the looming tower-a review
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Ben Rogaczewski
Moles, Spies and Terrorists
Prof. Gray
November 20, 2009
The Looming Tower
When the two towers of the World trade Center fell on September 11, 2001,
it was a major shock to everyone in the world. More so than that, it created a new
world hell-bent against terrorism. Airports changed their security measures almost
overnight, and many people found some of their rights slowly slipping away due to
the new measures. Arab phobia seemed to spread all over the United States of
America and the Middle East was becoming recognized as a powder keg ready to
blow at any moment. So controversial were the 9/11 attacks, that it was the cause of
several Middle Eastern wars, some still being fought today. Many wished to point
fingers at who was responsible for such a faux pas of intelligence, and no one
seemed to come forward to take credit for the lack of effort. The terrorist
organization Al-Qaeda, run by Osama bin Laden, took complete credit for the
attacks, and the American people saw a common enemy to be defeated. However,
many still wondered, why were we attacked? What did we do to antagonize them?
Psychologically, as Americans we could not accept vague answers and needed some
extra clarification on the matter. Very few pieces of work show excellent
consideration on the matter without showing signs of bias or racism within the
subject. Lawrence Wrights The Looming Tower is one such piece of rare work.
Not only does it bring to light many of the answers we seek for clarification upon the
matter, but also it does it in a clear way. Wright, who writes for the New Yorker,
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writes for the common person, and allows anyone to gather proper information.
However, there are several specifics involved with the Why of Wrights piece of
work and in order to realize this, we must first start at the beginning of the book.
One of the impressive areas within this novel is its detail to events and
persons involved with the 9/11 attacks. Wright actually traces the first sparks of
major terrorism within the Middle East back to the 1930s and 1940s with Egypts
martyr of Islam, SayyidQutb. From the teachings of Qutb, we find that many Muslims
use the teachings as a means of justification to acts of violence, such as the
assassination of Sadat, leader of Egypt in 1981. This assassination leads to the
inclusion of Ayman al-Zawahiri, an Egyptian doctor driven to bring Islam back to
Egypt. Zawahiri was placed under arrest for the assassination, not for participating
in the event, but because of an implication with the terrorist group he created, al-
Jihad. Wright tells about the atrocities that the inmates had to deal with while in
prison. Not to be surprised, Zawahiri deep down wishes revenge upon his Egyptian
captors but suppresses it when he is released from prison.
This of course leads us to the main character of the whole issue, Osama bin
Laden. Wright begins bin Ladens tale with the novelty of his father, Mohammed bin
Laden. Bin Ladens father became know throughout Saudi Arabia as a master
architect and construction deity of sorts. All these qualities he passed down to his
son, Osama bin Laden, but Osama had other ideas. He wished to purge the world of
luxuries brought forth from western civilization such as film and music. However,
there was one western ideal he did enjoy, and that was soccer. According to Wrights
sources, Osama would often play soccer with his friends and while playing; test their
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knowledge of the Prophet and the Quran. As Osama grows up, we see him begin to
form his group, al-Qaeda, and begin to fight within Pakistan along side the
mujahideen in the war against the Soviets. After that, we see Osama leaving Pakistan
to go to Sudan, all the way building up hostility to the United States of America.
The other main section of Wrights novel is his explanation of the American
intelligence agencies, CIA and FBI. Wright shows that O Neill, the director of
counterterrorism within the FBI during the late 1980s and 1990s, and agents
within the CIA do not cooperate with each other, and consequently cause a lack of
intelligence within the Middle East activities, such as the bombing of the Khobar
Towers in Saudi Arabia. Wright shows just how dangerous common discord within
ones own nation, can be just as dangerous as the chaos within another nation.
Beyond all doubt, I have found that Lawrence Wrights novel The Looming
Tower has very few flaws, if any. It is by far the best understanding of Middle East
activities before the 9/11 attacks, whether they be decades, or mere days before the
World Trade Center was attacked. I would highly recommend it to anyone.