Architect of Global Jihad: The Life of Al-Qaida Strategist Abu Mus’ab al-Suri (review)

One should not use terms like “wow” and “zowie” in a respected, professional publication such as The Journal of Military History. Yet when one comes across a brilliant, wellresearched work, these are the terms that spring to mind. There must be something in the long, cold Scandinavian winters that leads to excellent work on warmer climes. The Scandinavian countries have produced some first-rate scholars on the Middle East and Central Asia. Brynjar Lia is one of them. He is a historian and research professor at the Norwegian Defense Research Establishment (FFI), where he heads the FFI’s research on international terrorism and jihad.

Professor Lia’s subject is Mustafa bin Abd al-Qadir Setmarim Nasar, a Syrian who is better known as Abu Musab al-Suri. Al-Suri is a graduate of numerous training camps throughout the Middle East and Afghanistan, a possible participant in the Madrid bombings and the “Trotsky of jihad”. He has lectured and written extensively on the military underpinnings of global jihad. He was arrested in Pakistan in October 2005 and is reportedly held by the United States. Professor Lia uses al-Suri’s writings; extremist web sites; Spanish, English, and Interpol sources; plus interviews to produce a masterful biography of an extremist who has been close to the inner circles, but never a full insider. The book provides a good look at the personal and ideological rivalries in this community and demonstrates that Al-Qaeda is only a small part of the entire network. Al-Suri angrily faults Al-Qaeda for undermining the Taliban, “the best example of an Islamic state on earth.” He attacks Osama bin Laden for acting like a “pharaoh.” He spurns Saudi Arabian dilettantes for attending training camps as a sort of “outward bound” experience and a means of atonement for “whoring in Bangkok” but never entering combat.

Al-Suri considers himself the strategist of jihad. He is well read in the literature of guerrilla war and one of his favorite books is Robert Taber’s dated War of the Flea. Al-Suri does not agree with the assessments of the popular American media. He sees the current terrorist efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan as losing to the Americans and believes that the current structure of jihad is wrong. Instead, al-Suri has issued a 1,600-page work entitled “The Global Islamic Resistance Call.” Professor Lia has translated key portions of this work. Al-Suri calls for a truly global jihad which avoids its current vulnerable hierarchy. He proposes a decentralized global movement of individuals and small local cells who do not travel abroad to fight, but fight in their own neighborhoods. These jihadists would be less trained and bound only by ideology, but their numbers and impact would be greater. Quantity has a quality of its own.

Professor Lia writes well in English. The topic is complex, but he reduces most of the complexities to digestible lumps. The research is commendable. He does not even pad his bibliography. Wow! Zowie!