I have just finished reading "Imperial Hubris," by Anonymous. The subtitle:
"Why the West is Losing the War on Terror."
The author, a CIA expert in Afghanistan, South Asia and terrorism, argues that we don’t have a clue.
It’s an Islamic insurgency, not terrorism. It’s not about Western freedom, it’s about defending Islam, as bin Laden keeps telling us. He and most Muslims see us attacking Islam when we "export" democracy (and separation of church and state); when we support Israel and "corrupt" Arab regimes; when we back Russia, India and China against their Muslim populations.
Further, he says, we are fighting badly. We need to use not just military, but political means. And where we do use guns, the aim is to kill, nothing less.
Anonymous says we should have warred on bin Laden and the Taliban Sept. 12, 2001, not six months later; that letting al Qaeda escape and regroup was criminal and our efforts to create a democratic Afghanistan will fail.
The war on Iraq? Bin Laden, he says, prayed for it.
Anonymous calls for a fierce military response to a "worldwide Islamic jihad" and a rethinking of our politics. Under the last rubric - learning to act independently of any coalition, freeing ourselves of dependence on Middle Eastern oil (he favors more domestic drilling and research on alternative fuels) and reappraising our ties to Israel.
That’s a summary of the ideas. But Anonymous doesn't write with phony objectivity. He lets us know what he feels and concludes. Like his disgust - that's the word - with our civilian leadership since Reagan. And his anger at the leaders of the intelligence community and the military. And his dismissal of the FBI, which he considers useless.
Why am I telling you all this? Because despite my reading of daily newspapers, weekly news magazines and monthly opinion journals, much in the book was new to me.
Which may tell you something about the state of journalism.
PS Anonymous is Michael Scheuer, the former chief of the CIA’s Osama bin Laden unit. James Risen has a story in the New York Times today that will tell you more about him.