Contemporary Islamic Conversations: M. Fethullah Gülen on Turkey, Islam, and the West Book

The Jihad next door, by dina Temple-Raston. Narrated by Marguerite Gavin, produced by Blackstone Audio, downloaded from audible.com.

Here we see the beginnings of the paranoia which sweeps the U.S. in the wake of 9-11. The majority of this book chronicles the events, which started in June, 2001, of six twenty-something boys, first generation Yemeni American citizens. They lived in an economically deprived part of the country, Lackawanna, New York, not far from Buffalo, where unemployment was high. While there were enough Yemeni families there to make a community, they were always held at a distance by the others in town. The "Lackawanna six" as they were dubbed, were approached by someone who came to town looking to recruit terrorists for Al-Qada. The six went, mainly for something to do on a lark, to Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were in a training camp, learned to shoot and use different weapons of war, and actually met Usama Bin Laden. But the six young men were not used to such frugal and military style living, and some of the rhetoric scared them, so they made their way back to Lackawanna. But they had caught the interest of the F.B.I. Some pointlessly dramatic phone calls led the FBI to think that they were hatching a terrorist plot. Then, 9-11 happened, and the inquiry about them was ratcheted up considerably. The FBI investigated these kids as if they were the first home-grown sleeper cell of terrorists and held them in custody without specific charges for several months. Temple-Raston includes a few vignettes of others who have been accused of terrorism since 9-11, the most disturbing incidents involving young people who were not plotting terrorist attacks but who were trying to find their place in the world. A sympathetic view of the FBI as well, trying to sort out what does or does not constitute "crossing the line" between young people's sturm and drang, and the beginnings of terrorist attacks. This is a very good book written by a National Public Radio commentator.