Batman
08-24-2004, 09:55 AM
I heard Yossef Bodansky's interview on WABC on 08,24,04. He has plenty criticism of the US strategy which may miss the point of fighting global terrorism effectively. Apparantly there are many dangerous strategies that lurk in wait for the US & World if we do not utilize the facts. He conects the dots to Iran.
The Secret History of the Iraq War (http://www.nrbookservice.com/BookPage.asp?prod_cd=c6511) by Bodansky, Yossef
Single Best Narrative (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060736798/qid=1093369570/sr=ka-1/ref=pd_ka_1/102-2467671-7634517)/Analysis of Iraq, the War on Terror, June 26, 2004
Reviewer: A reader
If you've read Yossef Bodansky before than you probably know what to expect. Mr. Bodansky wrote about Islamists training to use hijacked airliners in suicide operations against American and Western targets in 1992 when barely anyone was talking about Islamist terrorism in general, much less specifically forecasting "spectacular" attacks using the techniques the world witnessed on Sept. 11th. Mr. Bodansky is easy to ignore because the subject material is so difficult to understand. This book, like his previous ones, is not a primer on the subject of the Middle East and Islamist terror--what is is deeply incisive, unique in its analysis and conclusions, and, thanks to the author's wide range of sources (often unnamed by necessity) it produces a number of genuine "exclusives" that you won't read anywhere else. As one reviewer critiqued, major claims, though sourced, are not necessarily footnoted. If this is an excuse to ignore his work, go ahead, but do so at your own peril--not enough people took note, after all, from Bodansky's 1993 clarion call about suicide plane hijackings or the burgeoning Islamist terror threat to the West. As opinionated as the tome may be, it is also strikingly apolitical--it bears out key rationales of the Bush Adm. for going to war, but aggressively shreds high-level decision-making by Washington and the intelligence community, at the same time.
Did you know that US Marines turned up unnaturally high levels of cyanide and mustard agent in the Euphrates? Have you read Russian military intelligence (GRU) analysis of the American experience in Iraq? Do you know what captured Arab Liberation Front (ALF) operatives revealed to Israeli interrogators about Iraqi-al Qaida cooperation, subsequently confirmed by Turkish and British intelligence?
Read the book.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Secret History of the Iraq War (http://www.nrbookservice.com/BookPage.asp?prod_cd=c6511) by Bodansky, Yossef
What really happened (and is happening) in the Iraq war -- and why victory over global terrorism hangs in the balance there now
Printer Friendly Version
We have won great victories in Iraq, yet peace remains elusive. In this insightful and revealing book, Yossef Bodansky explains how these seemingly contradictory facts can both be true. He provides a dramatic record of the bravery, commitment, professionalism and resilience of the American fighting forces, along with a sober and revealing assessment of why (despite the excellence of our forces) it has been so hard to win security and stability for postwar Iraq.
Bodansky, bestselling author of Bin Laden: The Man Who Declared War on America and The High Cost of Peace: How Washington's Middle East Policy Left America Vulnerable to Terrorism, has filled this account with new revelations from intelligence and military sources. He traces the Iraq conflict from its earliest stages to the capture of Saddam and the rise of the guerrilla armies that contend against American troops today. Drawing on a great deal of material -- from both sides -- that has never come to light before, he discloses a great deal that is new and surprising as he details the causes of the war, the advance preparations, the beginnings of the conflict, the race to Baghdad, and the conclusion of the hostilities against Saddam's regime.
Along the way, Bodansky makes clear why there is simply no doubt that America had an urgent imperative to go to war against Iraq when it did. He notes ongoing cooperation between Saddam's intelligence services and Osama bin Laden's terrorists -- which began as far back as the early 1990s -- and reveals the shocking extent to which Saddam's Iraq was involved in international terrorist activities, including its supplying of operational WMDs to al Qaeda in fall 2002.
