Due to a confluence of unfortunate factors, most of us have a poor understanding of the powerful forces that impel radicalized Muslim's to commit acts of unspeakable terrorism. Not only do governments try to spin their populations on the shape and scope of events as they want them to be viewed, the western media, which is designed to be a check against the disinformation of government, relies far too heavily on said governments for their reporting during times of crisis. But while governments and newspapers may fail us in our attempts to understand, to know, we are ultimately our own worst enemies. For the human desire for a simple and logical narrative to explain the inexplicable, to make comprehensible the irrational, causes us to favor the half-lies of black-and-white scenarios over the truth inherent in complex and nuanced reality. This is a great shame because it leaves us to obsess over the explosive events of the War on Terror while ignoring the corruption and the hopelessness that makes it possible.
Terrorists in Love is a vivid, if unsystematic, attempt to understand the hearts and minds of men and women who have tried to martyr themselves for their faith. Mr. Ballen, an American prosecutor, uses numerous trips to the Middle East, over the ten years since 9/11, to recreate the life-stories of six reformed jihadis who, at one time, swore to devote their lives to the ruination of the United States. From the Pakistani military insider to the broken-hearted Romeo of Saudi Arabia, from a young Jihadi burned alive by Al-Qaeda duplicity to the Saudi princeling who is the genetic heir of the sect of Islam that spiritually sustains Jihadis, the author takes his readers on a journey through Saudi deserts, Iraqi cities, Pakistani camps and Afghani mountains in an effort to expose the tribal, spiritual and economic forces that plagued and radicalized his interviewees. These are their tales, their experiences, their thoughts. These are their whys.
While Terrorists in Love is a totally unscientific attempt to understand the motivations of jihadis, and though Mr. Ballen recognizes this when he argues that it is dangerous to extrapolate thematic commonalities from a half-dozen martyrs from a pool of hundreds, or perhaps even thousands of willing suicide bombers, there can be no doubt that this is a stirring work which goes a long way to shedding light on the soul-crushing conditions that nourish radicals. Presuming that resources are not vanishingly scarce, humans, generally, live in peaceful coexistence with one another. However, take away their hope of advancement through society, strip them of their trust in justice to make life lawful, and deprive them of their belief that stagnant societies can change for the better and you will have smashed their dreams for a better tomorrow. Without hope to sustain us through life's inevitable setbacks, we lack any means of guarding ourselves against the acute pains of disappointment and despair. In the midst of such bleakness, some of us will inevitably conclude that they have nothing to lose, that they might as well throw their lives away for someone else's war.
Terrorists in Love is a multifaceted biography that forsakes academic rigor for a poignant, human story. We all want to live free of the fetters of corruption, illegality and institutionalized rent-seeking. We all want to thrive on our own merits, unburdened by the inertia of government. When that proves to be impossible, we search for someone to blame. Unfortunately for the West, it's our turn to be the great Satan. But even more unfortunately for the world, that humans are willing to obliterate themselves for any cause suggests that deep, systemic problems exist in all of Earth's societies. Mr. Ballen's vivid portraits of these six reformed jihadis may not aid anyone in preventing the next terrorist attack, but at least, in reading it, we will better understand the complex and existential motives that drive human beings to be terrorists. This is gripping and moving work. (4/5 Stars)
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