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A Report from Behind the Scenes in Asia's War on Terror
by Tracy Dahlby
Book Reviewed by:Charts a fascinating course through the sprawling land of Indonesia, where the home-bred Jemaah Islamiyah, Asia's answer to Al Qaeda, pursues its deadly ambition to create a Southeast Asia Islamic super-state.
Indonesia, Southeast Asia -- the next front in the war on terrorism maybe the most difficult ... and explosive.
Long before September 11, 2001, terrorism's global elite was already zeroing in on Indonesia -- the world's most populous Islamic nation, and its largest archipelago, where dense jungles and intricate, unpatrolled coastlines conceal almost endless hiding places. Acclaimed journalist and filmmaker Tracy Dahlby takes us into this dangerous terrain, both before and after 9/11, interweaving the divergent perspectives of Koran-thumping preachers, hardened holy warriors, military commandos, and embattled Muslim moderates, in a first-rate reporting adventure that sheds new light on the epidemic chaos now threatening our international community.
By turns harrowing, thought-provoking, and humorous, Allah's Torch charts a fascinating course through a sprawling land unknown to most Americans where the home-bred Jemaah Islamiyah, Asia's answer to Al Qaeda, pursues its deadly ambition of pressing all of Southeast Asia under the yoke of a pure Islamic super-state.
With the trained observer's eye for detail and veteran newsman's sense of the story hidden behind the headlines, Dahlby gives readers a highly personal tour of the militant Jakarta slums, terrorist-traumatized Bali, and the Islamic heartland on the island of Java, where the outcome of a struggle now raging between moderate Muslims and their extremist brethren for the country's Islamic soul promises to have far-reaching effects on the lives of ordinary Americans. In so doing, Dahlby maps out the chilling realities of what radical Islam has planned for us as our worlds inevitably collide -- and offers some surprising conclusions about how America's leaders -- and its citizens -- can best defend our country against Asia's new Osama bin Ladens.
Chapter One
Holy War
May 11, 2000, 7 P.M.
The moon was shining over the harbor at Makassar, the storied old spice port nine hundred miles east of Jakarta, when Norman and I stood in the steamy night, staring up at the huge steel flanks of the interisland passenger liner the M.V. Bukit Siguntang. With its upper decks wrapped around a large single funnel, and bathed in a garish yellow light from intertwining floodlights, the vessel resembled a giant wedding cake from hell. Dozens of embarking passengers, shoving and yelling, and using their luggage as battering rams, fought for a foothold on the rickety gangway. Every now and then, pairs of gimlet-eyed cops in maroon berets and camouflage would yank some poor devil out of the mob, probe his deteriorating cardboard box with the snout of a machine gun, and haul him off into the shadows.
Alarmed by the chaos, I grabbed Norman by the arm, and said, "Remember, pal, we're here for a look -- but that is all. If anything, and I ...
Dahlby's tendency to spend as much time highlighting the lighter hearted side of Indonesia as he does the more sinister people and events is seen as a weakness by some reviewers. However, for the great majority of us who have little knowledge of the current political and religious situation in Indonesia (and, if we're honest, would probably have been hard pressed to find it on a map until the Tsunami hit in December 2004), the combination of travelogue and political journalism is both relevant and interesting...continued
Full Review
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(Reviewed by BookBrowse Review Team).
Tracy Dahlby
is a former managing editor of Newsweek
International and an expert in the affairs of Asia, where
he lived for thirteen years, serving as Tokyo bureau chief for
the Washington Post and Newsweek. He is also a regular
contributor to National Geographic
magazine.
According to
Dahlby: In 2000, 75% of Indonesians surveyed in a major
poll expressed positive feelings toward the US. Three years
later, the figure stood at 15%. The causes for
this extraordinary swing are believed to be: perceived
...
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