A close friend of mine recently mentioned a book that one of his friends, Robert O. Marlin IV, had put together called What Does Al-Qaeda Want? When I expressed interest in the topic, my friend proceeded to send me a copy, which I have just finished reading.
As a matter of critique, I was a little disappointed by the commentary, or lack thereof. The book consists of a collection of unedited communiqués along with a “brief introduction to each document [that] provides some historical context to aid our understanding of the fundamental issues as articulated by the authors.” The purpose of the book is supposedly, in the commentator’s own words, “to provide a perspective on al-Qaeda’s goals through a representative sample of the written demands of Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda network.” I really wanted to know what Marlin thought of al-Qaeda. When I presented my review to Marlin, he replied as follows (the complete text of Marlin’s reply to my review follows this post):
I was pleased that you were unable to discern my thoughts regarding al-Qaeda as I sought to avoid bias in the presentation of the documents. It was never my intention to write a polemic and I hoped that critical readers would examine the materials and draw their own conclusions.
Fair enough, but after reading the book, I came away thinking that the book’s real purpose was to spread al-Qaeda propaganda and try to convince readers that Osama bin Laden and his henchman are reasonable fellows who just have the same dreams and goals for their families that we have for ours. If we were just good listeners, perhaps we could come to a better understanding with them and be friends. (Again, this is the assumption I made after reading the book. Please read Marlin’s response following this post.)
You can certainly read the entire 100 pages of the book, but I could pretty much figure out what Osama bin-Laden and al-Qaeda want by reading 1a of Document 11: Bin Laden’s “Letter to America” dated November 24, 2002 (on pages 64-65 of the book). In answer to Question 2: What are we (al Qaeda) calling you (Americans and allies) to, and what do we want from you? Bin Laden answers:
1) The first thing that we are calling you to is Islam.
(a) The religion of the Unification of God; of freedom from associating partners with Him, and rejection of this; of complete love of Him, the Exalted; of complete submission to His Laws; and of the discarding of all the opinions, orders, theories, and religions which contradict the religion He sent down to His Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Islam is the religion of all the prophets, and makes no distinction between them—peace be upon them all.It is to this religion that we call you; the seal of all the previous religions. It is the religion of the Unification of God, sincerity, the best of manners, righteousness, mercy, honor, purity, and piety. It is the religion of showing kindness to others, establishing justice between them, granting them their rights, and defending the oppressed and the persecuted…
In other words, bin Laden wants us to subject ourselves to his interpretation of God’s law.
If I have any advice for bin Laden, it’s this: Don’t start negotiations with a deal killer. What you’re calling us to do is not going to happen. Christians, Jews, Buddhists, and other people of faith are not about to simply relinquish their beliefs because you believe your religion is superior, no matter how many ancient Buddhist statues you and your ignorant madmen blow up, no matter how many innocent people you kill in the name of Allah. Nor are we going to trade our freedoms for the tyranny of your interpretation of Islam law.
Like most of the dangerously self-righteous people in this world, bin Laden and other al Qaeda leaders come across through their many communiqués to be more than a little naive and very confused. On page 27 of this book, for example, bin Laden is quoted as saying, “God, praise and glory be to Him, has prohibited the killing of women and children unless the women are active fighters….” I can only guess that he made the mistaken assumption that America evacuated all the innocent women and children from in and around the World Trade Center before al Qaeda flew those planes into the towers, OR he honestly believes that the women and children he killed were active fighters.
More over, from what they say, al Qaeda’s purpose is to convince U.S. citizens to essentially replace our leaders (I’m guessing our business leaders as well as our political leaders) with people who are more Muslim-friendly. Their method for getting us on their side, however, seems a little counterproductive – killing over 3,000 civilians in an attack on the World Trade Center is not going to make us their allies.
Another thing I find inconceivable is the fact that bin Laden and his ilk hold all Americans and Jews individually and collectively responsible for just about everything that he feels is wrong in the Middle East. Wake up, bin Laden – Muslims are partially responsible. What if we were to hold every Muslim responsible for your crimes? Would that make any sense? If this is the kind of logic you are calling me to embrace, count me out.
The more I read about al-Qaeda and the more I think about the group, the more I come to realize that this is fast becoming a classic case of a self-fulfilling prophecy. Al-Qaeda is so convinced and afraid that “the crusaders” are going to try to conquer the Muslims and drive them from their lands, that every action they take brings this closer to happening. As bin Laden and his crew whip the Muslim world into a frenzy of blind hatred against the West, they are stimulating the fears of non-Muslims everywhere and inspiring hatred against all Muslims. If there was any time when the greatest fear was fear itself, this is it.
I can only hope that cooler heads prevail, but if it comes to choosing sides, I believe the West is the best, and after reading this collection of communiqués, I believe more than ever that al Qaeda needs to be eradicated from the planet. Unfortunately, these cowards not only kill innocents, but they also hide amongst them. That makes it difficult for anyone with a conscience to kill them without killing a few innocent bystanders. At least we feel bad about killing innocent bystanders – al Qaeda goes out of its way to do it.
Obviously, this book ruffled my feathers, but I don’t mean to take out my frustration on Marlin. I think the book is valuable as a resource for helping readers gain a better understanding of what al Qaeda wants, but I think the only conclusion that critical readers can possibly come to after reading this book is that what al Qaeda wants and how it goes about trying to get it is anything but reasonable.
Marlin’s Response via Email
As the editor, I attempted to offer a representative sample of documents that provided a perspective of al-Qaeda’s goals and to expose the reader to “direct testimony from the leadership of al-Qaeda regarding the development and justification of their movement.” (p. ix) I was pleased that you were unable to discern my thoughts regarding al-Qaeda as I sought to avoid bias in the presentation of the documents. It was never my intention to write a polemic and I hoped that critical readers would examine the materials and draw their own conclusions.
I was disappointed in your assessment of the book’s purpose, although it was not meant as a diatribe either. I anticipated, that by examining the communiqués, readers would enhance their understanding of what bin-Laden was thinking and why by confronting “al-Qaeda’s purpose and demands in the words of its spokesmen.” (p. ix). While in no way did I mean to indicate that Osama or his “henchmen” were “reasonable fellows” I leave that decision to the informed reader. However, I confess my belief that many al-Qaeda members probably do share “the same dreams and goals for their families as we have for ours.” To believe otherwise appears a bit ethnocentric to me.
Again, the communiqués were chosen to enable the critical reader to discern the fundamental convictions underlying the group’s demands and to decide for themselves the validity of those demands.
