Michael Scheuer – författare

9/11 almost instantaneously remade American politics and foreign policy. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Patriot Act, water boarding and Guantanamo are examples of its profound and far-reaching effects. But despite its numental impact--and a deluge of books about al-Qaeda and Islamist terrorism--no one has written a serious assessment of the man who planned it, Osama bin Laden. Available biographies depict bin Laden as an historical figure, the mastermind behind 9/11, but no longer relevant to the world it created. These accounts, Michael Scheuer strongly believes, have contributed to a widespread and dangerous denial of his continuing significance and power. In this book, Scheuer provides a much-needed corrective--a hard-headed, closely reasoned portrait of bin Laden, showing him to be a figure of remarkable leadership skills, strategic genius, and considerable rhetorical abilities. The first head of the CIA's bin Laden Unit, where he led the effort to track down bin Laden, Scheuer draws from a wealth of information about bin Laden and his evolution from peaceful Saudi dissident to America's Most Wanted. Shedding light on his development as a theologian, media manipulator, and paramilitary commander, Scheuer makes use of all the speeches and interviews bin Laden has given as well as lengthy interviews, testimony, and previously untranslated documents written by those who grew up with bin Laden in Saudi Arabia, served as his bodyguards and drivers, and fought alongside him against the Soviets. The bin Laden who emerges from these accounts is devout, talented, patient, and ruthless; in other words, a truly formidable and implacable enemy of the West.

Before Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. troops in Pakistan on May 2, 2011, the shadowy leader of al-Qaeda had all but disappeared from public consciousness. Largely depicted as a historical figure, he was viewed by the media, government, and public as the mastermind behind 9/11, but no longer relevant to the world it created. Yet to view the man through this lens, Michael Scheuer argues, only contributes to a widespread denial of his ultimate significance and power. In this newly updated paperback edition, Scheuer, the first head of the CIA's bin Laden Unit, draws from a wealth of interviews, speeches, and previously un-translated documents to challenge the complacency of the West's perception of Osama bin Laden. Exploring bin Laden's evolution from a peaceful Saudi dissident to America's Most Wanted and shedding light on his development as a theologian, media manipulator, and military commander, Scheuer produces a closely reasoned, authoritative portrait of America's most determined enemy. Discrediting prevailing claims that depict bin Laden as irrelevant or unimportant, Scheuer's much-needed corrective shows a figure of remarkable leadership skills, strategic genius, and considerable rhetorical abilities who was significantly underestimated by the West. In light of the success of the U.S. Special Forces mission that brought down bin Laden in Pakistan, Scheuer expands his argument to consider the political landscape that bin Laden left behind and the dark legacy that survives him. Despite the reactions of the media and American public to bin Laden's death and the renewed depictions of him as a simplistic, one-dimensional foe, Scheuer argues that the jihadist leader was truly a complex and formidable enemy of the West, and that his influence and ideology take on a heightened relevance in the wake of his death. "Steeped in detailed knowledge of the Saudi jihadist. It is a needed corrective to most of the airy generalizations about bin Laden and his followers."--The Financial Times "A highly readable and jargon-free book...a serious and non-ideological treatment and analysis of bin Laden's thinking.... One of the most detailed biographical sketches of bin Laden available in the West."--Library Journal "Scheuer was long the dean of U.S. government analysts of Osama bin Laden.... In this volume he has distilled his decade and half of thinkingto produce a portrait of bin Laden that is authoritative." --Peter Bergen, author of The Longest War and Holy War, Inc.

Access a Comprehensive BibliographyThough U.S. leaders try to convince the world of their success in fighting al Qaeda, one member of the U.S. intelligence community would like to inform the public that we are, in fact, losing the war on terror. Further, until U.S. leaders recognize the errant path they have irresponsibly chosen, he says, our enemies will only grow stronger.According to the author Michael Scheuer, the greatest danger for Americans confronting the Islamist threat is to believe-at the urging of U.S. leaders-that Muslims attack us for what we are and what we think rather than for what we do. Blustering political rhetoric “informs” the public that the Islamists are offended by the Western world’s democratic freedoms, civil liberties, inter-mingling of genders, and separation of church and state. However, although aspects of the modern world may offend conservative Muslims, no Islamist leader has fomented jihad to destroy participatory democracy, for example, the national association of credit unions, or coed universities. Instead, a growing segment of the Islamic world strenuously disapproves of specific U.S. policies and their attendant military, political, and economic implications.Capitalizing on growing anti-U.S. animosity, Osama bin Laden’s genius lies not simply in calling for jihad, but in articulating a consistent and convincing case that Islam is under attack by America. Al Qaeda’s public statements condemn America’s protection of corrupt Muslim regimes, unqualified support for Israel, the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan, and a further litany of real-world grievances. Bin Laden’s supporters thus identify their problem and believe their solution lies in war. Scheuer contends they will go to any length, not to destroy our secular, democratic way of life, but to deter what they view as specific attacks on their lands, their communities, and their religion. Unless U.S. leaders recognize this fact and adjust their policies abroad accordingly, even moderate Muslims will join the bin Laden camp.