The Terror Years: From al-Qaeda to the Islamic State

A collection of Wright's essays on terror published in 2016. The first three chapters are, basically, part of his award-winning The Looming Tower, covering al-Zawahiri, John O'Niell, and Ali Soufan. The rest of the chapters cover other things, namely: Saudi society, the Spanish al-Qaeda attacks, Syrian film directors, al-Zarqawi and Iraq, Michael McConnell, Dr. Fadl's switch on jihad, Gaza, and Western hostages taken by groups in Syria. Some chapters are light, like the Saudi one, others gripping and sad, like the ones on the captives. Others are straight reportage. The most interesting to me what "The Rebellion Within" on Dr. Fadl's philosophical support for jihad, then his philosophical retreat from jihad. An epilogue rounds things show more out. A few things. In this book, Wright's liberal tendencies come out a bit more, with a few side swipes at the Bush administration ("The 2003 invasion of Iraq by U.S. and coalition partners stands as one of the greatest blunders in American history" [p. xiii].) But, he lays ISIS at Bush's feet, not Obama's. And even though Obama does not come across very well in the chapter on American hostages, none of his actions is labeled "one of the greatest blunders." I wonder what Wright would write after Trump's policies (as of August 2020) rolled back and defeated ISIS, kept us out of a quagmire in Syria, left a mostly stable Iraq, hamstrung Iran, and normalized relations between Israel and the U.A.E. (with Saudi Arabia and others likely to follow). I bet it wouldn't be flattering, as liberal Austinites like Wright can't see past their conceits, biases, and hatreds. I would have liked to have seen a chapter on the hunt for and death of Bin Laden, which only received brief mention. The book has the air of a collection of essays, being thrown together. No source notes this time. A decent read, though incomplete. show less