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So many of you know that I am a huge fan of former Alec Station leader Michael Scheuer's analyses and interpretations.
I just bought his latest book, and likely Magna Opus, Osama Bin Ladin.
I guess there is no beating around the bush with such a title.
Already, the first chapter is captivating. He takes on the multiple narratives about the man and debunks them one by one. As an example, he exposes the immediate post 9/11 narrative that Saudi intelligence attempted to push, about a licentious young Osama in Lebanon with dancers named Rita. He takes it on and debunks it with great ease. He then takes on the comrade narratives from former colleagues of Bin Ladin's Abdullah Anas and Hashim Al Makki. He notes that both of these gentleman had competing interests, yet both offer effusive praise of the man as well. Finally, he lethally destroyes the Aymaan Al Zahwari corrupted Osama theory with evidences after evidences. He easily cuts out the neocon narrative.
He then notes, with a number of attributes that all the premiere texts out there by folks like Bergen et al. all reference the man's actual words an embrassingly low number of times. He equates this with someone writing a book about George Washington but relying primarily on British narratives instead of ever even looking at Washington's own writings.
Finally, I remain ever impressed with him as he guts Steve Coll's The Bin Ladins an Arabian Family in the American Century: He notes that the book attempts to lionize Salem Bin Ladin, the oldest brother... yet out of all of the family members the individual that attempted to opportunize and comprimise his morals was none other than Salem.
The ending quote from the chapter, about Coll's book, really leaves me in awe of Mike's ability to understand the Muslim psyche and utilize evidence based practice in security studies:
"Indeed, only three men Saudis come off as decent, pious, hard working, and persevering men -- Muhammad Bin Ladin (Bin ladins father), King Faisal (of Saudi), and Osama Bin ladin himself."
I just bought his latest book, and likely Magna Opus, Osama Bin Ladin.
I guess there is no beating around the bush with such a title.
Already, the first chapter is captivating. He takes on the multiple narratives about the man and debunks them one by one. As an example, he exposes the immediate post 9/11 narrative that Saudi intelligence attempted to push, about a licentious young Osama in Lebanon with dancers named Rita. He takes it on and debunks it with great ease. He then takes on the comrade narratives from former colleagues of Bin Ladin's Abdullah Anas and Hashim Al Makki. He notes that both of these gentleman had competing interests, yet both offer effusive praise of the man as well. Finally, he lethally destroyes the Aymaan Al Zahwari corrupted Osama theory with evidences after evidences. He easily cuts out the neocon narrative.
He then notes, with a number of attributes that all the premiere texts out there by folks like Bergen et al. all reference the man's actual words an embrassingly low number of times. He equates this with someone writing a book about George Washington but relying primarily on British narratives instead of ever even looking at Washington's own writings.
Finally, I remain ever impressed with him as he guts Steve Coll's The Bin Ladins an Arabian Family in the American Century: He notes that the book attempts to lionize Salem Bin Ladin, the oldest brother... yet out of all of the family members the individual that attempted to opportunize and comprimise his morals was none other than Salem.
The ending quote from the chapter, about Coll's book, really leaves me in awe of Mike's ability to understand the Muslim psyche and utilize evidence based practice in security studies:
"Indeed, only three men Saudis come off as decent, pious, hard working, and persevering men -- Muhammad Bin Ladin (Bin ladins father), King Faisal (of Saudi), and Osama Bin ladin himself."
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