Allah's Torch: A Report from Behind the Scenes in Asia's War on Terror

By Tracy Dahlby

Book Overview

On the front-lines with the building of Al Queda forces in Indonesia both before and after 9/11, written in provocative style by the former Asia bureau chief for Newsweek International.

In Allah's Torch, National Geographic's Tracy Dahlby takes readers into the sprawling, porous, virtually lawless domain of Indonesia, where overlapping lines of radical Islamic rage are now converging in Asia, posing new threats to Westerners at home and abroad.

From the moment the adventure begins, the night the author blunders on board an Indonesian passenger ship with 600 Islamic warriors on an anti-Christian jihad, readers glimpse the passions, politics and personalities fuelling radical Islam's relentless march. We listen as Koran-thumping preachers, hardened holy warriors and fresh-faced recruits, police investigators, military commandos, and spies try to make sense of the epidemic chaos that threatens the region - and now the world beyond.

Based on reporting both before and after September 11, Allah's Torch is an action-packed and thought-provoking narrative that enables readers to see the face of Islamic terror more clearly and assess the threat for themselves.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060561114
• ISBN13: 9780060561116
• Release Date: December 2005
• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.61 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.3" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

A very good background story on how the worldwide Islamic Insurrection is maturing in Indonesia

Allah's Torch is a very good book on how the worldwide Islamic Insurrection is maturing in Indonesia. While done in a somewhat story/journalistic format (it has specific dates and places and some names are changed but it does not appear that the primary people who someone wanting to conduct research on the subject have had their names changed such as Abu Bakar Bashir, Imam Samudra, Jaffar Umar Thalib, etc and the names of groups have not been changed however, his guides names probably have). It starts with him traveling with his guide in May 2000 on an inter-island passenger ferry on his way to the Banda Islands and the Mollucas. On the same ferry was a large group of Laskar Jihad enroute to conduct a Jihad. He describes the climate on the ship and the island themselves. Of course he meets additional friends (and some potential enemies) along the way. After conducting his research of the situation in the Banda/Molluca Islands between the Christians and Moslems in the area he goes back to the U.S. and starts to write his book. Then the Bali Bombing happened and he goes back to Indonesia to see what has changed in the country since. He meets up with his previous guide (and by then friend) who intoduces him to someone else who will assist them in getting inside the Islamic organizations (you find out later he was also a terrorist/freedom fighter depending on your point of view). From there they interview and have general discussions with a range of personnel from a student of a Pesantren that is known for producing Islamic fighters to the head of Islamic organizations. This book gives a very good overview of what was the Islamic/Christian situation situation from 2000 to the end of 2003 in Indonesia and makes some observations from the outside looking in during early 2004. This was a very good and readable book that I enjoyed very much.

Can't be over praised

Seemingly, the author knows Indonesia's history and current political situation better than its native in general, part because most of them are undereducated but mostly because of the filtered information in this country. The books written by western anti-Moslem preach that Holy Koran teaches that peace can only be achieved by forcing people to hold one-single religion either by submission or conquering, just as the alleged Surah 9: 5. Yes, part of Moslem organizations in Indonesia, the most populated Moslem country, read that verse and similar others literally and act accordingly. But, vast majority are mild and live peacefully with other religion. Nevertheless deep inside the bones of almost every Indonesian Moslem, good or bad, run the idea that the Jews, who takes the land of the Palestinians, are controlling US and both of them are responsible for their, and their-Moslem brother in every corner of the world, poor and miserable life, and so terror is defendable as the only way to let their interest being recognized. At times, this idea includes Christian as their target. Back to my days in college, when Moluccas was on fire, about three years before Bali-blast, I saw some Moslem students run movies picturing their Moslem brothers being slaughtered by their Christian neighbors while on the same week I heard my priest asked the congregation praying for the safety of our prosecuted Christian brothers. We, Indonesian non-Moslem, live in daily heat, but the author, by his own choice, came and visited the very part of Indonesia at the hottest time and even meet a couple of the smart leaders behind the oven. Interestingly, he tells his scary story in humorous tone. If you want to see the truly Indonesian, not only Moslem, mind and heart, read this book.

Fantastic

Great read!! Couldn't put it down. Dahlby does a great job to weave historical information into a humorous, enlightening and oftentimes suspenseful book. I would recommend it to anyone!!

A different viewpoint of Indonesia

As an Indonesian this book really encourages me. The author must be crazy for going into places like the Banda Islands at a time of religious conflict in the area, but he has tried to cover the country from all angles. He shines a light on the fact that, in spite of how Indonesia is often portrayed on CNN and FOX News focusing on Al Qaeda, the biggest majority of Indonesian "wong cilik"(ordinary people) are trying hard to improve their lives after the 1997 Asian financial crisis, want good governance, reject terrorism, and try to change their country for the better. I believe most ordinary Indonesian will easily relate to Norman, Reza, Tanya, and all the characters in the book. In guiding readers through the maze of Indonesia, exotic and unknown to most people in the West, the author captures this daily struggle for survival against corruption, elitism, and chaos. And it's in that chaos that the minority of extremists find their followers - people who are fed up with the country's unimproved conditions. A serious book yet I could not contain my laughter at times because the author describes not only the country's fears and sense of tragic irony but its sense of humor, too.. So the non-Indonesian reader will get a glimpse of all aspects of the Indonesian people, their intelligence and wit, their superstitions, and their resourcefulness. The book might be confusing at times for the "novice on Indonesia," but people interested in a journey through the most democratic Muslim country in the world need to pick it up.

A wonderful guide to a fascinating place

Tracy Dahlby has a solid C.V as a reporter: Bureau Chief for Newsweek, National Geographic, and many more. As a reporter, he is brave - YOU go and interview Indonesian terrorists at their training camps ! - hugely well-informed about the region and its politics; judicious in his judgements; and fair to the people he encounters. He clearly has a great affection for, and knowledge of, Indonesia. But so do many reporters. What lifts this book far above the predictably diligent writing you can read in The New York Times every day of the week, is Dahlby's keen sense of place; his ear for dialogue; and his screwball sense of humour ( learned from his British colleagues at the Far Eastern Economic Review ). As a result, he achieves that rarest of double-acts: he entertains while he informs. Like other masters of the genre - Bill Bryson or Norman Lewis come to mind - he can make you laugh out loud on one page, and radically shift your understanding of the world on the next. And in the character of Norman, Dahlby's Indonesian Fixer-cum-Man Friday, he has found the perfect travelling companion. Norman refers to the author as " Boss " - or " The Viking ", due to the author's giraffe-like height and nordic looks - and spends his time cracking zany jokes; or meditating on the contradictions, tragedy and beauty of his native land. Together, they make a great team. The result is a hilarious, tender, perceptive and highly readable accout of a journey by ship, jeep and plane through the colorful chaos of Indonesia, as it wrestles with the dark serpent of Islamic fundamentalism. I, for one, am already looking forward to the next installment ...