Imperial Hubris
Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror is a book by American author Michael Scheuer, a Central Intelligence Agency veteran. The book was originally published anonymously. Scheur worked 22 years with the CIA, and ran the Counterterrorist Center's bin Laden station from 1996 to 1999.
In the book, Scheuer criticized assumptions which were widespread among US civilian, military and intelligence officials regarding Islamist insurgencies and particularly Osama bin Laden. Scheuer contends that Al-Qaeda is following a martial strategy that is more rational than it is given credit for among Western politicians and media.
In his bin Laden video|video of September 7th 2007], bin Laden says that "if you would like to get to know some of the reasons for your losing of your war against us, then read the book of Michael Scheuer in this regard."
Reviews
Reviews, ranging from high praise to scathing criticism, are presented here in chronological order.- Richard A. Clarke, , The ''Washington Post, June 27, 2004
- Michiko Kakutani, , The [New York Times|The New York Times], July 9, 2004
- Mark Follman, , Salon Magazine, July 13, 2004
- Faye Bowers, , The Christian Science Monitor, July 13, 2004
- Benjamin Schwarz, , The Atlantic, August 10, 2004
- James. H. Joyner, Jr., , Strategic Insights, vol. 3, no. 9, September 2004
- Jason Burke, , The Guardian, September 4, 2004
- Eric Margolis, Why West is losing, Toronto Sun, September 12, 2004
- Jeff Helmreich, , Jerusalem Issue Brief, vol. 4, no. 4, September 13, 2004
- David Frum, , National Review, November 16, 2004
- Michael Scheuer, , lewrockwell.com, February 7, 2005
- Thomas Joscelyn, , The Weekly Standard, February 16, 2005
- Charles Glass, , London Review of Books'', vol. 28, no. 5, March 9, 2006