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31 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Remarkable Book In All Aspects, December 13, 2007
This review is from: Unholy Terror: Bosnia, Al-Qa'ida, and the Rise of Global Jihad (Hardcover)
Recently several books came out shedding a different light on the Bosnian War of 1992-1995. Most authors are people with mentality and the perception of reality based on the morality of the modern Western society. It looks like they don't have an axe to grind and the only reason urged them to write the books running counter to the mass media presentation, the official political course and the widespread academic interpretation of the Bosnian War was objectivity built on the whole of the facts, not just on a "convenient" part of them. As a Latin maxim says - Non Nova, Sed Nove. I chose the book "Unholy Terror" to read first because of the phrase the author mentioned in Introduction namely, "...spend time in muddy boots in war zone" - what he just did. The second reason was that he is a researcher who was trained to be a spy. This means that the author has acquired and developed the strong ability to gather, analyze, classify facts establishing logical connections between them and deduce the corresponding conclusions. The third reason was the long list of sources he used which penmen range from Bosnian Christians and Muslims to Western writers. So the thorough unbiased research was conducted. And the last reason was that it seems the author doesn't have any Bosnian family roots and thus he is a neutral observer.
To my eye the book is the very comprehensive research on the subject encompassing the period of time from the Ottoman Empire to the modern era. The material is presented in a consistent and intelligible as for experts so for laypersons way and accompanied by numerous quotations and references to the sources. The author doesn't arbitrary pick some facts from the conflict. He begins his account from the 14th century when in fact the conflict originated alternating active phases with dormant spans. (Being a teenager I visited the Tito's Yugoslavia of 1970th many times and already then I learnt that the tranquil and prosperous life is nested in a seething volcano.) As a result due to the rigorously logic chain of historical causes and consequences constructed by the author the entire picture of the clash of the civilizations and religions over centuries is more than convincing.
Why did I decide to review the book? Honestly speaking as I understand it now I have been indirectly and involuntarily involved in this matter from my birth, because my father was a Bosnian Serb. Being 16 years old he joined the Tito's army during the 2nd World War and took part in several great battles including the liberation of Belgrade. Later he went through many controversial events of that turbulent epoch.
Now I am already aware that in our hi-tech times it still matters very much who are or were your parents implying their religion, race and ethnicity. I was born and raised in Russia, received my education in Russia and France. The only one thing I have been devoted to all my life is mathematics. I hold a PhD in it. And I naively thought that in our civilized society people are, first of all, judged by their personal and professional qualities. But it was a schoolboy blunder. If in our modern world, we are so proud of, some nation is defamed and you have any relation to it be sure that in the overwhelming number of cases this will reflect on your destiny negatively disregarding your personal and professional attributes. Embrace yourself at least for discrimination or even worse for dirty tricks and hounding. Unfortunately the contemporary social and political machine of our society works just this way despite all official statements. In reality this is neither more nor less but the smoke-and-mirrors world where we try to defend the human rights of individuals and trample on the ones of the entire nation at the same time. Watching movies on TV soaked through with violence, murders and graphic scenes I often wonder whether America is still capable of having such basic feelings as compassion, pity and understanding for the tears of other peoples or just guided by mere calculation and some primordial instincts.
In a conclusion I would like to thank the author for his excellent book and audacious act.
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30 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
For the true story on Islamic extremism in the Balkans, October 3, 2007
This review is from: Unholy Terror: Bosnia, Al-Qa'ida, and the Rise of Global Jihad (Hardcover)
Having spend years in the Balkans, I strongly recommend this book for anyone interested in seeing the role that Bosnia played in the growth of the world wide Islamic extremist movement. Quite simply, this is a MUST read and takes its rightful place next to Evan F Kohlmann's book on this topic. This book tells the side of the story that CNN and the rest of the world's media never bothered to cover.
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32 of 47 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
If we knew then what we know now!, November 16, 2007
This review is from: Unholy Terror: Bosnia, Al-Qa'ida, and the Rise of Global Jihad (Hardcover)
The U.S. attacks a sovereign nation, whose leaders are not threatening them, in an effort to export democracy to yet another foreign nation and protect its people from genocide. No, we're not talking about Iraq! This time we go after the Serbs. Specifically, Serbs living in the former Yugoslavian republic of Bosnia referred to as 'Bosnian Serbs'. Surprisingly, there is no anti-war movement here in America. The 11 member NATO alliance lead by the U.S. mercilessly bombs the Bosnian Serbs into submission. Where are the war protesters that we hear so much of these days?
The time frame is the early to mid 90's. 9/11 has yet to assault our senses. Bill Clinton is president. Islamic Bosnia is hailed as a bastion of multiculturalism. Darlings of the western media mercilessly preyed upon by the evil ethnic-cleansing Serbs whose obvious motives of protecting their own in a country splintering itself from the Yugoslav Republic seems to go unnoticed. Did anyone question why the Serbs would've acted so heavy-handedly? Could there have been any provocation?
Schindler draws the picture thusly: Bosnian leader, Alija Izetbegovic, a man determined to bring an Islamic state into Balkan Bosnia, decides to secede from the Yugoslav Republic. He recruits Mujahidin fighters from Al-Qa'ida, fresh from the skirmish with the Russians in Afghanistan, and begins an ethnic cleansing of his own to drive out the infidel Serbs and create a 'pure Islamic culture'. We see the typical Muslim atrocities: executions, beheadings, munitions trafficking, corruption, using charitable organizations as fronts for financing the war. All the while, Izetbegovic maintains that he is fighting for a multi-cultural Bosnia. And just as the Serbs respond to these atrocities, here comes the western media. Just in time to get footage of the Serbs 'getting even'. The slaughter at Srebrenica, seen by many as proof of Serbia's culpability for war crimes, is presented as a 'set up'. Izetbegovic pulls his military protection from the city just as the Serbian response is anticipated. The Muslim citizens are set up for slaughter in order to justify a U.S. lead NATO response as promised by President Clinton.
Given the events that have transpired since then, Schindler's view is not hard to believe. In fact, it is difficult not to believe it these days with what we now know of Al-Qa'ida and their operations. Yes there will always be die-hard Clinton supporters who will continue to support the 'Bosnia-as-good-guys' view. But it is beginning to look more and more like we may have made a mistake in the Balkans. The Dayton accords, while partitioning Bosnia into Bosnian, Croat, and Serb zones, has given Izetbegovic what he wanted: An Islamic state. And Al-Qa'ida now has a base in the middle of Europe from which it can launch operations. I think you get the picture.
The author's material is well researched and not particularly anti-Muslim. Muslim citizens are often portrayed as much as victims as the Serbs in some cases. Islamic leaders often question and even oppose Izetbegovic's policies and his courting of Al-Qa'ida. He even occasionally debunks myth's about Muslim behavior at various points. All in all it is an interesting read though somewhat voluminous. Keeping track of the number of characters and organizations and such can be quite maddening. Still it is a worthwhile read: Four stars.
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