Thoughts on "My Life Inside the Jihad"
I just finished this book for a directed reading I am doing in my graduate program, and was wondering if anybody else had read it. I am highly skeptical about it after just finishing it, particularly about the absurd amount of detail and the seemingly fantastical "superhumans" that were in the camps in Afghanistan. I thought some of the insights about the rift between the Taliban and those in the camps was also interesting, but not really enough of a redeeming quality to make the book worth recommending. It also seemed to me that the author was not really "on our side" so to speak. While he seemed to strongly dislike the tactics of say the GIA, he seemed okay with insurgent attacks as long as they didn't target civilians. Apart from his other "motives" that he talks about, I don't really see why he would have worked with the DGSE, MI5, and MI6 when he doesn't really seem to agree with what Western countries are doing, particularly when intelligence agencies are often on the front line. Any thoughts on it would be helpful. Maybe there has been some vetting I am unaware of.
Inside the Jihad; recommended
Zack,
(Posted earlier this year in the 'What are you reading thread').
In early 2007 this insiders account 'Inside the Jihad: My life with Al Qaeda: A Spy's story' by Omar Nasiri (Pub. 2006) appeared on some threads here and somewhere on this thread. Recently I purchased a second-hand edition and read it the other day on a train journey. Superb account on this Moroccan's journey, insights into the training camps and how he was handled / managed by the intelligence agencies - before "resigning".
The 2006 introduction by the BBC's Security Correspondent, Gordon Corera is excellent and just as relevant today. A summary is on: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6156180.stm
Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Inside-Jihad-M.../dp/0465023886
davidbfpo
Maybe a reassessment is needed?
Stephen Grey, the author 'The New Spymasters' reviewed elsewhere, conducted a recent interview with Nasiri and remarks:
Quote:
.. that much of what he said was credible..but, parts of his account..did not ring true and seemed like the words of a ghostwriter chosen for an American audience.
Nasiri said the book had been a negotiation with publishers in which he had to 'close my eyes' to some of what was written. He struggled to get the book to reflect his own radical perspective.
There is more in the chapter, pgs. 109-132.
Link to review and book details (on Post 68):http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...t=21574&page=4