This wonderful small book brings to an end much journalistic nonsense that followed 11 September 2001 in its definitive treatment of its causes and repercussions. To the Palestinian journalist Abdel Bari Atwan, what happened on that day was a natural conclusion to decades of Arab frustration and Western neglect.
Honourably, but not totally successfully, he tries to be condemning of both sides. The sweep of his broad, sensitive and near perfect judgment cancels the importance of individuals, Osama bin Laden included, and focuses instead on the march of folly, which promises more such catastrophes in the future.
However, bin Laden is still central to the tale. Atwan begins his narrative by recalling his own 1996 trip to Afghanistan to interview him. What must have been a ghastly, uncomfortable journey slips into an exposé of why bin Laden matters and why he was in Afghanistan. The background to Islam’s pretender to the Caliphate, modern Islamic fundamentalism and what they mean to the rest of the world, is laid out in a simple, memorable way. This is a book for both the layman and for the professional.
The rest of the book, crammed with original information and uncomplicated opinion, unfolds with the ease of Jay Gatsby’s captivating tale of how the very rich are different from the rest of us:
It is my opinion that Western governments — in particular the US of President George W. Bush and the UK of Prime Minister Tony Blair — do not fully understand the level of the threat, why it has arisen or how to deal with it.
Superficially, this condemnation of the two Western leaders who claim the moral high ground absolves the Arab side of the conflict. But in fact, bin Laden and Saddam Hussein get as much condemnation, if not more.
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