Well-researched and based on a carefully constructed timeline, The Looming Tower reveals facts about the rise of al-Qaeda and the 9/11 attacks that most readers will find surprising. For instance, a common misconception is that Osama Bin Laden was wealthy and therefore able to self-fund the training and equipping of al-Qaeda fighters. In Lawrence Wright's account, we learn instead that while certainly wealthy, Bin Laden's strength is as a prolific fundraiser. He is able to tap both wealthy Arab governments and private donors, particularly as he demonstrates al-Qaeda's increasing lethality. Much more significant perhaps, Wright portrays Bin Laden as a master of public relations. Indeed, he demonstrates early on that his charisma and soft-spoken charm could both inspire followers and unleash horrific violence.
In the lead up to 9/11 Bin Laden captures the imagination of disaffected but well-educated young Muslim males searching for validation and a deeper meaning in their lives. Already steeped in traditional Muslim thought (many studied in madrasses in Western Pakistan), these individuals merely need a catalyst and some direction for their aims and readily find it in Bin Laden's radical proselytizing. Proving Josef Goebbels' famous quote, "make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it", Bin Laden convinces his followers that America (and its staunch ally, Israel) is the source of all persecution in the Islamic world. He eventually gains a critical mass of converts and hence a blunt instrument to wage global jihad.
The scheme to strike at the soft underbelly of American 'infidel' society and the means to do it are born.
Wright also exposes the many seams in the U.S. national security infrastructure and schisms within the law enforcement and intelligence organizations that existed prior to 9/11. Ironically, those same intelligence organizations were created with the single purpose of detecting and preventing terrorist attacks. Simply tragic...
The mosaics the author pieces together in developing his characters (based on scores of interviews) bring to life such leading U.S. counterterrorism officials as Richard A. Clarke and John P. O'Neill. These individuals' relentless efforts to protect America's domestic and international interests undoubtedly prevent countless attacks. Yet, as Wright alludes, their persistent demands to go on the offense against an emergent al-Qaeda are stymied by poor communication and internecine rivalries between government agencies combined with bureaucratic inertia and simple inaction on the part of our country's political leaders.
The Looming Tower traces the roots of al-Qaeda to radical Islamic organizations such as Egyptian Islamic Jihad and the Muslim Brotherhood and fiery Islamic scholars like Sayyid Qutb and Dr. Abdullah Yusuf Azzam. We learn that while their extreme views prove a source of discomfort for mainstream Islamic governments - they espouse violent uprising to achieve their ends - their aggressive activism is largely contained. Interestingly, despite Azzam's pleas for moderation, Bin Laden exhorts his charges to commit suicide bombings as a means of achieving al-Qaeda's aims (and those of greater Islam) while punishing America for 'occupying' the Arabian Peninsula.
Additionally, we discover that Ayman al-Zawahiri and Bin Laden find refuge and a sympathetic ear in failed states such as Somalia, Sudan, and Afghanistan and co-opt their governments to help nurture and train radicals for jihad. Their demands ever more insistent and their attacks growing in ferocity, Islamic extremists in the Bin Laden era gain a new sense of urgency. Yet, incredibly, despite many alarm bells Western intelligence agencies remain unable to convince their governments of the seriousness of the threat posed by al-Qaeda.
Wright pieces together through hundreds of interviews each militant Islamist plot from the 1993 World Trade Center bombing through the 2000 USS Cole suicide attack. He painstakingly traces the steps of the jihadists as they gradually ratchet up the stakes while leaving unmistakable clues as to their grand design. Only a handful of astute, hyper-vigilant FBI and CIA agents grasp the significance of those clues, but their voices are seemingly drowned out by the bureaucracy with, of course, calamitous results.
The Looming Tower ranks with Rohan Gunaratna's Inside Al Qaeda and Steve Coll's Ghost Wars in its narrative sweep. Not nearly as dense as the Pulitzer Prize-Winning Ghost Wars, The Looming Tower combines the right amount of detail with the author's lighter prose style. Wright manages to entertain as much as he informs. Perhaps most enjoyable about Wright's book, it details unusual aspects of his characters' personalities that make them seem more human. Bin Laden, the devoted family man; John O'Neill, the sentimental romantic; and, Richard Clarke, the ambitious product of blue collar roots... These are the figures who grace Wright's pages. And a truly fascinating cast of characters it is!
Lawrence Wright's book, though a work of investigative journalism, reads like a Greek tragedy.
A sobering insider's look at the first (and arguably most) serious threat facing the West in the 21st Century and an immensely satisfying read...
Captivating!
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Top reviews from other countries
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- AkshayReviewed in India on December 5, 2021
Simply magnificent
Reading this book almost 15-years after it's first publication doesn't diminish its value one bit. On the contrary its gives an indepth understanding of the horrors Al-Qaeda unleashed in a post September 11, 2001 world. Anybody familiar with the subject and who knows the history of the Middle-east after the American invasion of Iraq will find this book even more interesting, as it speaks of the formation of Al-Qaeda from its roots. I would recommend reading this along with "The Bin Ladens" written by Steve Coll. They form a fascinating interconnection of the events before the world changed in September 2001.Simply magnificentAkshay
Reviewed in India on December 5, 2021
And a special mention to the seller who delivered the book without any blemish. The packing was perfect. Exactly the way books should be delivered,
bubble wrapped .
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- AntonioReviewed in Italy on November 7, 2020
Recommended to anyone looking in gaining a well researched and narrated insight on the topic
- Anne Stuckey, Australia.Reviewed in Australia on October 20, 2019
The Towers - how and why.
