Unholy Alliance: Radical Islam and the American Left (Hardcover)

by David Horowitz (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
An original look at those who want us to fail in the Middle East, both at home and abroad. The -- Davis Hanson, Author, Ripples of Battle

Before Americans vote for their next president, they must read David Horowitz's account of the Left's alliance with Islamic radicls -- Lt. General Thomas McInerney USAF (Ret.), Co author, with Maj. General Paul Vallely, Endgame

David Horowitz is synonymous with pyrotechnics. A historian and polemicist of the first order, he is paid the ultimate compliment -- Rich Lowry, Editor National Review

Mike 'Rifle' DeLong was the best deputy commander I could have imagined. Seasoned in Vietnam as a young helicopter pilot, -- General Tommy R. Franks, U.S. Army (Ret.), former commander of CentCom

Written with great zest and intellectual energy, David Horowitz's Unholy Alliance is primarily a devastating indictment of how the radical -- Norman Podhoretz, Author, critic, and senior fellow at the Hudson Institute

Product Description
In this book the author blows the lid off the bizarre alliance between the liberal Left and radical Islam.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Regnery Publishing, Inc.; First Edition edition (September 25, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 089526076X
• ISBN-13: 978-0895260765
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (161 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #463,774 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

509 of 598 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Vastly Illuminating, September 25, 2004

By	Kat Bakhu (Albuquerque, NM United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I had long wondered why people on the Left had the propensity to speak more positively about people who would slit their throats than they do about their own country, which affords them more freedom and opportunity than anywhere else. David Horowitz has answered that question thoroughly and convincingly in his Unholy Alliance. Where I felt bewildered and confused, I now feel crystal clear. Unholy Alliance is such a great book.

It begins with the leftist movements at the beginning of the 20th Century, and works its way up to the present day, exploring the anti-American attitude of these movements in detail. Horowitz shows that the enemies of the US back then are largely the same group today, operating under the same misperceptions, making the same mistakes, and pursuing the same impossible utopia.

Individual chapters are included on the Patriot Act (I was persuaded that it is a GOOD thing); the democratic flip-flop on Iraq once G.W. Bush implemented what they agreed with Clinton needed to be done; the driving components of the current anti-war movement; as well as chapters on individual personalities who are major spokespeople of the Left. Horowitz covers a lot of ground, and he covers it concisely and clearly. Unholy Alliance is richly informative without ever being boring or plodding.

This book is so illuminating that I simply cannot do justice to it here. I love people who reason so clearly that they help me get my own reasoning clear. Horowitz is just that type of person! In the terrain of mindless clichés (no-blood-for-oil, etc.), he is a breath of real fresh air.

415 of 499 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Communism is dead. Long live Islam!, September 30, 2004

By	Kevin Beckman (Sacramento, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

It sounds absurd: why would Leftists make common cause with a religion that is diametrically opposed to everything the Left stands for? David Horowitz explains that it is really quite logical given the Left's first principle: America is evil and anything or anyone opposed to America is good.

Part I of the book is a brief history of 9/11 through the end of major combat operations in Iraq, and the Left's behavior during this time. Horowitz includes the reaction of Katha Pollitt of The Nation magazine: "The flag stands for vengeance, and jingoism, and war." Anthropology Professor Nicholas De Genova of Columbia University said he hoped for "a million Mogadishus." His colleagues objected, not to the despicable sentiment, but because of the bad publicity it brought their "teach-in." Our tax dollars at work!

Part II is the heart of the book: a history of the American and international Left. Horowitz calls them Neo-Communists or Neocoms. The Neocoms of old believed in the Soviet Union the way religious people believe in God. Those who spied for the USSR didn't see themselves as traitors to their country, but rather loyalists to humanity and an ideal of America that's never existed. When the Soviet Union fell, a few of them stopped for some introspection but most pressed on as if nothing happened. Communist historian Eric Hobsbawm put it nicely: "Without the Revolution, my life and my work are meaningless."

Now that they no longer have to defend an indefensible regime, modern Neocoms are simply nihilists. They know what they oppose but they have no plans for the aftermath of the revolution which they still believe will happen. They don't know what they want, but they know what they hate: the United States, capitalism personified.

So why are they allying with radical Islam? Horowitz says that the Neocoms still believe in Marx's dictum that "religion is the opiate of the masses." Once private property is abolished, the need for religion will vanish, and Islamic radicals will stop being Islamic and radical. The only thing standing in the way is the United States.

Sound insane? It is. They are. I highly recommend this book. Horowitz makes the insanity understandable.

75 of 88 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Should be read by anyone puzzled by the Bush phenomenon, October 3, 2004

By	BP - "Afficionado" (Greenbrae, CA United States) - See all my reviews

I think that anyone who is a supporter of Kerry who has lefty roots, who wants to understand why intelligent adults can support George Bush should read this book. This book has one flaw, and hence only 4 stars. But it is a great book that should also be read by anyone who carries their Chomsky around. A really good thing for young college students to read.

Hey, my mom was a Trotskyite in college. What Horowitz says is totally right on. I don't know that it means that making war on Iraq was the best chess move in this very serious war, but I found only one item that I thought was an error.

Horowitz states that the war on Iraq and the war on Afghanistan took a few weeks and didn't become a quagmire. However, applying the same logical razor as he used in his book: First, you can't tell if something has become a quagmire until years afterward. Second, there are definite signs of quagmire developing, and it worth noting that the US occupation of Afghanistan never has reached the level of dominance and security at any time that the Soviet Union had there for the early years of their acquisition.

But, aside from that, he really nails the center of the uneasiness, the political fulcrum which has become a core of the Bush administration. Fact is, the left and its leaders have supported far more terrorism and sold far more lies than anyone else, and that most definitely includes Chomsky, his endless revisionist history and blinkered apologist tracts.

Horowitz knows his subject like only an apostate can. Seriously, if you want to read a book that will help you understand this political mess we have in America today, read this.