But that's just the beginning. Bodansky also explores the jihad that Shi'ites and other Muslim groups began to wage with great fervor after Saddam's fall. He explains why the conflict didn't end with the fall of Saddam, exploring the pivotal roles of Iran and al Qaeda in stoking hostilities in postwar Iraq, and detailing the nature of the jihadist forces that America faces now. With a historian's long view of the present conflicts and a keen understanding of the forces at play in Iraq and the Middle East in general, Bodansky assesses strategic mistakes that have been made thus far in Iraq, and explains what we must do now to secure a lasting victory. Some highlights:
Revealed: insider details of the divisions and debates over Iraq and WMDs that consumed Washington before the war began
Syria and Iran: how they reacted to American preparations for war against Iraq -- including extensive and ongoing cooperation
Developments in Iraq and Israel that led Washington to accelerate its war preparations
The initial engagements of the Iraq war: why they did not unfold as widely expected
Why it became so difficult so quickly for American forces to "liberate, not occupy" Iraq
Discovered in England: "the smoking gun" supporting the Bush administration's insistence that Saddam's Iraq was a central player in global terrorist efforts
Salman Pak: the Iraqi base where radical Muslims received elaborate training in the use of chemical weapons and poisons
The Shi'ite "militias" that began popping up in the Shi'ite slums of Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq after Saddam's fall: evidence that they were and are funded and controlled by Iran
Rulings from prestigious Muslim authorities commanding Muslims to wage jihad against the U.S. in Iraq
How, although the removal of Saddam was urgent and long overdue, the war could actually have been avoided
France's offers of lavish military, economic and political aid to the Iraqi Shi'ites - deliverable only after they evicted the Americans
How Shi'ites in Iraq took a slogan from the 2000 Al Gore campaign to press their case forward
Why America and her allies were unprepared for the possibility that most Iraqis would consider themselves occupied and reject the lure of democratization
How the CIA's decision to employ officials of Saddam's old regime to rebuild Iraq only aggravated several severe misunderstandings of Iraqi realities, endangering the Americans there
Long-term ramifications of the strategic challenge to American interests in the Middle East
How U.S. analysts completely missed the emergence of radical Islam - and are now suffering the consequences
The principal target nations that radical Muslims plan to destabilize after Iraq
The single nation (not the U.S.) that holds the key to the future of Iraq and the entire region
All-inclusive, revelatory, and perceptive, The Secret History of the Iraq War is not only compelling history, but an essential handbook to understanding the headlines that come from Iraq today -- and tomorrow.
Yossef Bodansky : Yossef Bodansky (http://www.kashmiri-pandit.org/columnists/yossefbodansky/) is the Director of the Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare of the U. S. Congress, as well as the World Terrorism Analyst with the Freeman Center for Strategic Studies (Houston, Texas). He is a contributing editor of Defense and Foreign Affairs; Strategic Policy, the author of three books (Target America, terror, and crisis in Korea), several book chapters, and numerous articles in several periodicals including Global Affairs, JANE's Defence Weekly, Defense and Foreign Affairs; Strategic Policy, Business Week. In the 1980s, he acted as a senior consultant for the Department of Defense and the Department of State. The opinions expressed in the following articles are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the members of the Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare, U. S. Congress, or any other branch of the U.S. Government
Also see other related link (http://www.israelforum.com/board/showthread.php?t=1749&page=25&pp=15&highlight=Yossef+Bodansky) by Mediocrates:
The Secret History of the Iraq War (http://www.nrbookservice.com/BookPage.asp?prod_cd=c6511) by Bodansky, Yossef
Single Best Narrative (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060736798/qid=1093369570/sr=ka-1/ref=pd_ka_1/102-2467671-7634517)/Analysis of Iraq, the War on Terror, June 26, 2004
Reviewer: A reader
If you've read Yossef Bodansky before than you probably know what to expect. Mr. Bodansky wrote about Islamists training to use hijacked airliners in suicide operations against American and Western targets in 1992 when barely anyone was talking about Islamist terrorism in general, much less specifically forecasting "spectacular" attacks using the techniques the world witnessed on Sept. 11th. Mr. Bodansky is easy to ignore because the subject material is so difficult to understand. This book, like his previous ones, is not a primer on the subject of the Middle East and Islamist terror--what is is deeply incisive, unique in its analysis and conclusions, and, thanks to the author's wide range of sources (often unnamed by necessity) it produces a number of genuine "exclusives" that you won't read anywhere else. As one reviewer critiqued, major claims, though sourced, are not necessarily footnoted. If this is an excuse to ignore his work, go ahead, but do so at your own peril--not enough people took note, after all, from Bodansky's 1993 clarion call about suicide plane hijackings or the burgeoning Islamist terror threat to the West. As opinionated as the tome may be, it is also strikingly apolitical--it bears out key rationales of the Bush Adm. for going to war, but aggressively shreds high-level decision-making by Washington and the intelligence community, at the same time.
Did you know that US Marines turned up unnaturally high levels of cyanide and mustard agent in the Euphrates? Have you read Russian military intelligence (GRU) analysis of the American experience in Iraq? Do you know what captured Arab Liberation Front (ALF) operatives revealed to Israeli interrogators about Iraqi-al Qaida cooperation, subsequently confirmed by Turkish and British intelligence?
Read the book.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Secret History of the Iraq War (http://www.nrbookservice.com/BookPage.asp?prod_cd=c6511) by Bodansky, Yossef
What really happened (and is happening) in the Iraq war -- and why victory over global terrorism hangs in the balance there now
Printer Friendly Version
We have won great victories in Iraq, yet peace remains elusive. In this insightful and revealing book, Yossef Bodansky explains how these seemingly contradictory facts can both be true. He provides a dramatic record of the bravery, commitment, professionalism and resilience of the American fighting forces, along with a sober and revealing assessment of why (despite the excellence of our forces) it has been so hard to win security and stability for postwar Iraq.
