The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright (EPUB)

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NATIONAL BESTSELLER • PULITZER PRIZE WINNER • A “heart-stopping account of the events leading up to 9/11” (The New York Times Book Review), this definitive history explains in gripping detail the growth of Islamic fundamentalism, the rise of al-Qaeda, and the intelligence failures that culminated in the attacks on the World Trade Center. A gripping narrative that spans five decades, The Looming Tower explains in unprecedented detail the growth of Islamic fundamentalism, the rise of al-Qaeda, and the intelligence failures that culminated in the attacks on the World Trade Center. Lawrence Wright re-creates firsthand the transformation of Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri from incompetent and idealistic soldiers in Afghanistan to leaders of the most successful terrorist group in history. He follows FBI counterterrorism chief John O’Neill as he uncovers the emerging danger from al-Qaeda in the 1990s and struggles to track this new threat. Packed with new information and a deep historical perspective, The Looming Tower is the definitive history of the long road to September 11.

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⭐”Wherever you are, death will find you, even if you are in high towers.” – Quran 4:78Sayyid Qutb, an Egyptian Islamic theorist, begins this saga with a voyage to the US in 1948. After a brief stay in the post war sin city of New York, Qutb attended college in small town Colorado as a well known Arabic author. On return to Cairo his ideas crystallized into a dialectical opposition between east-west, traditional-modern and religious-secular. At the time Israel had defeated the Arab alliance and the British were occupying the Suez Canal. Joining with the Muslim Brotherhood, Qutb assisted Nasser in 1952 to depose King Farouk, but Pan-Arabic socialism thwarted his desires for a sharia state. Following a 1954 assassination attempt on Nasser, Qutb was jailed and then executed in 1966.Ayman al-Zawahiri was born in 1951 to a famous family of doctors and clerics, friends of Qutb. He lived in a rich Cairo suburb, home to Edward Said, Omar Sharif and future King Hussein. In 1967 Egypt blocked the straight to the Red Sea from Palestine. Israel destroyed Egypt’s air force, overran Sinai and reached the Suez canal in less than a week. The same six days saw the capture of Jerusalem, the West Bank, Golan Heights, and a rout of Jordanian and Syrian forces. The war marked the birth of a new fundamentalism. Only a return to the faith could regain the lost favor of God. Zawahiri believed that restoration of a caliphate would lead to a holy war with the US and it’s Jewish conspirators.Nasser died in 1970 and Sadat emptied jails of Muslim Brothers in a bid to legitimize his presidency. The decade saw a surge in radical groups fostered by official tolerance. Khomeini established Islamic rule in 1979 Iran, raising hopes for theocracy. Egypt was not ready for revolution however, and in 1980 Zawahiri visited Pakistan to provide medical support in the Afghanistan conflict. Sadat had signed a treaty with Israel in 1978, and was assassinated in 1981. Zawahiri was implicated, and tortured in the Citadel of Cairo. Mubarak arrested hundreds of Islamists for the trial. Omar Abdel Rahman, leader of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing would share prison time with Zawahiri.Osama bin Laden was born in 1957 to a successful family of developers in Saudi Arabia. King Saud had ended a rebellion of religious fanatics in 1931, and established Salafism as the fundamentalist creed of the land. Oil boomed in 1950, and the bin Laden’s became rich through construction for the king. Seventeenth son Osama was a devout youth, and fervent for sharia law. Influenced by Qutb, he joined the Muslim Brothers. Rapid social change and resentment of royalty spurred dreams of revolution. King Faisal was killed in 1975 while making secular reforms. Mecca’s mosque was seized in 1979 by rebels seeking theocratic rule. If an Islamic state could be formed the world would soon follow.Abdullah