bin Laden: The Man Who Declared War on America

Very good book on terrorism

Bodansky has excellent credentials for this book--many years on the staff of Congressional intelligence committees. He uses this back ground to provide a comprehensive (pre-Cole and pre-9/11) look at the complex international financial and personnel structure bin Laden built to support international terrorism.While bin Laden was not the spiritual or military leader of the islamic terrorist movement, he is the one who made it viable. He raised the money, developed an international series of interlocking corporations, foundations, and local groups which allowed for the movement of large amounts of money, equipment, and people everywhere from the Phillipines to (as we now know all to well) New York City.The problem with this book is there are no sources cited. THere is absolutely no way to check the accuracy of Bodansky's narrative. In effect, Bodansky asks the reader to acdept what he says i true based on Bodansky's credentials alone.It all sounds plausible, particularly in light of September 11, but I found it very uncomfortable having no way to check Bodansky's assertions. Several other reviewers have noted specific inaccuracies--but frankly, none of them touch on the heart of Bodansky's point--that bin Laden is a very competnet paymaster for a wide ranging, extremely dangerous terrorist organization.

... I found it fascinating. Its central theme is the author's insistence that sponsoring states, especially Iran, are behind all the Islamist terrorism of recent years. ...I don't have the expertise to judge Bodansky's claims. But I find it interesting that for him, the true villains seem to be unscrupulous government officials. Bin Laden comes off well....Bodansky tells a different story. He explains the background of the Islamist movement. Then he mentions specific things that happened when bin Laden was in his teens, that contributed to turning Saudi youth against "Westernization." He also reports an atrocity of that earlier Afghan war, for which bin Laden wrongly believed the U.S. was responsible.He goes on to say that after the war, bin Laden seemed ready to settle down. Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait changed everything. Bin Laden, with genuine war-hero credentials, tried to persuade his government to let him put together a Muslim force to defend the country and liberate Kuwait. They turned him down. (One wonders how different history might be if they'd let him try.)Bodansky says bin Laden was far from alone in opposing the presence of U.S. forces in Saudi Arabia. He was actually a moderate among Saudi Islamists. But the government didn't appreciate his moderate stance, and tried to muzzle him. When it became clear the Americans would be there for the long haul, he had to leave--to protect his extended family from threatened economic reprisals.Bodansky says he apparently didn't go to Sudan to become an agitator. Once again, he was ready to settle down. The Sudanese recruited him for the international terrorist movement--initially, because of his expertise at setting up financial networks. Within the movement, he became a loyal team player who rose gradually through the ranks. There's no indication he's ever been power-hungry.I've seen criticism of Bodansky's claims about an alleged "deal" between the Clinton Administration and Islamists. (Note: I'm a left-of-center Democrat.) The critics have overlooked his statement that the same CIA agent approached Ayman al-Zawahiri a decade earlier, when Republicans were in power. Zawahiri supposedly broke off that contact because he thought he was being asked for $50 million. The second time around, the [individual] made clear he was offering that sum. But Bodansky doesn't claim any money was paid. If his story is true, it's possible the whole thing was CIA skullduggery.His point, however, is that the Islamists believed they had a deal and were betrayed. They promised not to do certain things in the Balkans; their agents didn't do those things, and the U.S. had them arrested anyway.Writing in 1999, Bodansky actually mentions a three-nation terror "axis"! His axis--more plausible than Bush's--consists of Iran, Iraq, and Syria. He claims Iran and Syria are the two main terrorist-sponsoring states, and they don't want to see Iraq taken over by a pro-Western regime because it's the land route between them.I am puzzled by small discrepancies that make me less trusting of the work as a whole. I have no way of knowing who's wrong. But Bodansky mentions bin Laden's father being alive when he was a young man; I've heard elsewhere that he died in a helicopter accident when Osama was 13. Also, Bodansky translates "al-Qaida"--which he says was originally the name of a semi-bogus charity, wrongly applied to the actual terrorist group--as "Islamic Salvation." Other sources say it means "The Base," and refers to a computer database of supporters' names.I was disappointed that this book makes no mention of the rumors about bin Laden's health. Perhaps they weren't circulating in 1999. ...

I heard Mr. Bodansky interviewed on NPR and turned to the only source for this book at the time, Amazon. He was brilliant in his analysis and extremely comprehensive, so the book seemed the next best step to following his ideas. I must say that the book was a bit overwhelming, but extremely useful. He truly opens the unsavory, sick, pathetic world of Islamic extremism to the average reader. The human refuse who pollute these pages are in such numbers and pass, page by page, in such succession I found myself mystified by their presence on the world scene unhindered in their passage from east to west.Whatever else this book teaches, surely most important is that alien beings walk openly under Western skies and will remain a danger to innocents for some time to come. Bin Laden and the defecation he ministers, the stench he releases into our free world is but a point of focus, an image to grasp in a poppy field of black blooms, a kind of ooze seeping from his decayed, cultural landfill through one of many openings into the groundwater of our world.This book is a must read for any concerned Western Thinker living above and unaccustomed to the creeps that promote hate from below.

This very detailed account of bin Laden's rise through the ranks of international terrorism is a book that raises the question..why didn't we make the case to aggressively get this guy before 9/11. It also clearly demonstrates the extent to which terrorism networks have developed and coordinated their strategies with the active participation of Iran and other government sponsors. After reading this it would be hard to support anything short of a multi-front comprehensive campaign to rid the world of ALL the players involved. Bin Laden is portrayed as one cog, albeit an important one , in a much vaster and dangerous movement.Well researched and written by an author who obviously knows the territory.

Great book! And a great seller. 10/10 would recommend!!!!