Bodansky, bestselling author of Bin Laden: The Man Who Declared War on America and The High Cost of Peace: How Washington's Middle East Policy Left America Vulnerable to Terrorism, has filled this account with new revelations from intelligence and military sources. He traces the Iraq conflict from its earliest stages to the capture of Saddam and the rise of the guerrilla armies that contend against American troops today. Drawing on a great deal of material -- from both sides -- that has never come to light before, he discloses a great deal that is new and surprising as he details the causes of the war, the advance preparations, the beginnings of the conflict, the race to Baghdad, and the conclusion of the hostilities against Saddam's regime.
Along the way, Bodansky makes clear why there is simply no doubt that America had an urgent imperative to go to war against Iraq when it did. He notes ongoing cooperation between Saddam's intelligence services and Osama bin Laden's terrorists -- which began as far back as the early 1990s -- and reveals the shocking extent to which Saddam's Iraq was involved in international terrorist activities, including its supplying of operational WMDs to al Qaeda in fall 2002.
But that's just the beginning. Bodansky also explores the jihad that Shi'ites and other Muslim groups began to wage with great fervor after Saddam's fall. He explains why the conflict didn't end with the fall of Saddam, exploring the pivotal roles of Iran and al Qaeda in stoking hostilities in postwar Iraq, and detailing the nature of the jihadist forces that America faces now. With a historian's long view of the present conflicts and a keen understanding of the forces at play in Iraq and the Middle East in general, Bodansky assesses strategic mistakes that have been made thus far in Iraq, and explains what we must do now to secure a lasting victory. Some highlights:
Revealed: insider details of the divisions and debates over Iraq and WMDs that consumed Washington before the war began
Syria and Iran: how they reacted to American preparations for war against Iraq -- including extensive and ongoing cooperation
Developments in Iraq and Israel that led Washington to accelerate its war preparations
The initial engagements of the Iraq war: why they did not unfold as widely expected
Why it became so difficult so quickly for American forces to "liberate, not occupy" Iraq
Discovered in England: "the smoking gun" supporting the Bush administration's insistence that Saddam's Iraq was a central player in global terrorist efforts
Salman Pak: the Iraqi base where radical Muslims received elaborate training in the use of chemical weapons and poisons
The Shi'ite "militias" that began popping up in the Shi'ite slums of Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq after Saddam's fall: evidence that they were and are funded and controlled by Iran
Rulings from prestigious Muslim authorities commanding Muslims to wage jihad against the U.S. in Iraq
How, although the removal of Saddam was urgent and long overdue, the war could actually have been avoided
France's offers of lavish military, economic and political aid to the Iraqi Shi'ites - deliverable only after they evicted the Americans
How Shi'ites in Iraq took a slogan from the 2000 Al Gore campaign to press their case forward
Why America and her allies were unprepared for the possibility that most Iraqis would consider themselves occupied and reject the lure of democratization
How the CIA's decision to employ officials of Saddam's old regime to rebuild Iraq only aggravated several severe misunderstandings of Iraqi realities, endangering the Americans there
Long-term ramifications of the strategic challenge to American interests in the Middle East
How U.S. analysts completely missed the emergence of radical Islam - and are now suffering the consequences
The principal target nations that radical Muslims plan to destabilize after Iraq
The single nation (not the U.S.) that holds the key to the future of Iraq and the entire region
All-inclusive, revelatory, and perceptive, The Secret History of the Iraq War is not only compelling history, but an essential handbook to understanding the headlines that come from Iraq today -- and tomorrow.
Yossef Bodansky : Yossef Bodansky (http://www.kashmiri-pandit.org/columnists/yossefbodansky/) is the Director of the Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare of the U. S. Congress, as well as the World Terrorism Analyst with the Freeman Center for Strategic Studies (Houston, Texas). He is a contributing editor of Defense and Foreign Affairs; Strategic Policy, the author of three books (Target America, terror, and crisis in Korea), several book chapters, and numerous articles in several periodicals including Global Affairs, JANE's Defence Weekly, Defense and Foreign Affairs; Strategic Policy, Business Week. In the 1980s, he acted as a senior consultant for the Department of Defense and the Department of State. The opinions expressed in the following articles are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the members of the Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare, U. S. Congress, or any other branch of the U.S. Government
Also see other related link (http://www.israelforum.com/board/showthread.php?t=1749&page=25&pp=15&highlight=Yossef+Bodansky) by Mediocrates: