Do You like book Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: America, The Cold War, And The Roots Of Terror (2005)?
You have concentrate quite hard to read this book to follow Mamdani's arguments, but I found, in the end, it was worth it. Mamdani tells a complex story, that pulls together recent history in a cohesive explanation of the emergence of terrorism. He explains how Vietnam, the Nicaraguan revolution, South African apartheid, the Iranian revolution, the Cold War, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the Iraq/Iran war, Jerry Falwell and the American Christian Right,the American relationship with Israel,the Iran Contra scandal and the drug war are all interconnected and part of the story. The author provides a clear, though not simplistic, explanation of how politics and religion can become enmeshed. He provides strong reasoning why America's actions, characterized by a prevailing attitude of impunity,have created global relationships which should be conducted with a spirit of tolerance and collaboration but, instead, are festering under continued evil vs. good ideologies perpetrated by western political propagandists and governments are finding themselves in morally indefensible positions which will be increasingly impossible to back away from.
—Nicola
This book is virtually the authentic history of the genesis of islamic terrorism as we see today. It starts with the hey days of the Cold War, the US role in privatising war and conflict, its nefarious role in South Africa, Mozambique, Nicaragua, the use of drug money for financing war, creation of Afghani jihad forces to fight Soviet intervention in Afghanistan and the CIA role in creating conflict situations, which has resulted in the menace of Islamic Terrorism as we see today. The book does not exonerate terrrorism, but carefully places vital facts for the reader to conclude the real villian in this drama.
—Ram
This is an ambitious book that attempts to cover the involvement of the US in the Middle East (and Asia as a whole) during the time of the Cold War. Mamdani argues a number of points, many of them in attempt to debunk the idea that Muslims are the world's only terrorists, that it was cultural determination that lead to violence in the Middle East and not American and foreign meddling, and that there are no solutions to the US vs Middle East controversy other than American occupation of nations in that area. Although it is sometimes too broad in its scope and Mamdani gets a bit carried away in his zeal, thereby allowing some great points to slip by, "Good Muslim, Bad Muslim" is an excellent book that is incredibly relevant at the moment, especially to Americans who are seeking to better understand the situation in which our country finds itself with respect to Arab nations.
—Emily