Azzam, al-Azhar scholar and jihadi, left Jordan for Jeddah in 1980, where he met bin Laden. He joined Afghan forces against the Soviets, issued fatwas to fight and spun tales of battlefield miracles. Bin Laden had raised funds and recruited volunteers, where he met Zawahiri. Saudi royals sacrificed riches to defend the faith and block the USSR from the gulf. The US funneled fortunes into the region to protect oil interests. Bin Laden built training camps for foreign fighters, using Pakistan as a local base. A network of Arab princes, holy warriors, secret agents, Muslim mystics and puppet dictators was born. Azzam became a founding father of al-Qaida, Hamas and Lashkar-e-Taiba.Azzam vied with Zawahiri and bin Laden for control of al-Qaida when the USSR fell in 1989. The Saudis intervened and bin Laden won the day. When Azzam fell from favor he was killed. Hailed as hero in the Afghanistan-Soviet war, bin Laden led a ragtag band who amused the Afghan army. The last half of the book covers the decade leading to the 2001 attacks. Royal corruption and an economic slide bred unrest in the Kingdom. Bin Laden blamed the US, a tricky position towards an ally against the USSR, but the princes feared domestic threats as much as foreign ones. Allowing infidel troops on Saudi soil in 1990 to attack Saddam Hussein was an affront to bin Laden, even in defense of Saudi oil.Hasan al-Turabi, a Sudanese scholar armed with degrees from London and Paris, staged a coup that created a Sunni Islamist state in 1989. He had been a Muslim Brotherhood leader since 1964. Sudan opened it’s doors to stateless jihadi, with a special invitation extended to bin Laden. Relocating to Khartoum in 1992 he reunited with Zawahiri. As the communist threat subsided a Christian one took hold. The presence of Americans in the KSA and Yemen violated a Quranic verse about one religion in Arabia. This coalesced into a crusades redux, where ancient battles began anew. If a western new world order was the future, then al-Qaida would reignite a fight for past traditions of law and faith.Omar Abdel Rahman led the 1993 WTC bombing, funded by bin Laden. Al-Qaida trained fighters killed 19 US soldiers in Mogadishu that year. Mubarak survived a 1995 assassination attempt by Zawahiri. Bin Laden returned to Afghanistan in 1996, under the baleful eye of Taliban leader Mullah Omar, who was bankrolled by Pakistan and the KSA. Khaled Sheikh Mohammed visited bin Laden. His nephew, WTC bomber Ramzi Yousef blew up a passenger jet and plotted to kill Bill Clinton. Their new plan was to crash airliners into US buildings. Khobar Towers exploded, killing 19 US Air Force personnel. In 1997 62 tourists were gunned down in Egypt. Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania followed in 1998.The last quarter of the book details the dysfunctional ties between the FBI and the CIA. An agent of Zawahiri told the FBI about al-Qaida in 1993, but the CIA wasn’t informed. As bin Laden declared war on the US in 1996 we wondered what it would mean. Al-Qaida began suicide missions, evolving from freedom fighters to global terrorists. In 1999 a missile strike aimed at bin Laden was canceled by the CIA. As al-Qaida pilots entered the US in 2000 the CIA didn’t tell the FBI. The USS Cole exploded in Yemen killing 17 sailors. By the summer of 2001 there were reports a vast attack was imminent. The FBI agent who lead the al-Qaida team retired. Within two weeks at his new job in the WTC the planes hit.I lived next to the WTC then as I do now. Assuming I had heard it all in the news, I delayed reading this book. Instead of a narrow focus on the 911 plot, the book gives a wide historical context. It is not a painstaking recount of the attack. Lawrence Wright won a 2007 Pullitzer Prize for his work. More than 350 people worldwide were interviewed by the author. He takes a balanced view and no one is blameless in this account. From blinkered politicians and warlike empires, corrupt royalty and cynical clergy, Machiavellian intellects and credulous minds came a scourge of violence. Bin Laden may not have succeeded in a showdown for a single world faith, but the seeds of destruction were sown.

