a thorough explanation of the Islamic States’ twisted theology and its vision for the world at large. ISIS fighters may die, but as long as the world fails to understand and counter their ideology, there will always be more recruits to replace them.