Read article--The Crossroads of History: The Struggle against Jihad and Supremacist Ideologies

"....The true challenge of Islamic supremacism to America and the free world is not about Islam, Islamism, or terrorism, but about us.

It is a historic challenge to determine whether we truly have the courage of our convictions on equality and liberty and we are willing to fight for these ideals, or if we will instead accept the continuing growth of anti-freedom ideologies here and around the world...."

Let us dare to read, think and speak the truth.

(paraphrase of John Adams in 1765)

REQUIRED Reading

for Counterintelligence, Counterterrorism, Intelligence, Security, Defense, Homeland Security and Law Enforcement Professionals

Those with War on Terrorism responsibilities have a Professional Duty to know the enemy.

Note this page is not called "Recommended Reading" because intelligence professionals must take the time to read books that explain the mindset, motivations, laws and doctrines that guide Islamic Jihadist terrorists who want to kill Americans--here in the US or overseas.

As a member of the US national security/homeland security community whose ultimate and only job is to protect the United States and U.S. citizens, you do not have the luxury of participating in the philosophical debate of what Islam supposedly is or isn't. In order to protect lives, you must know what the jihadi terrorists think and say Islam is and what Islamic Law and Doctrine states--because they act on those beliefs, whether their views of Islam are wrong or right.

Reading the following books will help you gain a better understanding of this threat. Many of the authors have to publish under pen names and live in hiding to protect themselves (Islamic apologist authors don't have to do this). They have provided us a warning--wake up and listen to what they have to say. 

Important CI Centre courses on this topic:

• 361--The War on Terrorism: Roots of the Conflict and Counterintelligence Response

• 561--The War on Terror: A Practical Response (countersurveillance, practice exercises)

• 362--Informant Development to Fight the War on Terrorism: Jihadist Islamic Doctrine for Law Enforcement Officers

Jump to Category Below:

Islam  |  In Their Own Words  |  The War of Ideas

Road to Radicalism  |  Storm Petrels

Islamic Terrorism  |  Jihadist War Against Democracy

Democracy's War Against Jihadism  |  Jihadist Financing

Dhimmitude  |  Eurabia  |  World War 0  |  Articles

Reports  |  Videos  |  Podcasts  |  Websites  |  Quotes

"If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle."--Sun Tzu

"I say you need to get out and read what our enemies have said. Remember Hitler. Remember he wrote Mein Kampf. He said in writing exactly what his plan was, and we collectively ignored that to our great detriment. Now, our enemies have said publicly on film, on the Internet their goal is to destroy our way of life. No equivocation on their part."--General Peter Pace, Joint Chiefs of Staff

"We must defeat the extremism of bin Laden and his associated movement. It's murderous. It's ruthless. It's very capable. It's got strength as a network unlike any nonstate actor the world has ever seen before. We've got to defeat it...Think of it as an opportunity to confront fascism in 1920 if only we'd had the guts to do it then. I believe that if we don't have guts enough to confront this ideology today, we will move toward World War III tomorrow. We can walk away from this enemy, but they will not walk away from us."--General John Abizaid, former chief of CENTCOM

"We never had an enemy who is more concerned with us knowing what he is going to do, why he is going to do it, and how long it is going to continue and we continue to behave as if the enemy doesn’t exist or is somehow a minor force in the world."--Michael Scheuer, former head of CIA's Al Qaeda unit, in his testimony before Congress 17 Apr 07

Because They Hate: A Survivor of Islamic Terror Warns America by Brigitte Gabriel

The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades) by Robert Spencer

The War of Ideas: Jihadism against Democracy by Walid Phares

Now They Call Me Infidel: Why I Renounced Jihad for America, Israel, and the War on Terror by Nonie Darwish

Why I Am Not a Muslim by Ibn Warraq

The Sword of the Prophet: History, Theology, Impact on the World by Serge Trifkovic

Field manuals for Jihadists:

Reliance of the Traveller: The Classic Manual of Islamic Sacred Law Umdat Al-Salik by Ahmad Ibn Lulu Ibn Al-Naqib

In the Words of Our Enemies, Jed Babbin

Defending the West: A Critique of Edward Said's Orientalism by Ibn Warraq

In this thorough reconsideration of Said’s famous work, Ibn Warraq argues that Said’s case against the West is seriously flawed. Warraq accuses Said of not only willfully misinterpreting the work of many scholars, but also of systematically misrepresenting Western civilization as a whole.

