BOOK REVIEW: TERRORIST HUNTER BY TAMER ELNOURY

Terrorist Hunter is written by a non-fictional FBI Agent called Tamer Elnoury. He narrates his incredibly moving story of his work undercover, posing as an Al-Qaeda sympathiser. His ultimate mission, to take down one of the biggest terrors plots the world has ever seen at the hands of Al-Qaeda. Throughout the book, as a reader, I learned about the regime and inside nature of an Al-Qaeda operative, actively capitalising on his misinterpretation of the teachings of Islam and the Quran. 

I learned about the differences between American and Canadian undercover systems, for example how the Canadians would typically keep their own agents in the dark, whereas the US has a much higher rate of intel sharing amongst their most trusted political allies. They have the same motivation- to protect the Homeland, but they often differ in their approach. Tamer Elnoury also describes how the issue of national jurisdictions can cause complications for when the legal process begins once the terrorists are arrested. This is regarding who has ultimate jurisdiction to try suspects in whose court, especially as much of the terror plotting was orchestrated in Toronto Canada, when the actual target was Times Square in the United States. 

The book Terrorist Hunter allowed me to explore in depth my own interpretation on major questions such as the security dilemma from an ultra-realist approach. The question being- are countries natural security seekers? Or are states greedy states. This way of thinking can not only be applied from the States perspective, but from the perspective of terror organisations. Would an Al-Qaeda terrorist be acting based on fear from ‘oppressive western regimes’ as what is often described by terrorist sympathisers, or are they acting based on implementing domination by attempting to overthrow and harm the Wests top superpowers on the global stage. 

My point of reflection regarding the Middle Eastern crisis and the war on terror, was apparent when Tamer Elnoury described his toss up between the Professional FBI influence and his personal feelings. He saw the lead terrorist plotter who he had befriended undercover as an evil terrorist dedicated to the destruction of the West and the senseless killing of thousands of American citizens, but also as a lost man, a man who needs to be saved from this ideological curse which is brainwashing thousands upon thousands of people around the world. Furthermore, this makes me consider what the ultimate solution is to this Ideological conflict which we are rapidly falling behind to as a western civilisation. This can be illustrated through the complexities of Orientalism and how we in the West have ultimately painted the picture of the Middle East as being dirty, dangerous and ideologically backward. 

It is important to consider that perhaps, if after 9/11 when George W Bush gave his new beginnings speech, if he had referred to the 9/11 hijackers as a small group of radicals rather than an ideological threat on a larger and more protruding scale, then perhaps this could have changed the political landscape as opposed to the fully confrontational war on terror, or war on the Middle East which we as a Western Society have plunged ourselves into.