Future Jihad - Walid Phares

Everybody MUST read this book. I cannot emphasize this enough. In another blog I will try to summarize the contents of this book.
It is written by a Lebanese scholar who has been studying Jihad for thirty years.
He first defines the concept of Jihad and dispels the myths associated with it. The point is made clear that Jihad is the Islamic war by all Muslims against the infidels.
His analysis is a historical review of Jihad, who are the Jihadists, The Caliphate, the new Jihad, Jihadist strategies against America, Bin Laden's strategy against America , America's failure to deal with Jihad.

Anyone who has pondered the meaning of the events of 9/11 must read this book. Anyone who believes that Muslims are "peace loving" must read this book. Anyone who feels that American foreign policy was the cause of 9/11 must read this book.

Many people would have picked up the Qu'ran and read it in an attempt to understand the mind of the Islamic terrorist/suicide bomber. They will have ended up shaking their heads in frustration and incomprehension.
The Qu'ran is only one piece of the puzzle. The other piece is the Caliphate, how it is all pervasive in the mindset of Muslims and how it is the guiding principle for all their actions which are either misunderstood or misinterpreted by the western world.
In summary, there are six simultaneous strategies used by Jihadists:

1. Economic jihad: oil as a weapon
2. Ideological jihad: intellectual penetration
3. Political jihad: mollification of the public
4. Intelligence jihad: infiltration of the country
5. Subversive jihad: behind enemy lines and protected by its laws
6. Diplomatic jihad: controlling foreign policy

Here is a quote from the book

on how the U.S. and western policies came under the control of the larger web of fundamentalist influence...The Taliban came to exist because the Saudis convinced the United States of their benefit; Hezbollah was allowed to take over in Lebanon because Riyadh protected the Syrian backers of the organization; al Qaeda was missed because the Wahabi influence warned Washington about "complications in the Muslim world" ; genocide took place in the Sudan because Washington listened to Saudi and Egyptian advice; human rights abuses in the region were not addressed significantly because the Wahabi funded academic establishment dismissed their reality when advising the U.S. goovernment...

Up till now, I have ridiculed the Muslim extremists on my blogs but I realize that pre-occupy our concerns with Muslim culture, such as the burka or the veil or whatever are insignificant, they are a diversion from the real issues.

I will summarize the book, it is well worth reading. It will change your view of the world by opening your eyes and letting you see what is really happening.