Al-Qa'ida's Doctrine for Insurgency: Abd al-Aziz al-Muqrin's "A Practical Course for Guerrilla War"

Norman Cigar's "Al-Qa'ida's Doctrine for Insurgency: Abd al-Aziz al-Muqrin's "A Practical Course for Guerrilla War"" is essential reading for anyone trying to understand events involving Al Qaida (AQ) in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yeman, Saudi Arabia, and elsewhere. It is presented in two sections. First, an extended introduction providing somehistorical context and a detailed analysis of the translated text, and second, the translation of the actual AQ text. The only criticism of consequence is that the nature of AQ makes this translated portion of limited value in examining the entire network.The first section, the background and analysis is an excellent job of examining Al-Muqrin's text. Each section is carefully examined and discussed. Cultural values and assumptions that are not common American ones are given special emphasis to highlight the differences in world view and thinking between AQ and the U.S. Attention is also paid to influences on AQ doctrine and where the AQ doctrine deviates from traditional European (and Asian) models of insurgency and military thought.The second section is the actual text. This text was distributed freely in the internet, and actively sought recommendations from its audience. The theoretical material has a distinctly Arab spin to it, with both religious and cultural influences present. Al-Muqrin's taxinomy of wars (Conventional, total, unconventional, and cold) is (as much as I despise admitting it) worthy of serious academic consideration. The tactical aspects are interesting for their departures from older and Western guerrilla texts. Al-Muqrin is places much more emphasis on intelligence collection than Mao or Guevara, and provides much more detail instructions for espionage tradecraft, assassinations, kidnapping, and urban combat than any of the Latin American guerrillas or the IRA's texts.Both sections are well footnoted, an excellent aid to reseachers (thank you, Mr. Cigar).The limit on the value of this book stems from the nature of AQ. AQ is not like a business or a government, but more like a combination venture capitolist and university library. It is a loose network that encourages any 'fellow traveller', and provides training and material support to the more promising ones. In this arrangement, except for a very small core, membership is fluid, doctrine is more a matter of recommendations than proscriptive guidance, and each subgroup will be heavily influence by the location and character of the people in it. They may draw on a work like this, but this isn't the 'be all, end all' of AQ doctrine or a rigid guide to their behavior.An excellent reference and essential reading for anyone with an interest in XXIst century insurgency or Al Qaida.E. M. Van Court

This is not your usual book on insurgency. Firstly, it has two authors, one of whom is dead, the other much alive. The one who is dead is the man named on the cover. He was the principal AlQa'ida operative in Saudi Arabia until his death at the hands of Saudi security forces. What makes his book fascinating is the detailed look at insurgency and how it should be applied to the Middle Eastern situation. The threads of what was originally a manual are drawn from countless writers on military strategy, especially insurgency: Mao, Sun Tzu, Clausewitz etc.The second author is Norman Cigar who translated the work and provides an analysis. Cigar is one of the leading Al-Qa'ida analysts in the West and this analysis is important as it shows that Al-Qa'ida is moving towards a tactically proficient organisation with clear goals and strategy to achieve those goals. It is not an easy read and it would have been better if Cigar's analyses had been placed after al-Muqrin's work but despite that it is worth reading to get an idea of just how difficult it will be to defeat Al-Qa'ida in the long term.

What is amazing about this book is that its methods are presently being used in the world to end any form of government and replace it with laws called religious, Shariah, but in reality are laws that can be summed up as, "do what Islam says or I'll kill you." Act my way, join my "religion" or I'll kill you. It is also wise to read, Mark A. Gabriel who left Islam for Christianity the name of his book is "Islam And Terrorism: What the Quran really teaches about Christianity, violence and the goals of the Islamic jihad."

It is not a bunch of brainless or savages. They have an ideology and a rational. Get to know it.

Great insight into the mindset of evil. A little difficult to read but worth the attempt.

I think this is a great book if you want to see the War on Terror from the terrorist point of view. This book will help you see how these terrorists get what they want straight from the horses mouth. This is a good book for anyone that wants to know how terrorists operate.

Garbage