⭐This is a thoroughly researched book that describes the family background, recent history, and influences on Osama bin Laden, the beginning of al-Qaeda, and the events that led to the attacks of September 11, 2001. This book took me so long to read because it is so chock-full of information and threads of events I either didn’t know about, or didn’t realize were connected, I ended up buying a used copy once I started reading my library check-out, just so I could highlight passages that were critical to understanding (I also needed to buy another highlighter when my first one ran out of ink), so this kind of slowed me down a bit. Since there are so many names of people involved, many with similar names, or people who disappear only to pop up again sometime later, I was very grateful for the detailed playlist of principle characters provided, in addition to a map of the region, an index, and a bibliography.The author describes bin Laden’s father, Mohammed bin Laden, a wealthy and well-connected man responsible for building a ramp to the Royal palace and a previously unattainable road over the al-Sarawat Range, which united the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, thus garnering favor with the Royal family, who subsequently appointed him honorary minister of public works. His growing reputation and Royal connections allowed for him to expand his businesses throughout the country, and at a time of financial difficulty, he loaned a substantial amount of money to the Royal family when the banks would not, further solidifying his relationship with the Royals.Growing up in this privileged life, his 17th son, Osama bin Laden, also enjoyed a close relationship with the Royal family. Since he was further down the ladder in the order of sons, there were no positions of power within his father’s companies for him to assume, so he was left to “make his own way”. Of course, he was also provided a monthly stipend, so he never actually had a job, and this would be his primary source of income and how he financed his terrorist organization for much of his life. Surprisingly, he comes across as rather aimless and ineffective, lacking ambition or his father’s keen business sense. Without his father’s money to support him and his endeavors, it seems to me he would have become an unknown farmer, pontificating to his wives, children, and neighbors about the presence of Americans in the Middle East. It is only due to his father’s money and his willingness to spend it on the disillusioned masses that he found an audience for his disgruntled rantings and financially supported their destructive, rage-fueled fantasies of Islamic dominance.While the book initially includes various events that occurred overseas, the author points out that bin Laden hadn’t really done anything at that point, and the events he publicly took credit for were events he had little to nothing to do with, so for some time, his reputation was being built on exaggerations or flat-out lies. His organization did continue to grow, but ignoring the aid of hindsight, there truly does not appear to the average reader to be a connection to the US that was overlooked by the authorities. There were, however, a handful of fastidious US intelligence agents who monitored bin Laden and those he financed throughout the 1990s, and they did see connections, but when they alerted others to the potential dangers posed by the largesse of this largely unknown man, without a direct or specific threat to the US, they were ignored. This error was further compounded by the folly of American bureaucracy and the unwillingness of the FBI, CIA, and NSA to work together and share information, which resulted in several missed opportunities. This is what I believe to be the crux of the “road to 9/11”: our intelligence agencies provided the unobstructed path with their lack of communication and teamwork. If each agency had not been so busy trying to keep any information they had away from the other agencies, they would have realized that they each possessed pieces of information that, when fit together, would have provided them with a better idea of what was going on, and could have led to the capture of key al-Qaeda members that would have thwarted their plans. Instead, their continued secrecy and stubbornness allowed known al-Qaeda members to enter the US and without hindrance, they were free to develop their plans.On another disconcerting note, the author also points out that bin Laden knew he could not win a fight with Americans on US soil, and sought to devise a plan that would bring the fight to him, on “a large-scale front which it cannot control”, where American soldiers “cannot stand against warriors of faith who do not fear death”. Since Islamic extremists believe that jihad never ends, they would have generations of radical, resentful, and repressed Muslims, mesmerized by the myth of martyrdom, to fight the “eternal war” to defend Islam. We played right into his hands, waging war on their soil, where we have been for well over a decade now, without an exit strategy or an end in sight.The author has done a fantastic job of writing a comprehensive history that creates a broader picture for the average reader to get a better understanding of how events that occurred a continent away would have rippling effects here in the US years later. This should be required reading for all.

