Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Book Review: Growing Up Bin Laden

I read a fair amount of current events/political books. This is one of the most enlightening I've ever read (right next to Richard Clarke's Against All Enemies).

The book is the life story of Najwa Bin Laden, Osama's first wife, and that of her fourth son, Omar. The mother and son take turns writing chapters. The book is arranged chronologically, sometimes with Najwa and Omar telling their different takes on the same events. Jean Sasson pops in just a few times to give a more news-oriented view of what happened when Osama's activities are unknown to his wife and son.

It turns out that Osama bin Laden wasn't always a terrorist. He went to one of Saudi Arabia's finest private schools, speaks English (and Pashto and Arabic) fluently, and has a very nice family. He became a jihadist when he was America's hero fighting the Russians in Afghanistan. The story of how he transformed from a nice guy to an extremist is illustrated here. And it turns out that he does have a warped view of the world. For instance, when al-Qaeda bombed the embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, he rejoiced. When cruise came in and destroyed his training camps, he railed against the US, "Why would they kill Muslims? Why would anyone kill Muslims?"

The book is valuable for more than the story of Osama bin Laden. It is ultimately a story about family life in a conservative Muslim culture. Why do Muslims still practice polygamy? How does the husband take care of all his families? How does he interact with his kids? How does a woman in a burqa go shopping? What are her aspirations? It's very enlightening as a primer on all these aspects (and more!) of conservative Muslim life.

And it should be required reading for Americans who vote. We must both a) understand our enemy and b) understand that most people (even his wife and kids) are not our enemies. Read it. It'll do you good. The hardcover was on sale at Freddy's a few weeks ago. Paperback should be out soon.