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Allah's Torch: A Report from Behind the Scenes in Asia's War on Terror

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Allah's Torch is a very good book on how the worldwide Islamic Insurrection is maturing in Indonesia. While done in a somewhat story/journalistic format (it has specific dates and places and some names are changed but it does not appear that the primary people who someone wanting to conduct research on the subject have had their names changed such as Abu Bakar Bashir, Imam Samudra, Jaffar Umar Thalib, etc and the names of groups have not been changed however, his guides names probably have). It starts with him traveling with his guide in May 2000 on an inter-island passenger ferry on his way to the Banda Islands and the Mollucas. On the same ferry was a large group of Laskar Jihad enroute to conduct a Jihad. He describes the climate on the ship and the island themselves. Of course he meets additional friends (and some potential enemies) along the way. After conducting his research of the situation in the Banda/Molluca Islands between the Christians and Moslems in the area he goes back to the U.S. and starts to write his book. Then the Bali Bombing happened and he goes back to Indonesia to see what has changed in the country since. He meets up with his previous guide (and by then friend) who intoduces him to someone else who will assist them in getting inside the Islamic organizations (you find out later he was also a terrorist/freedom fighter depending on your point of view). From there they interview and have general discussions with a range of personnel from a student of a Pesantren that is known for producing Islamic fighters to the head of Islamic organizations. This book gives a very good overview of what was the Islamic/Christian situation situation from 2000 to the end of 2003 in Indonesia and makes some observations from the outside looking in during early 2004. This was a very good and readable book that I enjoyed very much.

As an Indonesian this book really encourages me. The
author must be crazy for going into places like the
Banda Islands at a time of religious conflict in the
area, but he has tried to cover the country from all
angles. He shines a light on the fact that, in spite
of how Indonesia is often portrayed on CNN and FOX
News focusing on Al Qaeda, the biggest majority of
Indonesian "wong cilik"(ordinary people) are trying
hard to improve their lives after the 1997 Asian
financial crisis, want good governance, reject
terrorism, and try to change their country for the
better. I believe most ordinary Indonesian will easily
relate to Norman, Reza, Tanya, and all the characters
in the book.
In guiding readers through the maze of Indonesia,
exotic and unknown to most people in the West, the
author captures this daily struggle for survival
against corruption, elitism, and chaos. And it's in
that chaos that the minority of extremists find their
followers - people who are fed up with the country's
unimproved conditions.
A serious book yet I could not contain my laughter at
times because the author describes not only the
country's fears and sense of tragic irony but its
sense of humor, too.. So the non-Indonesian reader
will get a glimpse of all aspects of the Indonesian
people, their intelligence and wit, their
superstitions, and their resourcefulness. The book
might be confusing at times for the "novice on
Indonesia," but people interested in a journey through
the most democratic Muslim country in the world need
to pick it up.

Great read!! Couldn't put it down. Dahlby does a great job to weave historical information into a humorous, enlightening and oftentimes suspenseful book. I would recommend it to anyone!!

Seemingly, the author knows Indonesia's history and current political situation better than its native in general, part because most of them are undereducated but mostly because of the filtered information in this country.
The books written by western anti-Moslem preach that Holy Koran teaches that peace can only be achieved by forcing people to hold one-single religion either by submission or conquering, just as the alleged Surah 9: 5.
Yes, part of Moslem organizations in Indonesia, the most populated Moslem country, read that verse and similar others literally and act accordingly. But, vast majority are mild and live peacefully with other religion. Nevertheless deep inside the bones of almost every Indonesian Moslem, good or bad, run the idea that the Jews, who takes the land of the Palestinians, are controlling US and both of them are responsible for their, and their-Moslem brother in every corner of the world, poor and miserable life, and so terror is defendable as the only way to let their interest being recognized. At times, this idea includes Christian as their target.
Back to my days in college, when Moluccas was on fire, about three years before Bali-blast, I saw some Moslem students run movies picturing their Moslem brothers being slaughtered by their Christian neighbors while on the same week I heard my priest asked the congregation praying for the safety of our prosecuted Christian brothers.
We, Indonesian non-Moslem, live in daily heat, but the author, by his own choice, came and visited the very part of Indonesia at the hottest time and even meet a couple of the smart leaders behind the oven. Interestingly, he tells his scary story in humorous tone.
If you want to see the truly Indonesian, not only Moslem, mind and heart, read this book.

Tracy Dahlby has a solid C.V as a reporter: Bureau Chief for Newsweek, National Geographic, and many more. As a reporter, he is brave - YOU go and interview Indonesian terrorists at their training camps ! - hugely well-informed about the region and its politics; judicious in his judgements; and fair to the people he encounters. He clearly has a great affection for, and knowledge of, Indonesia. But so do many reporters. What lifts this book far above the predictably diligent writing you can read in The New York Times every day of the week, is Dahlby's keen sense of place; his ear for dialogue; and his screwball sense of humour ( learned from his British colleagues at the Far Eastern Economic Review ). As a result, he achieves that rarest of double-acts: he entertains while he informs. Like other masters of the genre - Bill Bryson or Norman Lewis come to mind - he can make you laugh out loud on one page, and radically shift your understanding of the world on the next. And in the character of Norman, Dahlby's Indonesian Fixer-cum-Man Friday, he has found the perfect travelling companion. Norman refers to the author as " Boss " - or " The Viking ", due to the author's giraffe-like height and nordic looks - and spends his time cracking zany jokes; or meditating on the contradictions, tragedy and beauty of his native land. Together, they make a great team. The result is a hilarious, tender, perceptive and highly readable accout of a journey by ship, jeep and plane through the colorful chaos of Indonesia, as it wrestles with the dark serpent of Islamic fundamentalism. I, for one, am already looking forward to the next installment ...

