Unholy Wars: Afghanistan, America and International Terrorism by John K.
Cooley. Pluto Press, a division of Stylus Publishing. Herndon, Virginia. 2nd
Edition, 2000, 299 pages. $19.95.
First published in 1999, this book is in its second edition. It is an insightful look into the
elements that created Osama Bin Laden and his network. Distinguished journalist John Cooley
has spent three decades reporting in the region for various news agencies and his book starts in
the 1970s, a time when the Cold War was being fought covertly in places like Angola, Yemen,
Poland, and Afghanistan. Pages reveal the environment created to sustain an organization like
Al-Qaeda today.
The late Egyptian leader Anwar Sadat joined forces with the Shah of Iran and the late
Pakistani President Zia-ul-Haq as well as an assortment of intelligence agencies to form the
Safari Club. These leaders were brought together to fight communist insurgencies in the region
chiefly in Afghanistan. There were also ulterior motives, for many Arab leaders saw in
Afghanistan a means to rid themselves of militant Islamic radicals who were not averse to
violently expressing their discontent at the government, the economy and lack of opportunity. It
was hoped that they would never return, but less than a decade later, these so-called Arab
Afghans did return armed with network of contacts and combat skills.
Pakistan's Inter-Service Intelligence Agency (ISI) spent a better part of decade training
Afghan Mujahideen in combat techniques, and the author goes through favored methods
implemented to fight Soviet forces in that country. The book continues to highlight the opium
trade and distinct war fought in Afghanistan over fields, transportation routes and prices of this
narcotic. Cooley methodically lays out the different Islamic militant groups and their effect on
different governments in the Middle East, some are linked to Bin Laden and others operate with
the sanction of local governments. This slim volume is an excellent way to begin understanding
the evolution of modern Islamic militancy and its affects around the globe.
Al-Jazeera: How the Free Arab News Network Scooped the World and Changed the
Middle-East by Mohammed El-Nawawy and Adel Iskandarani. Westview Press
(www.westview.com), Cambridge, Massachusetts. 228 pages, 2002.
Understanding the Arab perspective is perhaps the most challenging aspect of this new war
on terrorism. When the tragedy of September 11th happened there was a scramble
for Arabic linguists and Mid-East experts. The war has encompassed troops, carriers and strike
bombers but also the delicate and complex issue of engaging the segment of the Arab population
through various reasons is supportive of Usama Bin Laden. To begin scratching the surface
copious amounts of readings are necessary on Islamic history, Islamic theology, colonialism,
Arab self-determination and a host of other topics. Knowing this one can begin to make sense of
Bin Laden's diatribes, for example when he refers to 80 years of humiliation is he referring
simply to the carving up of the Ottoman Empire into the modern Middle East or the abolishment
of the Caliphate in 1926? It makes a difference because if the subject is the caliphate then Bin
Laden is espousing the doctrine of former Islamic militant ideologues like Hassan al-Banna in
the thirties and forties, Sayed Qutb in the sixties and Muhammad Faraj in the seventies.
Ground zero of the debate on Arab regimes, the evolution of Islam and other topics of
importance to many Arabs can be found in the new cable news network Al-Jazeera. Having
been raised in the region during the seventies and eighties, I was astonished to see the
combination shock television and political debates the network provides in a public forum.
Much of the Arabic news I was raised was tightly controlled by the state and one required short-
wave radio to pick up Voice of America and British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) to get the
real story. During Desert Storm a SCUD Missile would hit the Saudi capital, Riyadh, and that
night's Saudi news would not feature any mention of it. Ironically there were plenty of civil
defense warnings on TV calling on people to take cover.
Since first tuning into Al-Jazeera, I've watched Jihadists debate secular reformers, Algerian
religious militants justifying their violence and open forums on the need to open analytical
reasoning (ijtihaad) in Islam and the what Islamic law really says about veiling. It was not the
content that shocked me but that I was seeing such open TV within the Middle East in my
lifetime. Muhammed El-Nawawy is a professor of journalism as the University of North Florida
and Adel Iskander teaches communications at the University of Kentucky. They argue that right
or wrong Arabs are thirsty for an open dialog about their religion, politics and leaders. Al-
Jazeera was ironically the product of a failed venture between Saudi Arabia's Orbit Radio and
BBC News over censorship. Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani of Qatar took over the venture
and loaned it $140 million, creating the network in 1996. Another aspect was its ability to report
live from Kandahar and Kabul as the only network sanctioned by the Taliban, the authors delve
into the reasons for this and postulate their tactics are no different from western news
organizations pursuing a hot story.
There are critical aspects of the network, like its failure to cover Qatar's politics with the
same zeal as other Arab nations. Another problem is that they invite two radically opposing
views on their shows to increase ratings, knowing it will be a fiery debate. The authors praise
U.S. efforts to place diplomats such as Christopher Ross who engaged in an interview in Arabic
on the network, explaining the U.S. position on this war on terrorism. Chapter five is a
delightful description of the show Al-Itijaah al-Moakiss (The Opposing View) which featured
banned Islamic thinker Hamid Abu-Zeid, who was threatened by Islamic militants for writing
about the need to analyze the Quran in a historical context. Also Mrs. Safinaz Kazem, a marxist
turned Islamic radical became so frustrated with the debate on hejab (female covering)
that she stormed our of the show. So controversial is their programming that the Algerian
government cut off the electricity for over an hour until an episode featuring the nations
terrorism and roots causes of discontent aired. In Baghdad and other Arab capitals it is common
to rent video-recordings of Al-Jazeera programs at video stores.
Both authors warn that U.S. efforts to create their own network in Arabic will not be as
successful as placing U.S. officials in Al-Jazeera. In a world where news has been government
fed, most Arabs right or wrong trust this network as their source of news about the region and
are skeptical of broadcasts from Washington or any other government-sponsored network. The
book is highly recommended for those with an interest in the Middle East and the power of
media to incite, debate and cause controversy. What is clear are the Arab leaders who are
repressive of free speech tune into Al-Jazeera to assess the mood of their people which is
impossible to gauge using their own government controlled networks.
2002, Foreign Area Officer Association
Springfield,
Virginia
Maintained by LTC Steve
Gotowicki.
http://www.faoa.org
