Winning the War on Terror: A Triumph of American Values Paperback - 2005

From the publisher

Winning the War on Terror stresses why American success in Iraq is vital to the Middle East and the future of Western civilization. It concludes with an optimistic assessment of where America stands in its global war on terrorism at the time of the fourth anniversary of 9/11, September 11, 2005. Today we live in a rapidly changing and interconnected world, a truly remarkable historical era, with interdependent globalized economies and rapidly changing technological innovation. We are also engaged in a protracted and violent war against militant Islam, a truly global struggle, but as George Will recently remarked in the Washington Post, there is no guarantee that civilization as we know it will survive, for in the long history of the human race, democracy and human freedom are relatively recent and short-lived concepts. While the West faces uncertainties in the struggle against militant Islam's armies of darkness, and while it is true that we do not yet know precisely how it will end, what has become abundantly clear is that the world will succeed in defeating militant Islam because of the West's flexible, democratic institutions and its all-encompassing ideology of freedom. James Forest, Terrorism Center, U.S. Military Academy at West Point: 'The authors have assembled a useful synthesis of the history behind the threat posed by al Qaeda. Their analysis of the religious ideology that fuels radical Islamists, rooted in the socio-political history of Saudi Arabia, adds a useful dimension to our understanding of the current global security environment. This is also one of the first pieces of scholarship to draw solid connections between the struggle in Iraq and global Islamic jihad led by Al Qaeda'. The authors provide a balanced view of our successes, failures and challenges in Iraq, and how these impact our ability to successfully prosecute the global war on terrorism. In doing so, they add some new insights to the national debate about the Iraq campaign, and offer some hope that our struggle for global peace and security does have an end in sight...I would recommend that West Point's library purchase this book. Geo Strategic Analysis, Washington, DC: 'A key insight of this book reveals the network of killers motivated by a fanatical and twisted Wahhabist faith, sponsored by vast oil wealth and given sanctuary by rogue states. Another is that free institutions and due process will destroy these terrorists, an effort begun in Afghanistan and Iraq. Peter J. Bergerson, Ph.D., Professor of Public Affairs, Florida Gulf Coast University: 'Readers will find this book a valuable resource to understand the origins of radical militant Islamic philosophy and how it became a jihad to threaten western society. Quist and Drake have provided a sober picture of an international deadly disease yet an optimistic picture of the future of U. S. national security interest as we enter the 21st century. Reverend Ralph A. Baumgartner, Assistant to the Bishop, Saint Paul Area Lutheran Synod: 'The novel argument that [the authors] make is that the invasion of Iraq does serve the war against terrorism because it puts pressure on Saudi Arabia to change its behavior and to make reforms that lead to democracy.