Saturday, February 20, 2016

United States of Jihad by Peter Bergen

From the back cover: “Since 9/11, more than three hundred Americans—born and raised in Minnesota, Alabama, New Jersey, and elsewhere—have been indicted or convicted of terrorism charges. 

Page 23: “Jihad was already being waged in America many years before 9/11. Most Americans just weren’t aware of it.

Peter Bergen comprehensively examines the lives of American jihadists.  It is a frightening and sometimes infuriating look at those who are being radicalized here in the United States, some even traveling to join ISIS. It is well researched and extensively footnoted.  

Late in the book it becomes somewhat of an attack on the political “right” or “paranoid right” as Mr. Bergen calls it. He claims that the fear of Sharia law defies common sense and uses terms like endemic paranoia. It is an interesting book, but personal political views tarnish it.

There will be a companion HBO documentary, Homegrown, which will air in the spring of 2016.


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