The Search for Al Qaeda
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Narrated by:
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David Colacci
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By:
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Bruce Riedel
About this listen
Al Qaeda is the most dangerous terrorist movement in history. Yet most people in the Americas and Europe know very little about it, or their view is clouded by misperceptions and half truths. If the first rule of war is to "know your enemy", then we have a long way to go. This important book fills this gap with a comprehensive analysis of al Qaeda - the origins, leadership, ideology, and strategy of the terrorist network that brought down the Twin Towers and continues to threaten us today.
Bruce Riedel is an expert on the Middle East and South Asia, with 30 years of intelligence and policymaking experience. He was actually in the White House Situation Room during the 9/11 attacks, serving as special assistant to the president and National Security Council senior director for Near East Affairs. He draws on this insider experience in profiling the four most important figures in the al Qaeda movement: Osama bin Laden, its creator and charismatic leader; ideologue Ayman Zawahiri, its Egyptian coleader and principal spokesman; Abu Musaib al Zarqawi, leader of al Qaeda in Iraq until his death in 2006; and Mullah Omar, its Taliban host. These profiles provide the base from which Riedel delivers a much clearer understanding of al Qaeda and what must be done to counter it.
The Search for al Qaeda reviews how al Qaeda was created and developed, presenting authoritative and chilling background on "The Manhattan Raid", but Riedel focuses more closely on what has happened to it since that awful day. He outlines al Qaeda's ultimate goals, which are to drive America out of the Muslim world, to destroy Israel, and to create a jihadist caliphate larger than the Ottoman Empire at its height. The book concludes with a strategy for dealing with - and defeating - this most dangerous menace. The book is published by Brookings Institution Press.
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Story
Until his assassination by US drone strike in January 2020, commander Qassem Soleimani was one of the most powerful men in Iran and the military spearhead for Iranian foreign policy, enacting the wishes of the country's Supreme Leader in the region. A widely popular but also feared maverick operator, he helped to establish the Islamic Republic as a major force in the Middle East, with interventions in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen. This was a long way from where he began as a youth, living on the margins in a country ruled by a monarch supported by the United States.
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Rather disappointing
- By Aliz on 01-19-21
By: Arash Azizi
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The Longest War
- America and Al-Qaeda Since 9/11
- By: Peter L. Bergen
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 16 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Longest War, Peter Bergen offers a comprehensive history of this war and its evolution, from the strategies devised in the wake of the 9/11 attacks to the fighting in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and beyond. Weaving together internal documents from al-Qaeda and the U.S. offices of counterterrorism, first-person interviews with top-level jihadists and senior Washington officials, along with his own experiences on the ground in the Middle East, Bergen balances the accounts of each side.
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More Bush bashing..yes, but still worth reading.
- By Dennis on 01-18-11
By: Peter L. Bergen
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Dirty Wars
- The World Is a Battlefield
- By: Jeremy Scahill
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 24 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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From Afghanistan and Pakistan to Yemen, Somalia, and beyond, Scahill speaks to the CIA agents, mercenaries, and elite Special Operations Forces operators who populate the dark side of American war-fighting. He goes deep into al Qaeda-held territory in Yemen and walks the streets of Mogadishu with CIA-backed warlords. We also meet the survivors of US night raids and drone strikes - including families of US citizens targeted for assassination by their own government - who reveal the human consequences of the dirty wars the United States struggles to keep hidden.
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Non political BUT very anti-violence
- By aaron on 05-11-13
By: Jeremy Scahill
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ISIS
- A History
- By: Fawaz A. Gerges
- Narrated by: Bradley Hayes
- Length: 12 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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The Islamic State has stunned the world with its savagery, destructiveness, and military and recruiting successes. What explains the rise of ISIS, and what does it portend for the future of the Middle East? In this book, one of the world's leading authorities on political Islam and jihadism sheds new light on these questions as he provides a unique history of the rise and growth of ISIS. Moving beyond journalistic accounts, Fawaz Gerges provides a clear and compelling account of the deeper conditions that fuel ISIS.
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Great information and understanding
- By Anon on 12-02-16
By: Fawaz A. Gerges
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Inside Terrorism
- By: Bruce Hoffman
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 17 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Bruce Hoffman's Inside Terrorism has remained a seminal work for understanding the historical evolution of terrorism and the terrorist mindset. In this revised edition of the classic text, Hoffman analyzes the new adversaries, motivations, and tactics of global terrorism that have emerged in recent years, focusing specifically on how al Qaeda has changed since 9/11; the reasons behind its resiliency, resonance, and longevity; and its successful use of the internet and videotapes to build public support and gain new recruits.
