Despite the torrent of media coverage of al-Qa’ida in the aftermath of September 11, 2001, the dreaded outfit has remained an enigma. The genesis, ideology, influence, goals and strategy of al-Qa’ida are subjects of endless discourse. Secrecy shrouding the organisation and the paranoid leaders preclude any authentic information from trickling out. While demonising the outfit, the West has made little efforts to understand the factors which contributed to its growth.
Here is a work giving first-hand information on al Qa’ida, providing an invaluable insight into the terrorist threat. Abdel Bari Atwan— a London-based Arab journalist— who has had contacts with radical Muslim leaders (right from Osama bin Laden) for over a decade, has succeeded in giving an in-depth account of the phenomenon of Islamic militancy, its political roots and the emergence of Osama as the prime exponent of jihad.
Atwan’s account of his rendezvous with bin Laden in the Tora Bora caves forms the high point of the book. The portrait of the world’s most wanted man is sympathetic. The author argues that Laden’s immense popularity as the figurehead of a resurgent Islamic identity and the long-term goal of re-establishing a caliphate through a global jihad cannot be underestimated. The corrupt and oppressive regimes in West Asia provide fertile ground for the propagation of al-Qa’ida ideology. While harking back on the past when Islam was on the ascendant, al-Qa’ida considers 1.3 billion Muslims across the globe as one nation and ignores the contradictions of race, nationality, geography and language.
Global network
It is the decade old Afghan resistance against the Soviet occupation that made Al-Qa’ida what it is today. Thousands of Arab Mujahedin, led by Osama, who flocked to the mountains formed the nucleus.
Its alliance with the Taliban made a deadly combination with a sinister global agenda. Now al-Qa’ida has evolved into a global network loosely linked by ideology and guiding principles. A horizontal chain of command makes it impossible to track the leaders. Local cells have the operational freedom to execute jihadi projects.  
The biggest blow to al-Qa’ida had been fall of the Taliban regime which provided a safe haven. But the US invasion of Iraq proved to be a godsend to exploit Arab anger. It has created the perfect training ground for al-Qa’ida. The ruthless efficiency of daily suicide bombings in occupied Iraq, points to the terrorist organisation’s hand. Heeding al-Qa’ida’s call hundreds of youth pour into Iraq daily to take up arms against the US.
The strategy is to expand the fight against the US and its allies to economic, ideological, cultural and moral fronts. The terrorist outfit adopts modern technology in a big way to achieve its goals. The Al-Qa’ida fully exploits the potential of the internet to propagate its ideology and for communicating with cadres across the globe. Experts devise ways to hoodwink law enforcing agencies in the West with extensive use of cryptology. Every al-Qa’ida suicide attack is filmed and posted on the net within hours.
Atwan analyses the phenomena of jihad, suicide bomber and the concept of martyrdom and throws light on factors that led to the growth of al-Qa’ida in Europe. The wealth of information provided makes for compelling reading. But the book ignores USA’s role in creating the Frankenstein and Pakistan’s nefarious act of abetting terrorism.

The secret history of al-Qa'ida,
Abdel Bari Atwan,
Abacus, 2006,
Pages 292,
8.99 pounds.