The Art of War by Sun Tzu

So it is said that if you know others and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles; if you do not know others but know yourself, you win one and lose one; if you do not know others and do not know yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle".

The Rage and The Pride by Oriana Fallaci

With her well-known courage Oriana Fallaci faces the themes unchained by the Islamic terrorism: the contrast and, in her opinion, incompatibility between the Islamic world and the Western world; the global reality of the Jihad and the lack of response, the lenience of the West. With her rigorous logic, lucidity of mind, she defends our culture and blames what she calls our blindness, our deafness, our masochism, the conformism and the arrogance of the Politically Correct. With the poetry of a prophet like a modern Cassandra she says it in the form of a letter addressed to all of us.

The Force of Reason by Oriana Fallaci

In The Force of Reason Fallaci takes aim at the many attacks and death threats she received after the publication of The Rage and the Pride. Ms. Fallaci begins by identifying herself with one Master Cecco, the author of a heretical book who was burnt at the stake during the Inquisition seven centuries ago on account of his beliefs, and proceeds with a rigorous analysis of the burning of Troy and the creation of a Europe that, to her judgment, is no longer her familiar homeland but rather a place best called Eurabia, a soon-to-be colony of Islam (with Italy as its stronghold). Ms. Fallaci explores her ideas in historical, philosophical, moral, and political terms, courageously addressing taboo topics with sharp logic.

The Suicide of Reason: Radical Islam's Threat to the West by Lee Harris

Whether by choice or not, the West finds itself in a low-grade yet bitter war with Islamic fanaticism. It is a war the West is singularly ill equipped to fight. The foe is resistant to any of the normal methods of conflict resolution such as negotiation, economic sanctions, or conventional armed confrontation. Suicide of Reason shows how modern liberal societies, whose political theories are born of the Enlightenment, are unfamiliar with the nature o mass fanaticism. The West can only think of fanaticism as a social pathology, a failure to modernize, rather than as what it is: a variety of social order that is not only fully viable in the modern world but also willing to use weapons to which the West is uniquely vulnerable. A governing philosophy based on reason, tolerance, and consensus cannot defend itself against a strategy of ruthless violence without being radically transformed--or destroyed.

Why We Fight: Moral Clarity and the War on Terrorism by William J. Bennett

Bennett worries that this "countermovement of America-bashing" will make the United States lose its resolve: "What I fear is the erosion of moral clarity, and the spread of indifference and confusion, as a thousand voices discourse with energy and zeal on the questionable nature, if not the outright illegitimacy, of our methods or our cause." Bennett cites dozens of examples of professors who decry U.S. foreign policy and pundits who object to so much flag flying. "Many of us have forgotten what we once knew about our freedoms and our decencies, and we have forgotten why, time and time again, we have had to rally ourselves to the point of ultimate sacrifice to defend them," writes Bennett.

The Public Diplomacy Reader by J. Michael Waller

Waller shows that strategic communication can be most successful when it is integrated with psychological strategy, a culture of strategic influence, and political courage. The Founding Fathers understood that to defeat the world’s mightiest empire they had to get into the minds of the decision-makers and the public abroad and to animate and motivate the people at home for a long, protracted war. The United States regained that understanding during World War II and parts of the Cold War, but has yet to recover from the unilateral political disarmament of the early 1990s. Our public diplomacy leaders now flail for a strategy without really knowing what a global political strategy is. They seem fearful of the strategic influence culture, hobbled by political correctness, and lacking in knowledge of precedents to guide them. The Public Diplomacy Reader is intended to help fill in that knowledge void in its 500 pages of essays, letters, speeches and documents

Unholy Alliance: Radical Islam and the American Left by David Horowitz

It sounds absurd: why would Leftists make common cause with a religion that is diametrically opposed to everything the Left stands for? David Horowitz explains that it is really quite logical given the Left's first principle: America is evil and anything or anyone opposed to America is good.
 