Anyone who has been reading The White Rhino Report on a regular basis will be familiar with "Allah's Torch" from my description of last week's incident at Fenway Park. You may have wondered what kind of a book could have ignited such a controversy. My answer simply is: "A remarkable book."

http://whiterhinoreport.blogspot.com/2006/08/amerika-fearful-nightmare-experience.html


Tracy Dahlby has spent his career as a writer and editor for Newsweek, The Washington Post and National Geographic. He combines an encyclopedic knowledge of the world with a wry wit and facile writing style that enables him to invite the discerning reader to ride along with him on his adventures and explorations. In order to gain a better understanding of the world's largest and least understood Muslim nation, Dahlby paid multiple visits to Indonesia - before and after the attacks of September 11, 2001. The result of his peregrinations in Southeast Asia is "Allah's Torch" - a stirring and insightful tour of this sprawling archipelago - from the Spice Islands to Bali and the terrorist enclaves of central Java.

My motivation for reading this book is to continue my background research for a novel I am writing that involves terrorism in Indonesia as part of the plot. I came away from the experience of digesting this book with a broader awareness than I had I had anticipated developing. This is a book that would be a worthwhile read for anyone who is trying to become aware of the complex dynamics of what is happening in Southeast Asia in particular and the Muslim world in general. Dahlby's willingness to put himself in harm's way led to insightful interviews with government officials, business leaders, military leaders, and members and sympathizers of a wide variety of organizations that have been tied to terrorist activity in Indonesia and beyond.

Dahlby description of his journey begins with an account of him traveling with his Indonesian guide, Norman, on an inter-island passenger ship, the M.V. Bukit Siguntang, headed for the Spice Islands. As Dahlby introduces him, Norman comes across as a character straight out of a Joseph Conrad novel, or, to use another literary allusion, Norman played Sancho Panza to Dahlby's quixotic knight errant:

"Having studied in the United States, he was a veritable multitasking, globalized, digitized marvel, who was incessantly juggling dueling Palm Pilots, lining up interviews on one of two cell phones, sometimes both, and was intimately plugged into the steady flow of gossip on which Indonesia's capital thrived. In addition, Norman had a grasp of loyalty rare in young men in today's world. That was because generations of Javanese ancestors on his father's side had lifted swords to defend mystical kings of Old Java. (`Wibowo is not my real name,' he once confided to me - his real name was inscribed on the hilt of a kris, or Javanese dagger, buried in a secret vault in old Surakarta. `But if I told it to you, I'd have to kill you.') In short, Norman represented the ideal global man - in touch with both the brave new rhythms of life in a high-tech, interconnected world and sacred cultural bedrock." (Pages 16-17)
Dahlby's introduction to the face of terrorism in Indonesia was a quick plunge into the deep end of the pool:

"I froze. Without Norman, I was absolutely and forever sunk - just a confused ignorant bule, or white face,' stranded on a dock in the middle of nowhere . . . But when I finally managed to find Norman in the mob and we reached the broad lobby outside the first-class cabins, there was something far ore sinister to worry about. All around us now, hunkered down on dirty strips of cardboard and old pieces of straw matting, were large number of very unhappy-looking young men. Mostly in their late teens or early twenties, and eerily silent to a man, they had the look of shipwreck survivors clinging to the wreckage. Those not rocking on their haunches, mumbling noiselessly over dog-eared copies of the Koran, stared fixedly into the middle distance. And unless I very badly missed my guess, I knew that we were staring into the face of something truly dangerous - a shadowy new Islamic terror brigade calling itself the Laskar Jihad, or Holy War Army." (Page 12)

Those of us on the receiving end of the jihad that has been declared against the United States often ask the question: "Why do they hate us so much? What have we done to deserve such scorn and distrust by the Muslim world?" Dahlby provides some painful but necessary insights into the answers to these questions. The following conversation he recounts that took place with a young Muslim preacher in Jakarta - a man named Habib Rizieq Shihab - is typical of the mindset that Dahlby encountered during his travels throughout the island nation.

"'For me, it's not a moral issue, it's a political issue,' he cried, his eyes dilating with anger. `It's dissatisfaction with what America is doing in the world today!'

And what exactly was America doing? I asked, displaying my journalist's talent for posing the infuriatingly dumb question.

