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Unholy Terror: Bosnia, Al-Qa'ida, and the Rise of Global Jihad Hardcover – January 1, 2007

4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 49 ratings

Al-Qa’ida: in the 80s they were in Afghanistan, supported by America and fighting the Russians.  In the new century they have metastasized throughout the world’s geopolitical body. Where were they in the 90s? Unholy Terror provides the answer, with all its terrifying implications for our world today.

 

This book provides the missing piece in the puzzle of al-Qa’ida’s transformation from an isolated fighting force into a lethal global threat:  the Bosnian war of 1992 to 1995.  John R. Schindler reveals the unexamined role that radical Islam played in that terrible conflict--and the ill-considered contributions of American policy to al-Qa’ida’s growth.  His book explores a truth long hidden from view:  that, like Afghanistan in the 1980s, Bosnia in the 1990s became a training ground for the mujahidin.  Unholy Terror at last exposes the shocking story of how bin Laden successfully exploited the Bosnian conflict for his own ends--and of how the U. S. Government gave substantial support to his unholy warriors, leading to blowback of epic proportions.


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Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

The Bosnian conflict of 1992 to 1995 has been largely misrepresented in the West . . . until now. In Unholy Terror, John R. Schindler—professor of strategy at the Naval War College and former National Security Agency analyst and counterintelligence officer—reappraises the war in Bosnia, illuminating its pivotal role in the development of radical Islamic terrorism.

The long hidden truth is that Bosnia played the same role for al-Qa’ida in the 1990s that Afghanistan did in the 1980s, providing a battleground where mujahidin could learn to wage holy war. Schindler exposes how Osama bin Laden exploited the Bosnian conflict for his own ends and the disturbing level of support the U.S. government gave to the Bosnian mujahidin—just as had been done with the Afghan mujahidin. Repeating the mistakes of Afghanistan contributed to blowback of epic proportions: Khalid Sheikh Muhammad (the mastermind of 9/11) and two of the 9/11 hijacker pilots were veterans of the Bosnian jihad.

Unholy Terror is a compelling and meticulously researched step toward finally learning the lessons of Bosnia, which can only help in the continuing battle against Muslim extremists and their global jihad.

From the Back Cover

Al-Qa’ida. In the 1980s they were in Afghanistan, supported by the United States as they fought the Soviets; by the new millennium they were responsible for the deadliest attack on American soil in the history of the republic. Where were they in between, and how did they transform themselves from scrappy Afghan rebels to worldwide threat? This enlightening new book, Unholy Terror, provides the frightening answer: the Bosnian war of 1992 to 1995 was the core of Osama bin Laden’s growing global jihad. It is frightening not so much because of the tragedies of that war, but because those tragedies occurred under the nose of the U.S. government—at times with U.S. complicity.

John R. Schlinder served for nearly a decade with the National Security Agency—work which took him to many countries in support of U.S. and allied forces operating in the Balkans—and was NSA’s top Balkans expert. He is uniquely qualified to demonstrate

• how the Bosnian conflict has been misrepresented by the mainstream media, covering up the large role played by radical Islam and al-Qa’ida;

• how Osama bin Laden used Bosnia as a base for terrorist operations worldwide—including attacks on the United States from the Millennium Plot to 9/11;

• how veterans of the Bosnian jihad have murdered thousands of Americans and conducted terrorist attacks around the world;

• how the Clinton administration, in collaboration with Iran, secretly supplied Bosnia’s mujahidin, including al-Qa’ida, with millions of dollars of weapons and supplies;

• how America’s Bosnian allies have been in covert alliances with radical anti-American regimes in several countries;

• why Bosnia and its secret jihad matter to America and our War on Terrorism today.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Zenith Pr; First Edition (January 1, 2007)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 368 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0760330034
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0760330036
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.4 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.25 x 1.25 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 49 ratings

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John R. Schindler
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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
49 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the writing style great and the research quality well-researched. They also say the book is informative.

