Talking to Terrorists: Why America Must Engage with Its Enemies - Softcover

Perry, Mark

3.32

22 ratings by Goodreads

9780465021994: Talking to Terrorists: Why America Must Engage with Its Enemies

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0465021999 ISBN 13: 9780465021994

Publisher: Basic Books, 2011

View all copies of this ISBN edition:

It has long been an article of faith that the United States does not "talk to terrorists"-- that to peaceably approach groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Muslim Brotherhood would undermine our democratic principles and acknowledge extremists as legitimate political actors. Not so, argues Middle East expert Mark Perry. In Talking to Terrorists, Perry uses extensive interviews with Pentagon insiders to expose the fruitful history of covert meetings between the U.S. armed forces and major terrorist leaders. In so doing, he demonstrates that diplomacy with extremists may be the only way to end terrorism-- controversial wisdom we ignore at our peril.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

Review:

In this book, Mark Perry allows us to hear different voices and different language from those whom we have all too easily written off as murderers and terrorists. Perry understands the basic truth that too many of us have forgotten - that there is not one truth, but many. (Seymour M. Hersh, The New Yorker)

Very few westerners understand the Middle East and its politics as well as Mark Perry, and the reason for his insights lie in this book: unlike most diplomats, journalists and academics, he derives his knowledge of organizations such as Hamas, Hezbollah and the Sunni national resistance in Iraq not from second hand sources but close personal contact. Not only has he talked to those generally labelled and dismissed as terrorists, he offers here a clear definition of when such groups are worth talking to, in the sense that doing so may create real opportunities for peace, and when (as in the case of Al Qaeda) they clearly aren t. Beautifully written, this is both a gripping narrative and a piece of compelling advocacy, casting new light on some of the historic catastrophes of the present and recent past. (David Rose, Vanity Fair)

'How to Lose the War on Terror' is a dramatic narrative of the crippling strategic and intellectual mistakes that have mired the West in an unwinnable war. . . . Beautifully written, this is both a gripping narrative which casts new light on some of the historic catastrophes of the present and recent past. (The Muslim World Book Review)

About the Author:

Mark Perry is a military, intelligence, and foreign affairs analyst and writer. His articles have appeared in the Nation, the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times, among other papers. The author of seven books, including Grant and Twain, Partners in Command, and the National Jewish Book Award-winning A Fire in Zion, he lives in Arlington, Virginia.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.