Rizieq grew apoplectic. America supported Israel in the humiliation and suffering of the Palestinian people! America attacked innocent Muslims in Afghanistan! It was now moving on Iraq against the wishes of its own allies! Did I need reminding that the ringleader of the Bali bombings, now in police custody, had expressed remorse for killing so many vacationing Australians when it was vacationing Americans he's set out to murder?

`I don't condone the attacks, mind you,' Rizieq went on, hotly. `But I know why they happened.'

. . . Norman translated: `You must understand that the existence of Osama Bin Laden or the Bali bombers is just a reaction of disappointment to the evil America does to the world of Islam. The evil results in people who want to teach America a lesson.'" (Pages 194-195)

As a loyal American who is proud of his country and the contributions we have made over the course of our history to the spread of freedom, democracy and human rights, it pains me to hear of those who perceive us as an evil and destructive force. But, I believe it behooves us to be aware of how we are perceived so that we can choose how to respond to that hatred and to those misperceptions - being fully aware of the landscape of world opinion. "Allah's Torch," is, therefore, a painful book to read, but one that I recommend enthusiastically.

We owe Tracy Dahlby a debt of gratitude for putting himself on the front lines of the war against terror so that he could be in a position to shine the flashlight of understanding into the shadowy corners of hatred and ignorance that are part of the psychic domicile that terrorists inhabit.

Al

This isn't the first book I've read about the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in Indonesia, but its promise isn't met by its substance. Yes, the author's exploits are sometimes amusing, sometimes dramatic, but by the end there is so much repetition that I started skipping sections. This book is not comprehensive, but merely conveys the impression that the author's interviews with "leading" Islamic figures were haphazardly organized and that he was invariably scared beforehand and relieved afterwards to have survived. It's hard to believe that this author also wrote for first class journals and newspapers. He never managed an interview with Bashar or any (alleged) leading JI figure, his coverage of the Bali attacks was incidental and threadbare, and his background analysis was absent in many cases. The only good thing I can say is that I am glad I borrowed this book from the public library and did not buy it; it's not worth it.

"Allah's torch" barely illuminates - it merely flickers and dies out. Dahlby writes well but that doesn't necessarily produce a good book. He also summarises other people's ideas pretty well. As a veteran Newsweek executive and writer, this is also no surprise. But "Allah's torch" is weighed down by far too many references to irrelevant personal detail. If you bother to skim through all his personal references including the upset stomachs of his friends and fellow travellers and his constant paranoia about being jumped by a jihadi, and if you are completely new to political Islam in Indonesia, there is certainly something to be gleaned from his travelogue, especially his descriptions of the horrific Muslim-Christian clashes in the Spice Islands. However, time and time again, we are subjected to a barrage of pointless detail about the personal situation of his guide, or a looping digression about Tracy Dahlby's own personal situation that doesn't sit with the rest of the book. I was also surprised to find that Dahlby never bothered to pick up the local language and produce something a little more in-depth. He relies on Norman, his trusty translator, nearly always. That precludes him from really talking directly with the man in the street, apart from one conversation with a student at the so-called Terror High School, the Ngruki pondok. And when Dahlby reports the conversations of some of his interviewees the language sounds stilted. We are not sure whether he is providing reported speech in translation or in the original English. Often, there are phrases which I find impossible to believe are spoken by Indonesians. The pitch and the lexicon don't ring true. However, Dahlby's biggest problem in writing this travelogue is that he doesn't have the stomach or the acuity of a true travel writer in difficult circumstances. His way out is to keep pointing out that he is hardly the most suitable canidate to write the book! Yet, this is no longer funny halfway through the book. Of course there are apercus studded throughout the book that would be better served in a compact article dealing with American misapprehensions and misunderstanding of the so-called terror threat in Indonesia. But Dahlby is out to write a book after all and so he had to pad it considerably. Having said that, Dahlby, who is Jewish and American, probably has some reason to fear some of his interviewees. And there is something naively touching about his beguilement by a Indonesian Islamist thug whose group beats up Americans all because the Islamist offers him a cup of tea. Dahlby even describes him as a friend! That is not to say that Dahlby's judgement is completely off the wall - he is on the side of fostering a more liberal and wide-ranging view of Islam in Indonesia, not just a nation of terrorists, but where a mosaic of Islamic cultures are practised. One or two of his subjects, like the prince of Jogjakarta, provide an American audience with a fascinating glimpse of a character who doesn't conform to the myth of the lazy native turned angry terrorist. Yet other sketches are also too breezily drawn, giving the travelogue an uneven quality. One feels that Dahlby doesn't give his best if he isn't interested in some people. Another point of concern is that Dahlby has not got a fact-checker with experience in Islam to check some of his translations of concepts. For example, he completely mistranslates and misunderstands the crucial concept of tawhid in Islam. He also imagines that Allah's torch is a creative title that doesn't give offence. If he looked up the concept of tawhid more closely, he may understand why it is a problem.

Yet all this is no great cost. Ultimately Dahlby's book is unlikely to fill the baskets at Costco's or the other bargain book centers of middle America, where it will change perceptions on the world's most populous Muslim nation. Instead, it is likely to die a death in the bargain baskets of Barnes and Nobles within a few months.