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Religious Book Store > Religious books beginning with A
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Against Us: The New Face of America's Enemies in the Muslim World |
Author: Jim Sciutto
Published: 2008-09-09 |
List price: $24.95
Our price: $16.47
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As of: January 08th, 2009 06:09:46 PM
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Customer comments on this selection.
 Sciutto
This book provides an illuminating account of how American has managed to alienate citizens in the middle east through erred foreign policies. He talks about the Muslims who believe the US is trying to control their lives and why we are losing the battle for the hearts and minds of Muslims around the globe. He doesn't take aim at any administration in particular but rather gives a voice to the everyday people living around the globe who have developed what he calls a reflexive distrust of America. Sciutto offers tales of everyday people, and provides a glimpse into the perspective of American through the eyes of Jordanians, Egyptians, Iranians, Pakistanis etc. An informative read.
Insightful
Book is well written and insightful. It makes me look at things differently. It was individual chapters that made it easy to read. Good Book.
Inquisitive Minds
Jim Sciutto isn't one of those typical Network Television reporters who dashes around war zones pretending to get shot at constantly and know more than the rest of us.
He is a even-handed student of the Islamic world, attempting in his own humble way to understand the ire and distrust that exists therein. I expect the negative reviewers, of whom there are few here, have not spent time in "moderate" Islamic countries like Egypt or Jordan, where entire populations have turned against the Bush Admin's blundering attempts to impose American "interests" on the the utter chaos that grips that part of the world. The top highlight of this book is a chapter on an Iraqi doctor in Baghdad who was "all-hail-to-the-Bush-Admin" when the war started and now believes every Anti-American conspiracy theory that raises its ugly head. Note that he is a Shiite Doctor, not a Sunni. It is important to know the difference! He was a supporter of "our man in Baghdad," Ahmed Chalabi, and now -- after treating thousands upon thousands of bloody victims from a holy war that had never existed in his homeland before the arrival of US troops -- he is thoroughly disenchanted with the American approach. Don't take my word for this. Read the chapter and you decide. Also, as one who spent several years in Egypt, and who has many good friends in that troubled land, I want to thank Jim Sciutto for digging up and revealing one of the most obvious but under-reported stories in the Islamic world today: American allies who love to torture! Sciutto takes the time to find a blogger, Wael Abbass, who runs Misr Digital, a blog that documents government abuse. Prison guards (Sound Familiar!) who happily videotaped and photographed torture sessions with government enemies, have provided Wael with footage from inside Egyptian prisons. Did we think they were torturing would-be suicide bombers? No. Actually they torture the moderates who are fighting the authoritarian regime that Washington supports! As Jim writes, "One woman ... is hog-tied to a broomstick suspended between two chairs. Her arms and legs are swung over the top, the backs of her knees resting on the stick. leaving her body hanging like an animal in a barbecue pit....She is still wearing her jewelry. Tears stream down her face." Why do we hear so little of this reported in the main stream press??? And, yes, we still give Egypt 2 billion a year for its own "security."
Hmm. And our CIA Director told Charlie Rose that the US takes Egypt at its word when they say they don't torture. We work closely with Egypt whenever we want to "render" a "bad guy." Can anyone wonder why even the moderates now accuse us of double standards? (Or was that the SAME standard?)
The founders of our great nation spoke of inalienable rights. They were talking about the human condition and they had set out to defend you and me. (Human beings of all persuasions.) These values are universal and -- low and behold -- most in the Islamic world also hold them to be self evident. They also hold us accountable as we should our own leaders.
Jim's book is a welcome wake-up call for all those who stupidly believe McCain's line that we are "on the road to victory." Eloquent and thoughtful, "Against Us" will go a way towards helping us all understand what went wrong and how to "WIN" this thing in the end.
"Care to talk about America?"
"As an American, you deserve to die." says the failed suicide bomber Jim Sciutto had occasion to interview face-to-face for Against Us.
In Against Us, Jim Scuitto presents a collection of interviews with a wide range of characters from different countries in the Muslim world. The topic of discussion is The United States. There are pro-democracy activists, hard core Al-Qaeda, pro-Hezbollah Christians just to name a few. There are byzantine conspiracy theories on everything from CIA earthquake generating super-bombs to Japanese Kamikazee pilots.
Scuitto reports on the growing problem The United States and the West face in the coming years: many in the Muslim world feel that the damage done is too severe to ever be corrected. Western talk of democracy and human rights is just that...talk, hypocritical talk at that and no amount of rebuilding or democracy can compensate for the damge done. The price in Iraqi blood was too great. Afghanistan has been left in the stone age 7 years after the invasion with bumper opium harvests. Israel is an American agent of domination in the region.
It's not all bad news. There are positive stories and there is some optimism that relations with The United States and the West can one day be repaired. The author doesn't bombard the reader with his opinion and instead reports on the content of his interviews with the people he meets.
Good reading no matter what your politics. Good reporting from Jim Scuitto. You have to have guts to sit down with a suicide bomber face-to-face and ask "care to talk about America?"
 Wow - In support of radical Islamist propaganda!
OK - The United States appears Imperialistic to some. Agreed. How does this explain away the unbelievable atrocities that are committed against fellow Muslims through out the world that chose not to follow radical Islam. Need I mention Algiers?
The radical Islamic propaganda campaign is clearly geared towards guilt ridden Americans that would like to live in a perfect world where we are all friends. Don't get me wrong that is a wonderful ideal but not an option when radical Islam has publicly proclaimed that their mission is to rid the world of infidels - All Non-Muslims! Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist and of course non radical Muslims. Take a good look at what these radicals are doing to their own women. Explain how a burka could possibly make a woman feel empowered. Ask yourself, how can "American Imperialism" be the reason for circumcisions preformed on little girls, stoning as a justifiable penalty for anything, prohibiting the education of their children, teaching 3 and 4 year olds to hate - need I go one.
There are many wonderful Muslims living amongst us who are suffering the plight of these radicals. Help them, help us! This is plain and simple propaganda and it is unfortunate that Jim Sciutto has inadvertently contributed to their agenda.
3 Cups of Tea/ Greg Mortenson is a fabulous book as is The Trouble With Islam Today/ Irshad Manji. For a unique insider's view - Infidel/ Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Brigitte Gabriel's book Because They Hate is an amazing eye-opener. I understand that Against Us is Jim Sciutto's way of trying to figure out a solution to terrorism but this perspective only adds to American guilt. We want to do the right thing by our neighbors, we want to contribute to the world in a positive way. Unfortunately, our Foreign Policy is most definitely not perfect and often ethnocentric but radical Islam is not the result of our inadequacies.
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