The Secret History of al Qaeda

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Drawing on unparalleled access to Osama bin Laden and his associates, journalist Abdel Bari Atwan provides a clear account of the rise of al Qaeda. He establishes what the organization has become, its goals, capabilities, and how the West can address its challenges. As the only Western journalist to spend time with bin Laden, Atwan begins with a personal account of his 1996 visit to the al Qaeda leader's Tora Bora hideout. He presents a nuanced portrait of bin Laden and explores his evolution as a key figure in modern jihad. Atwan reveals how al Qaeda's radical shift from traditional terrorist tactics has complicated efforts to counter it. The organization's fighters exhibit extreme fanaticism, and their leadership employs opportunistic recruitment and a sophisticated grasp of psychology, media, and technology, including the Internet for training and communication. Atwan's newspaper, al-Quds al-Arabi, has been a platform for many al Qaeda communications. He identifies pivotal events in Iraq and Saudi Arabia as crucial to the organization's dangerous evolution. Atwan charts the refinement of jihad, the emergence of a new leadership style, the normalization of suicide bombers, and al Qaeda's economic strategies, highlighting how Iraq has become a breeding ground for its most militant fighters.