America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It By Mark Steyn

Europe, laments Steyn, is almost certainly a goner. The future, if the West has one, belongs to America alone—with maybe its cousins in brave Australia. But America can survive, prosper, and defend its freedom only if it continues to believe in itself, in the sturdier virtues of self-reliance (not government), in the centrality of family, and in the conviction that our country really is the world’s last best hope.

The Caged Virgin: An Emancipation Proclamation for Women and Islam by Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Murder in Amsterdam: The Death of Theo van Gogh and the Limits of Tolerance by Ian Buruma

Van Gogh, a provocative media personality in the Netherlands, was shot and stabbed on an Amsterdam street in November 2004 by a young radical, the son of Moroccan immigrants, who accused him of blasphemy against Islam.

Muslim Brotherhood infiltration/ influence in America

Future Jihad: Terrorist Strategies against the West by Walid Phares

This Foreign Affairs bestseller from MSNBC terrorism expert Walid Phares allows a frightening look into the future of jihad. Phares--who has served as an expert with the Justice Department, briefed the Defense and State Departments, and testified to Congress--shows that there has been a fundamental misunderstanding about al Qaeda's ultimate goal in the West and what victory means to jihadists. Future Jihad shows how our defenses have been infiltrated; identifies the future generation of home-grown terrorists; and points the way for America to win the ideological war at the heart of jihad.

The Roots of Jihad by Tawfik Hamid

The Roots of Jihad provides unique insight into different aspects of current Islamic militancy. It was written by an "insider" - a Muslim Arab who was personally exposed to that ideology and understands its religious and political underpinnings. Being a thinker, the author has come up with constructive ideas to confront Jihad - the gist of Islamic supremacist violence. Unlike numerous other books on this timely subject, this short volume does not just describe and criticize the Jihadist militant ideology but, through a thorough understanding of Islam, it suggests ways to defeat it ideologically. Just the short "Article 1" (pp. 128-138), which can be read in 10 minutes, makes this book unique and highly valuable, as the author demonstrates here the methodology, based on first hand knowledge of the Qur'an, ways to defeat the scourge of Islamic militancy.

American Jihad: The Terrorists Living Among Us by Steven Emerson

For more than 10 years, Emerson has studied Islamic groups that operate in the United States for the express purpose of funding and managing deadly terrorist organizations. American Jihad summarizes what he has learned, and it isn't comforting.

Militant Islam Reaches America by Daniel Pipes

Pipes explains what exactly militant Islam is and stresses the large and crucial difference between Islam, the faith, and militant Islam the ideology. He demonstrates that there is no clash of civilizations underway, but a battle for the soul of Islam among Muslims themselves. He shows that militant Islam is not mainly caused by poverty and that its adherents, far from being the dispossessed, tend to include the more talented and Westernized elements. Militant Islam has strikingly much in common with fascism and communism. Indeed, Pipes demonstrates that the U.S. government has, without realizing it, become a patron of the Islamic faith by helping Muslims spread their message.

Infiltration: How Muslim Spies and Subversives have Penetrated Washington by Paul Sperry

Investigative journalist Paul Sperry explains how, for the past thirty years, Islamist extremists have been covertly working to destroy our constitutional government and the Judeo-Christian ethics on which our nation was built. Their goal, according to Sperry, is to replace the U.S. Constitution with the Quran and turn America into an Islamic state. And, as Sperry details point-by-point, they have been unwittingly aided in their sinister aims by the politically correct media, government, and citizens, who don't fully understand the dangers of the Muslim faith.