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Good historical information but has issues
- By Alex on 11-09-22
By: Bruce Hoffman
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The Hundred Years' War on Palestine
- A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917--2017
- By: Rashid Khalidi
- Narrated by: Fajer Al-Kaisi, Rashid Khalidi - introduction
- Length: 10 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Drawing on a wealth of untapped archival materials and the reports of generations of family members - mayors, judges, scholars, diplomats, and journalists - The Hundred Years' War on Palestine upends accepted interpretations of the conflict, which tend, at best, to describe a tragic clash between two peoples with claims to the same territory. Instead, Khalidi traces a hundred years of colonial war on the Palestinians, waged first by the Zionist movement and then Israel, but backed by Britain and the United States, the great powers of the age.
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Thoroughly Researched and Evidence-Based, but...
- By K on 05-24-21
By: Rashid Khalidi
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The Iran Wars
- Spy Games, Bank Battles, and the Secret Deals That Reshaped the Middle East
- By: Jay Solomon
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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The Iran Wars is an absorbing account of a battle waged on many levels - military, financial, and covert. Jay Solomon’s book is the product of extensive in-depth reporting and interviews with all the key players in the conflict - from high-ranking Iranian officials to Secretary of State John Kerry and his negotiating team. With a reporter’s masterly investigative eye and the narrative dexterity of a great historian, Solomon shows how Iran’s nuclear development went unnoticed for years by the international community only to become its top security concern.
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Titled Towards Confrontation
- By Jim on 03-19-17
By: Jay Solomon
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Defeating Jihad
- The Winnable War
- By: Dr. Sebastian Gorka
- Narrated by: Russell Wade, Sebastian Gorka - prologue
- Length: 4 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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America's fight against radical Islam could soon be over, and a top secret plan from the Cold War is the key to our victory. Dr. Sebastian Gorka, counterinsurgency expert and Distinguished Chair of Military Theory at Marine Corps University, explains how America can win the war on terror quickly and decisively by delegitimizing the enemy in the eyes of its followers - a strategy that won the Cold War and would end the era of Jihad forever.
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Now is the time to implement Dr. Gorka's jihad solution
- By Desiree on 04-23-16
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Radicalized
- New Jihadists and the Threat to the West
- By: Peter R. Neumann, Alexander Starritt - translator
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 6 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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The 2015 Paris and San Bernardino terrorist attacks heralded the beginning of a new wave of terrorism - one rooted in the ongoing conflict in Syria and Iraq that shows the possibility of foreign attackers working with citizens of the country. As ISIS seeks to expand its reach in the Middle East, its territory serves as a training and operations base for a new generation of jihadis.
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Drink every time he says “milieu”
- By Anonymous User on 12-31-21
By: Peter R. Neumann, and others
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The Folly and the Glory
- America, Russia, and Political Warfare: 1945-2020
- By: Tim Weiner
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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From Tim Weiner, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, an urgent and gripping account of the 75-year battle between the US and Russia that led to the election and impeachment of an American president.
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Worst Narration Ever
- By Amy on 02-15-21
By: Tim Weiner
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The American War in Afghanistan
- A History 1st Edition
- By: Carter Malkasian
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 27 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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The American war in Afghanistan, which began in 2001, is now the longest armed conflict in the nation's history. It is currently winding down, and American troops are likely to leave soon - but only after a stay of nearly two decades.
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A superb summary of the Afghan war
- By Charles Olmsted on 06-18-22
By: Carter Malkasian
What listeners say about The Search for Al Qaeda
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Professor Woland
- 04-28-15
Started well and then turned into meals-on-wheels
It started out with some insightful background on the topic and interesting insider analysis, but somewhere it turned into standard meals on wheels foreign policy thesis. "We have to bribe the world to love us." I should say I am not a Republican or a hard right anything, and while I am all for foreign aid, I just don't believe that all our problems can be resolved by bribing Afghanistan and Iraq off with schools, hospitals, and LED TV's...
In the end of the day wasn't the left wing making fun of W for "spreading democracy?" We have interests around the world, whether they are security or civil rights we can only truly intervene in the long term, if we have real partners locally someone who's interests align with ours as much as theirs and not just someone who can speak English (Karzai). Otherwise it's all stick and no carrot, not because we are evil western imperialists, but because our leaders have responsibility for our security first. Otherwise, it's the "Mouse who roared."
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