⭐A brilliant examination of the causes of 9/11. At the end of my second visit to the 9/11 memorial and museum in New York City I went into the shop where various books were on sale. Among them Lawrence Wright’s “The Looming Tower” – I later bought it on Amazon. To brief yourself on WHAT happened on 11th September 2001 go to the museum. To understand WHY it happened read Wright’s book.Wright tells the story of Islamic Terrorism and of Al-Qaeda with the highest regard for the truth. His research was extensive – not easy in a subject area clouded with confusion, lies and not always with verifiable sources. He tracks the growth of fundamentalist Islam in a way that is sensitive to Islamic culture and to the polarised contrast it has to the all pervasive Western culture most of us in America and Europe regard as the norm. The path from being a devout Muslim to being a terrorist may seem a long one and one few would follow. That is true. But it only takes a small number to challenge the hegemony and the ubiquity of the West and an even smaller percentage of them to pursue the path of violence to cause chaos, and death and destruction.The 9/11 terrorists and their compatriots in Al-Qaeda were not wild men from caves, and nor was Osama Bin-Laden. They were, and are, often well-educated and from comfortably-off families. It is self-evidently the case that terrorism runs counter to the core teaching of Islam. So the beliefs that drove Bin-Laden and his followers are a grotesquely perverted interpretation of Islamic teaching which most Muslims thankfully reject. But it was true that it was these beliefs that led to 9/11 and it is perverse to deny that. Lawrence Wright doesn’t.What Al-Qaeda did was to defeat conventional national and international constructs with advanced guerrilla warfare techniques. America, in particular, is good at wielding a big stick and has overwhelming power to do this. But the subtleties of finding and defeating opponents who are fleet of foot and who can disappear and regroup was prior to 9/11 much more difficult. Wright describes in detail how, for example, internecine squabbles between the CIA and the FBI inhibited the US ability to respond to the growing threat of Al-Qaeda. It is no exaggeration to say that 9/11 would not have happened if everybody involved in intelligence gathering and response had worked together. They didn’t and the bureaucrats have blood on their hands.The driver of the horror was ideology – a malignant ideology for sure but not a secret one. The hatred of the Western imperative and (in particular) the presence of non Muslims on Muslim lands was not some hidden secret. And yet the US had then few Arabic speakers among its security services and little or no understanding of how devotion to Islam could, for some, become a driver of violence.History is influenced by conspiracy, confusion and chance – all play their part in the 9/11 disaster. The plannng of the attack (not described in detail here) was brilliant. Almost unbelievable in its daring in fact. The attackers did to an extent “ get lucky” but frankly American preparedness was woeful. The CIA/FBI knew about bin-Laden and Al-Qaeda, not least because of the recent attack in Aden on the USS Cole. 9/11 could have been stopped and modern history would have been different. A chilling thought.This is a magnificent book and I commend it without reservation.