The Age of Sacred Terror: Radical Islam's War Against America by Daniel Benjamin, Steven Simon

Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon trace the growth of radical Islam from its medieval origins and, drawing on their years of counterterrorism work at the National Security Council, provide essential insights into the thinking of Usama bin Laden and his followers. With unique authority, they analyze why America was unable to defend itself against this revolutionary threat on September 11, 2001, why bin Laden’s apocalyptic creed is gaining ground in the Islamic world, and what the United States must do to stop the new terror.

Triple Cross: How bin Laden's Master Spy Penetrated the CIA, the Green Berets, and the FBI by Peter Lance

MUST READING FOR ALL AMERICANS: In the years leading to the 9/11 attacks, no single agent of al Qaeda was more successful in compromising the U.S. intelligence community than Ali Mohamed. A former Egyptian army captain, Mohamed succeeded in infiltrating the CIA in Europe, the Green Berets at Fort Bragg, and the FBI in California—even as he helped to orchestrate the al Qaeda campaign of terror that culminated in 9/11. For almost two decades, the former Egyptian army commando succeeded in living a double life. Brazenly slipping past watch lists, he moved in and out of the U.S. with impunity, marrying an American woman, becoming a naturalized citizen, and posing as an FBI informant—all while acting as chief of security for Osama bin Laden and Ayman Al-Zawahiri. Known to his fellow terrorists as Ali Amiriki, or "Ali the American," Mohamed gained access to the most sensitive intelligence in the U.S. counterterrorism arsenal while brokering terror summits, planning bombing missions, and training jihadis in bomb building, assassination, the creation of sleeper cells, and other acts of espionage.

Jihad Incorporated: A Guide to Militant Islam in the Us by Steven Emerson

This work emphasizes current radical activities in the United States and the threat they might pose to national security. Divided into three sections, the work first sets the stage for the current situation by reviewing the lessons learned from previous terrorist plots and attacks both within our borders and against American interests abroad. Emerson and colleagues profile key players in the terrorist network and describe their various criminal activities before and since 9/11. The second section analyzes organizations in the Middle East besides al Qaeda that are hostile to the United States: Hamas, Hizballah, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and radical groups in Pakistan. The third section analyzes the subtle, wide-ranging support system for terrorist activities that exists within our own borders: charities and foundations that secretly solicit for terror; the complex corporate web of companies, charities, and nonprofit corporations known as the SAAR network; mosques that provide cover for terrorists; the use of the Internet for terrorist communication; and lobbying efforts by Muslim American organizations to influence the top echelons of the federal government.

Onward Muslim Soldiers: How Jihad Still Threatens America and the West by Robert Spencer

Defeating Jihad: How the War on Terrorism Can Be Won - in Spite of Ourselves by Serge Trifkovic

Well after 9-11 the backbone of Islamic terrorist network is far from broken. Experts warn that for every Jihadist in custody or dead there are a few more at large, and that there will be many more New Yorks, Balis, and Madrids in the years to come. Future targets may also include vital infrastructure and energy installations. The reach and operational capability of Islamist terror cells is growing. They are present in areas previously closed to the recruiters of future "martyrs," notably in Iraq, and in countries where a mere decade ago they did not have a significant presence, most notably Indonesia. The network is now global and capable of simultaneous attacks in different countries, e.g. in Turkey and Morocco. Al-Qaeda and its loosely linked offshoots are fielding a second generation of terrorists, many of them Muslim immigrants and their offspring in the Western world. The decentralized pattern of new threats makes counter-terrorist measures difficult. There is no command and control system to disrupt: just self-motivated groups of young people, some deeply embedded in Western host-societies. Conclusion: a comprehensive new strategy is needed, the one that may give us victory in this war; and it is the purpose of this book to provide the blueprint for victory.