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THE LOOMING TOWER

Posted on 10/11/2006 5:44:53 AM PDT by 7thson

I started reading The Looming Tower two days ago and so far, I have read fifty-one pages. My impressions so far -

So far, an excellent narrative.

These people are insane! And what is worse is we - the United States, the West, et al - attempt to deal with these people from a rational, Western, Christian point of view. It isn't working and it will never work. They have to be cut down like mad dogs.

The people who start or lead these destructive idealogies, all seem to be cut from the same cloth. Social misfits who find it difficult to get along with people, especially women.

We seem to be making some of the same mistakes the Eygptians and other mid-East rulers have made. They capture these guys and put them in prison, where they languish for a few years, either dying a "matyred" death or getting out and becoming more of a force later on down the road. We seem to be following the same path. The first guy Wright writes about - Qtbd. They put this guy in prison and let him become a hero to this insane movement. If they executed him early on, maybe a lot of these problems would not exist today. Who knows?

These people all seem to get sucked into a victim mentality.

Anyone else read this book or started it? What are your impressions?


TOPICS: Miscellaneous; Unclassified; Your Opinion/Questions
KEYWORDS: alqaeda; alqaida; binladen; bush; iran; iraq; jihad; loomingtower; qutb; terror; waronterror; wot

1 posted on 10/11/2006 5:44:54 AM PDT by 7thson
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To: 7thson
It isn't working and it will never work. They have to be cut down like mad dogs.

Genesis 16:12 And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.

2 posted on 10/11/2006 5:55:18 AM PDT by Red Badger (CONGRESS NEEDS TO BE DE-FOLEY-ATED...............................)
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To: 7thson

I haven't read the book but I intend to do so. The only thing that bothers me is they had the author on Chris Matthews, and Dan Rather raved about him.


3 posted on 10/11/2006 5:57:15 AM PDT by Senator Goldwater
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To: 7thson
These people are insane! And what is worse is we - the United States, the West, et al - attempt to deal with these people from a rational, Western, Christian point of view. It isn't working and it will never work. They have to be cut down like mad dogs.

Agreed. Qutb was a nutter - like most of the islama-whackos had problems with women too - and wanted to be a martyr. Their sick ideology identifies us - the United States - as the source of their problems. And the reason for the failures of Arab societies is that they are not pious enough. That's the exact opposite of the source of their failures: islam itself!

I started THE LOOMING TOWER then put it aside to read AMERICA ALONE. Will get back to it when done.

4 posted on 10/11/2006 6:17:51 AM PDT by Rummyfan
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To: Rummyfan
I read a post on FR a couple weeks back concerning four books recommended - I believe - by Hugh Hewitt. The four books - read in this order - are The Looming Tower, Imperial Grunts, The Last Lion., and America Alone I already had The Last Lion and will read it last. These should take me up to Christmas.
5 posted on 10/11/2006 6:23:29 AM PDT by 7thson (I've got a seat at the big conference table! I'm gonna paint my logo on it!)
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To: 7thson

IMPERIAL GRUNTS was very good too.


6 posted on 10/11/2006 6:24:20 AM PDT by Rummyfan
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To: 7thson

The crusaders knew something that we have forgotten about the muzzies.


7 posted on 10/11/2006 6:26:51 AM PDT by Texas Chilli
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To: Senator Goldwater

Yes, Laurence Wright the author writes for the New Yorker, and I kept that in mind while I read the book. Having said that, the book is excellent in that it gives you an extensive prologue about how the radical islamists such as sayid qutb had such a monumental impact on shaping the minds of creeps such as binladen and zawahiri.


8 posted on 10/11/2006 6:45:25 AM PDT by AdvisorB
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To: 7thson
I read a post on FR a couple weeks back concerning four books recommended - I believe - by Hugh Hewitt. The four books - read in this order - are The Looming Tower, Imperial Grunts, The Last Lion., and America Alone

I missed that thread, but I will look into it.

9 posted on 10/11/2006 6:55:57 AM PDT by ELS (Vivat Benedictus XVI!)
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To: 7thson
I am reading 'The Looming Tower' now.

What struck me from the first pages: How do you deal with people who reject modernity and Western values and are willing to die to impose their backward way of thinking?

Even if all of their 'issues' with the West were solved, there would always be something that would not fit into their model.

We are starting to see it here: Cab drivers in Minnesota refusing fares if there is alcohol or a seeing-eye dog; honor killing in NY state; the double standard of teaching islam in schools and the fierce defense of separation of church and state if Judeo-Christian values are mentioned.

The other thing that struck me: Hypocrisy - rejection of modernity, but making full use of the internet and other technologies to spread their bile.

When are we going to wake up? After another 9/11?
10 posted on 10/11/2006 6:59:07 AM PDT by Brizick (Repeal the 17th Amendment)
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To: Brizick

I read The Looming Tower. It details how they hate our freedom. It, Islam, is a cult of death.


11 posted on 10/11/2006 7:07:32 AM PDT by shankbear (Al-Qaeda grew while Monica blew)
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To: ELS

I am not quick at making links but here is the title of that post - The Indispensable Bookshelf: The Books You Absolutely, Positively, Must Read.


12 posted on 10/11/2006 7:47:36 AM PDT by 7thson (I've got a seat at the big conference table! I'm gonna paint my logo on it!)
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To: Mr.Smorch
"the book is excellent"

Picked it up today. I can't wait to ride it out.

13 posted on 10/11/2006 5:08:21 PM PDT by Senator Goldwater
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To: Senator Goldwater

I've got your book, and you signed it for me.


14 posted on 10/11/2006 5:21:13 PM PDT by AdvisorB
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To: Mr.Smorch

You've got yourself a collector's item.


15 posted on 10/11/2006 8:41:26 PM PDT by Senator Goldwater
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To: Senator Goldwater

Touche!


16 posted on 10/12/2006 3:53:27 AM PDT by AdvisorB
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To: Brizick

The Indian Wars (both against the American Indian by the US and its predecessors, and those by the English against the tribal monarchies in India) are a guide.


17 posted on 10/12/2006 3:57:22 AM PDT by bvw
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To: 7thson
Is Laurence Wright an apologist for islam?

From a reviewer: WHATEVER may cause Islamic terrorism, it is certainly not Islam. That is a central message of The Looming Tower, an often riveting but flawed contribution to the surfeit of post-9/11 analyses and histories of Osama bin Laden's international terror network.

At its best--which is often, but not often enough--this book by The New Yorker's Lawrence Wright provides a welcome departure from the arid, encyclopedic tendencies of this overcrowded field. Generally, this is a coherent, exhaustively researched history of the essential characters and events that have shaped the new global order. When he lets the facts sing, Wright's work reads like an engrossing novel. But he peppers the account with analytical pauses that are erratic and reflective of dubious conventional wisdom--the world according to Richard Clarke, Michael Scheuer, and the 9/11 Commission. For all its promise, The Looming Tower disappoints.

I've been kicking around getting this book.

18 posted on 02/10/2008 7:17:05 AM PST by processing please hold ( "It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.")
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To: 7thson

“The Looming Tower” is outstanding!
It should be followed by “Sabotage” and “Shadow Warriors”.

The perspective gained by building your fact base, in that sequence is AMAZING!!!


19 posted on 02/10/2008 7:19:49 AM PST by G Larry (HILLARY CARE = DYING IN LINE!)
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