The Seeds of Terror: an Eyewitness Account of Al-Qaeda's Newest Center of Operations in Southeast Asia

Military Review, July-August, 2004 by David S. Maxwell

THE SEEDS OF TERROR: An Eyewitness Account of Al-Qaeda's Newest Center of Operations in Southeast Asia, Maria Ressa, Free Press, New York, 2003, 272 pages, $26.00.

Maria Ressa tells the real story of terrorism in Southeast Asia. Few journalists and, for that matter, few military and intelligence professionals are as qualified to assess the threats in Southeast Asia as Ressa is.

Ressa has fused information and analysis from many sources throughout Southeast Asia that are superior to those that intelligence services provide. Her access to high-level sources in and out of governments in the region and the trust she has established with many well-connected civilians from all walks of life allowed her to piece together the complex mosaic of how al-Qaeda has emerged as the overarching threat in Southeast Asia.

One of the book's most valuable contributions is Ressa's assessment of the West's weaknesses, which if not understood and addressed will allow al-Qaeda to continue to operate and expand its influence and connections within other terrorist organizations such as Jemaah Islamiyah, the Abu Sayyef Group, and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

While the world focuses on the counterterrorism aspect of the Global War on Terrorism, Ressa understands that it must be viewed as an insurgency on a global scale and that the West must do a better job of fighting ideology with ideology. Law enforcement and tactical military operations will not be enough to defeat this threat.

At the center of counterefforts to control al-Qaeda are the moderate Muslims of the world. The West must embrace them and ask them to help support efforts to eradicate the radical elements of their religion who are perverting the Islamic faith for their own power and ideals.

We have much to fear from al-Qaeda, whose manual states that Islamic governments "are established ... by pen and gun, by word and bullet...." Mao Zedong also believed that power grew out of the barrel of a gun, but because of the superiority of the ideology of freedom and self-determination, communism is being discredited and neutralized around the world. Ressa implies, but does not ask the question, "Can the West use the same skills and have the same determination and patience in defeating al-Qaeda as it did to defeat communism?"

Every military officer and government official who has a role in the Global War on Terrorism should read Ressa's book.

COL David S. Maxwell, USA, Washington, D.C.