THINKING LIKE A TERRORIST: Insights of a Former FBI Undercover Agent - Hardcover

German, Mike

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1597970255 ISBN 13: 9781597970259

Publisher: Potomac Books Inc, 2007

Synopsis

As the fifth full year of America’s global war on terrorism continues, statistics concerning terrorist attacks show a disturbing trend: from a twenty-one-year high in 2003, attacks tripled in 2004 and then doubled in 2005. And as the incidence of terrorist attacks increased, so has the number of terrorists. While the primary leaders of the Taliban, al Qaeda, and al Qaeda in Iraq remain at large, a 2006 Department of Defense study reportedly identified thirty new al Qaeda–affiliated terrorist groups that have been created since September 11, 2001. We may not have metrics that measure our success in the war on terrorism, but these realities certainly illuminate our failures.

In Thinking Like a Terrorist, former FBI counterterrorism agent Mike German contends that the overarching problem is a fundamental failure to understand the terrorists—namely, what they want and how they intend to get it. When our counterterrorism policies are driven by misunderstanding and misperception, we shouldn’t be surprised at the results. Today’s terrorists have a real plan—a blueprint that has brought them victory in the past—that they are executing to perfection; moreover, their plan is published and available to anyone who bothers to read it. Once the terrorists’ plan is understood, we can develop and implement more effective counterterrorism strategies.

A former undercover agent who infiltrated neo-Nazi terrorist groups in the United States, German explains the terrorist’s point of view and discusses ways to counter the terrorism threat. Based on his unusual experience in the field, Thinking Like a Terrorist provides unique insights into why terrorism is such a persistent and difficult problem and why the U.S. approach to counterterrorism isn’t working.

About this title

From the Publisher:

Written by a former FBI undercover agent and counterterrorism expert

Differentiates amont various types of terrorists to better evaluate solutions for stopping them

Includes case studies of different terrorist groups, such as the Ku Klux Klan, the Irish Republican Army, and al Qaeda

About the Author:

Mike German left the FBI after blowing the whistle on the agency’s mishandling of a terrorism investigation. A former undercover agent and counterterrorism instructor at the FBI National Academy, he is currently a senior fellow at GlobalSecurity.org. He lives in the Middle Atlantic region.

About this edition

• Publisher: Potomac Books Inc
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 1597970255
• ISBN 13: 9781597970259
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 239