“Imperial Hubris”... the secret of a book Bin Laden read before his murder

For years, al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden was the center of international attention, even after his murder in May 2, 2011; his secrets and horrors keeps revealing every now and then.

And maybe one of the strangest things in Bin Laden’s life is what the CIA found in his last house in Pakistan; as his library contained a set of different books, most notably “Imperial Hubris” by former intelligence officer Michael Scheuer.

Scheuer’s book, entitled “Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror”, was among Bin Laden’s collectibles; this had been justified by the former C.I.A. officer as he said, “Bin Laden knew who understood him closely, and this is what I know.”

The 2004 book introduces a critical view on the U.S. policies towards terrorism and radical extremism, referring to the Islamist concepts that turned Bin Laden into an inspiration for extremists.

The book addresses the U.S. political and security strategies, while accusing it of arrogance and colonial tendencies that will definitely lead it to defeat. As while the West is seeking to continue its international administration after the war in Afghanistan and Iraq, some radical groups grant their elements more legitimacy to fight those who are considered foes.

Anti-Muslims

Moreover, Scheuer accuses U.S. leaders of being oblivious to this fact, and to the serious threat to the United States, thanks to such policies that only fuel hostility and radicalism, so they have to avoid false pride, excessive ignorance and cowardice.

He also called upon all Western leaders to stop spreading hatred and hostility towards Muslims and to refrain from showing-off their super ability to create democracy anywhere they want, ignoring the real history of humanity.

Scheuer affirmed that the war in Afghanistan was necessary, but it only got lost due to the known U.S. arrogance. He admitted the U.S. failure to draw peace in Afghanistan after 1992, in addition to repeating the same failures by the U.S. government.

As for the U.S. invasion to Iraq, Scheuer described it as “economic”, and has no justifications; as on the contrary, the war was directed to an enemy that did not pose an imminent threat to the state.

“If there is a single power the West underestimates, it is the power of collective hatred,” Scheuer said in his book. He added that all the hatred that fundamentalist leaders take advantage of only helps terrorists get stronger, regardless of the debate over whether bin Laden preaches and practices and aberrant form of Islam, or merely a deranged killer using religious rhetoric to justify his attacks.

The Far-right

Scheuer clarified that Muslims, or the majority of them, have a noble and enthusiastic relationship with God and Prophet Muhammad – PBUH –, also, Muslims has a firm belief in the principle that "There is no rule except for God’s", which is completely different from other beliefs; so when their symbols and ideologies are being ridiculed under the name of freedom, they get deeply affected.

He also clarified that some far-right activists, or extremists of other religions, intend to make fun of Prophet Muhammad, pointing out that they play a clear role in “granting legitimacy to terrorism and increasing the hatred of people who do not threaten the U.S. existence.”

Among the pages of the book, which refutes the reasons for the loss of the Western war on terrorism from an intelligence point of view, comes Egyptian former military colonel and high-ranking member of al-Qaeda Saif al-Adel and his role in commanding the military and tactical unit of the organization; his first objective was to secure the lives of al-Qaeda operatives.

Al-Adel’s military doctrine was based on three main bases, namely to avoid concentrating all forces in one area, to avoid catastrophic defeat and to protect top al-Qaeda leaders, and to destroy the enemy on all levels, economically, politically, morally and military. The organization knew well how powerful the U.S. forces were, however, the United States underestimated its enemy.

This underestimation resulted the 9/11 attacks and many other bloody terrorist attacks that cost countries of the west serious losses, according to Scheuer.

The writer also points out to “Missionary Democracy”, which were promoted by Western policy makers with the help of the media and press that referred to George W. Bush as the leader of the free world, which made him cause more chaos.

According to the book, the West flooded the world everyday with news and reports that claimed victory in Afghanistan, the destruction of Taliban, the elimination of al-Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan’s caves and only pro-Western regimes and democracy will rule the world.

In the book’s chapters “Bin Laden: The Enemy We Want, Not the One We Face”, the writer accused the U.S. administration of running a war with terrorism according to its own terms and to what it wants, not for what it claims.