Bookshelf: Lawrence Wright's The Looming Tower

About 1/2 way through Looming Tower which recounts the history of Al-Qaeda.

One school of thought says that economics is the root of human behavior. This kind of analysis says poor people will be desperate and commit crimes. That view is too simplistic. Bin Laden was a wealthy Saudi. So why did he become a terrorist?

Thus, ideology is a part of human behavior.

The book covers some of the conceptual factors (and some of the circumstantial ones) that have yielded Al-Qaeda.

For instance, I had no idea how corrupt the Saudi royal family has been through its history. Thus, various Jihad groups hate the Saudis and the Americans who have supported them over the decades.

Also, it was rather incredible how porous the Afghanistan-Pakistani border was. It seemed like anyone could find their way there to join in the war against the Soviets. Ironically, many of these Jihad fighters were happily let go by countries because they would have been trouble back in their home countries.

One big concept that loosens the restrictions within Islam is takfir. The book describes the idea that a Muslim can kill another Muslim if they believe that that Muslim has fallen away from the faith. Such thoughts were used to justify the murder of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. It is also this kind of thinking that leads the terrorists to want to see the Saudi royal family overthrown.

It is clear that initially the USA underestimated the threat. Past terrorist activities in the US was very limited and wanton killing of people was not part of the game plan of terrorist organizations.

It is very frightening to read how much chaos can be sowed by a modest number of fanatical people.

Must reading to grasp what the world is facing in the extremist Islamic threat.