⭐I first read this book in early 2016 ten years after its publication, having read many books on 9/11 and its aftermath. The passing of time and Islamic extremism’s subsequent global growth make its contribution to one’s understanding even more impressive and important.As other reviewers have noted this book is not about 9/11 though that is the culminating event. Instead it is primarily about the growth of radical Islamic thinking from the late 1940s. The Muslim Brotherhood led by Sayyid Qutb until he was executed in 1966, existed mainly in Egypt a country the author knew as an English teacher during the 1960s. Reignited by the war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan and the vacuum created, it’s diverse supporters transformed into al-Qaeda under the control of a wayward son of the Saudi based wealthy Yemen family of bin Laden.The detailed level of research and the concise explanations of what is so often not easily understood by non-Muslims is what initially marks this book out especially in the first two hundred pages up to the first truck bomb attack on the World Towers in 1993. From then on the book runs in parallel the roller coaster history of al-Qaeda under Osama bin-Laden and the story of the US and Saudi government’s growing awareness and response (or lack of it).Lawrence Wright’s prodigious research and extensive interviews with representatives from all sides fill out these stories with facets that have largely been lost post 9/11 and the subsequent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. By telling events though a few key driven individuals, who nearly all ultimately were losers or victims in later events, Wright keeps the drama moving to its sad finale.Bin Laden’s activities during his time in Afghanistan and Sudan underline his lack of any coherent strategy and political, financial or global awareness. Al-Qaeda is revealed as an organization unsophisticated in approach and using a questionable religious basis. Yet driven by a small core group dedicated to violent jihad against the US, as it became bolder it attracted more likeminded Muslims seeking martyrdom.The key elements of the US story are the inter government agency battles, notably the FBI with a global terror mandate and an attitude of bringing people to trial in US Courts and the CIA with a historic desire to eliminate those it saw as enemies of the USA. The precision of the detail is what marks out this re-telling plus Wright is very good at conveying the mindsets different operatives faced.The end outcome did not achieve bin Laden’s immediate hope of an Islamic global crusade through Muslims flocking to his cause, his subsequent life being one of hiding till his execution in May 2011. Nearly all the US players who had been his adversaries as his organization developed were gone or with no ongoing role to play post 9/11 as the USA embarked on the revenge attacks bin-Laden had dreamt of in uniting Muslims against the infidel.My edition of the book contains a 2011 Afterword from the author. This was written after the Arab Spring commenced with the hope many of the problems al-Qaeda and other Arab rulers notably the Saudis had ignored would now be addressed and defeat radical Islam. Yet sadly by 2016 with ISIS establishing al-Qaeda’s planned Islamic caliphate and the ineffectual US response with drones and air power shows the original conflict has grown, not diminished.

⭐This book focuses on the individuals that created al-Qaeda, tracing the ideology back from its early progenitors to the better known names like Osama Bin Laden. It is written in a narrative style, and is not a scientific study but rather written like a thriller, making it easy and exciting to read. I found myself at moments having to remind myself this actually all happened.The detail of particular conversations has to be at least improvised in places, but I am convinced the author was both thorough and sincere, and didn’t take much “artistic license”. There is a ream of references and indeed many of the individuals are still alive today and he has spoken to as he explains in the afterword.As others have mentioned it does not talk very much about the particulars of the 9/11 attacks. It’s more about the philosophy and personalities that led up to the event. This does not diminish the book; there are plenty of others out there that go into a blow-by-blow analysis of 9/11 itself if that is what you are looking for.I had scant understanding of the terrorist associations that try to associate themselves with Islam beyond the information we get from news reports; so I found it very instructive. You might find yourself turning to Wikipedia or Google at a few points to refresh your mind as there is a lot of names from the Arab world that I wasn’t all that familiar with.It is also thought provoking: you are given a window into the personal history of these individuals who went from being generally of sound mind to hardened radicals.I would recommend it to anyone.

⭐I bought this book after watching The Looming Tower on Amazon Prime. At the end it said that it was based on the book of the same name and I felt compelled toread it.What I didn’t expect was a comprehensive history of where the fundamental Islamists came from and why. Personally I found this to be fascinating. We go right back to the 40’s with Egyptian Sayyid Qutb and The Society of Muslim Brothers, and Bin Laden actually appears quite a long way into the story. I would say the TV dramatisation only starts half way through the book.The last 30% of the book contains many of the authors notes, and details of who said what, and when, as well as a comprehensive list of the many different people included and where they are now.It was a long read, but I feel much more knowledgeable on this subject and it explained so much about the state of politics and upheaval in the Middle East – not just Al Qaeda but also the Soviet / Afghan war, the political situation in Egypt, and a little about Yemen.Very highly recommended to anyone who wants to learn more about radical Islam and how the attack on the Twin Towers came about.

⭐I liked how this author traced and assembled the different strands of Al Qaeda. I hadn’t appreciated the differing emphasis amongst the people who effected 9/11; nor had I appreciated just how close Osama was with the Saudi leaders. Most surprisingly was the lack of track record within Al Qaeda – it was way more ‘mom and pop’, disorganized and reactive than I had imagined. The book is good. It’s well written, and the author has clearly put some back into the research.

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