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12 customers mention "Writing style"10 positive2 negative

Customers find the writing style great and well written. They also say the book is a great read and an account of the Bosnian war in the early.

"...The material is presented in a consistent and intelligible as for experts so for laypersons way and accompanied by numerous quotations and..." Read more

"...The book is an excellent resource by one who has both academic and intelligence experience...." Read more

"This is a very good book, but it is important to state clearly what this book is and is not...." Read more

"...Worth the read, especially since Bosnian authorities are still dealing with radicals... the latest arrests were on 5 Nov 09 in Sarajevo...." Read more

9 customers mention "Research quality"9 positive0 negative

Customers find the book well-researched, eye-opening, and informative. They also appreciate the extensive footnotes for reader's reference.

"...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...." Read more

"...As a research work, it is an excellent primary source...." Read more

"...subject matter and the presentation of his arguments, and provides extensive footnotes for the reader's reference and further investigation..." Read more

"...This is the most comprehensive account of the development of Islamist fundamentalism in the Balkans, a topic that is just as relevant today as it..." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on December 14, 2007
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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Reviewed in the United States on August 2, 2008
John R. Schindler has a background in scholarship and has the analytical background to weigh the credibility of various sources. This is exceedingly valuable in a conflict where the sides depend on the outside intervention based on those claims. The initial Western media arrived in the conflicting polities without a historical or anthropological understanding of the situation and did not have the capacity (much less the inclination) to weigh the claims of the Croatian CIC or the Bosnian Ministry of Information.

The value of the book is more than simply tracing the ideological influences upon the Bosnian Muslims (including the Young Muslims) but also in describing the support networks set up by Jihadists and the propaganda efforts by the Muslims and Croatians. The credibility the Croatian CIC had among Western journalists and diplomats is demonstrated to have been misplaced. That has serious implications for the vast body of policy and scholarship built upon the journalism the believed the CIC.

The more obscure elements of the war (on the Muslim side) are described such as the Muslim "Larks" who sniped in Sarajevo. The organization and internal politics of the Bosnian Army is described as well. Sadly, as the book focuses on the Al-Qaida efforts in Bosnia, the actual conduct of the war (admittedly a difficult subject due to massive information) is only mentioned in passing save where the context in vital. Jihadists are demonstrated to have played a significant political role (the military value is debatable) both during and after the war.

The NATO political and military role after the war could have used more detail but that would have required even more depth and page length. The book is an excellent resource by one who has both academic and intelligence experience. Sadly, as is the habit of spooks who go into academic writing, the endnotes are only sometimes linked to publicly available sources and so need the author's commentary.

The author agrees with John E, Sray (former officer at Sarakevo G-2) regarding the lack of credibility of the Bosnian government and his claims agree with other sources. Schindler's claims gain credibility by being both logically coherent and matching up with well analyzed sources like peacekeepers on the ground instead of UN diplomats or other involved parties such as the US embassy.

The book is not a critique of the propaganda around the war but a work on the ideological shifts in the Bosnian Muslim society and government. As a research work, it is an excellent primary source. For a read on the full conduct of the war without the inadvertent bias and mistakes the creep into so much writing on the subject, it is one of the few accounts with detail on the matter but lacks a full narrative.
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Top reviews from other countries

Timothy Kelly
5.0 out of 5 stars A brilliant unbiased book full of untold home truths as well ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 4, 2014
A brilliant unbiased book full of untold home truths as well as some hidden ones .at last the truth is out well done mr Schindler .im not going to ramble on but being married toa lovely Serbian wife I was told some of this stuff I believed her and now here it is
again in black and white written by a complete neutral and to boot american professor well done mr Schindler
One person found this helpful
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Underground Rat
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 17, 2010
There is more history about Bosnia in its intro than one may find in "dedicated" books. A must read for anyone interested in topic...!
7 people found this helpful
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