Customer Reviews

The Terrorist Recognition Handbook: A Manual for Predicting and Identifying Terrorist Activities

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I served on active duty in the USMC for 14 years. During the last six years of my Marine Corps career, I served as an Anti-terrorism/Force Protection (AT/FP) Officer for various commands. I received the required training for this position by attending various military schools, and I had the oppurtunity to attend different classes at the FBI Academy regarding terrorist operations.

Based on my training and experience, I believe this is an OUTSTANDING BOOK. Through all of my years of research on the subject, I have never been able to find one complete reference manual (until now). Mr. Nance's in-depth coverage on a wide range of AT/FP issues makes this book a must read for anyone deploying overseas. Additionally, the sections on Operatives, Terrorist Operations, and Ten Phases to Terrorist Attacks is excellent. The information is extremely helpful to untrained military personnel acting in a security capacity.

Thank God someone has finally written a complete an accurate book about anti-terrorism methods and procedures.

As a newspaper journalist/photojournalist I am forced to live a shared life of typical newspaper assignments at home mixed with the occassional mad rush of a foreign assignment. A foreign assignment is just exactly that to me; foreign, and I found the reading of Nance's book an extremely good primer on the dangers of being parachuted into a strange place at a strange time. I feel like Im closer to knowing what to look for after reading this handbook than I was before--after all, a bit of educated distrust and paranoia is a good thing to have in my line of work.

Too many of my fellow journalists go into alien situations with ill-gotten, ill-informed notions and All-American bravado. Not good. Dumb luck sometimes works, but it ought not be counted upon. Better to know what to look for, and who to suspect--this book helps.

Furthermore, the handbook seems a good backgrounder for any writer doing pieces on terrorism in their state, province or community. Presently any newspaper journalist from a rural weekly staffer to an elite writer at the NYT will be finding himself/herself doing stories on terrorism. Our times. This book and its extended bibliography should help shake out some clues on the who, what, where's and whyfores of this most dangerous subject.

This is the most clear, concise, well-written book available on terrorist activity recognition. I highly recommend this book for all fieldworkers, analysts, academics, etc, regardless of previous knowledge/experience level.
It was a pleasure to read and highly educational; a very important and valuable text~

Twenty years ago the officers of the general's staff in the infantry division in which I served received a series of briefings from representatives of MOSSAD about the nature of terrorists and terrorism since there were worldwide alerts for the US military at that time for the activities of the old groups (Red Brigades, Bader-Mienhoff, etc) Those briefings were at the time classified. But let me say this: This book is essentially THOSE briefings!

If every law abiding, patriotic American read this book and took the lessons to heart, it would make it almost impossible for the next 911 to occur.

AS AN EX-WEAPONS SPECIALIST, I FIND THAT THIS MATERIAL IS WRITTEN FOR ANYONE WHO REALIZE THAT BEING AWARE OF ONE'S SURROUNDINGS IN THESE DAYS AND TIMES MIGHT SAVE YOUR BUTT.

i am a judge <<advocate>> in Germany working on terrorism often witth the <<national polis>> i saw this at the Eurosatory police exhibition and it is comprehensive in information on predicting Al Qaida activities and was good on historical and future information. the section on prediction analysis and methodoligies was truely very good for officials.

This is one that should be on the required reading list for ANYONE in the Military or Law Enforcement. It gives insight to the whole process, and the tools used by todays terrorists.

This book gives a balanced and realistic perspective on this subject.
Mr Nance's military training and security experience in the Gulf war and now in Iraq makes him more than qualified to be credible source on this subject.

Whether you're military, LEO, or just a concerned cititzen, this book is by far the best single manual on everything you need to know regarding terrorist groups and their operation.

Not only is this book packed with information, but it's also very well written, which makes reading a very pleasurable experience.

Highly recommended.

I listened to a somewhat disturbing Spycast interview with Nance where he breathlessly narrates the history of AQ. Although the guy is obviously intelligent, speaks 27 languages or whatever, and is experienced in the world of terrorism, he has a problem with substituting his opinions and beliefs for objective fact. He calls the term "Islamofascist" a "racist" term (setting himself up as the arbiter of racism), and claims that Islamofascistic AQ DOES NOT seek to destroy the United States, and DOES NOT want to convert the world to Islam. Um, okay. Er, I guess he didn't believe Bin Laden when he said:
"The pious Caliphate will start from Afghanistan."

How about Abdullah Azzam, one of the most influential Islamist thinkers of recent times and an influence on Osama bin Laden? He said his life "revolved around a single goal, namely the establishment of Allah's Rule on earth" and restoring the caliphate.

Same thing from Ayman al-Zawahiri. Google the quotes yourself.

Another al-Qaeda leader, Fazlur Rehman Khalil, publishes a magazine that declares, "Due to the blessings of jihad, America's countdown has begun. It will declare defeat soon," to be followed by the creation of a caliphate.

Sorry, Malcolm. These people are fascists whether that fits your ideology or not. I also noticed a coupe of historical mistakes made by Nance during the interview. He believes that fascism is a "corporatism...a dictatorship of the Far-Right." He should pick up Jonah Goldberg's Liberal Fascism for accurate historical info. Fascism is a creation and promulgation of the Far-Left.

Malcolm is also prone to hyperbole. When he talks about waterboarding, he says things like, "One has to overcome basic human decency to endure causing the effects," and "we have mindlessly, but happily, broken the seal on the Pandora's box of indignity, cruelty and hatred,"
Gimmee a break. By all means, let's protect the "dignity" of Islamofascists by giving them the "dirty look" technique, or maybe the "comfy chair" technique. Heaven forbid we be cruel to the guilty in order to save the innocent! GASP!!

I'm sure we can put Malcolm's knowledge and experience to good use in the war against Islamofascism, but we can do without his over-the-top opinions. He should learn to distinguish fact from feeling.
This book is pretty good.