not enough reason to change the tone of the conversation, there is one more thing to consider. It would be not only dangerous but shameful to prove that our enemies were right about us all along.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
It took a lot of help to make this book possible, and this list will certainly omit people who deserve to be thanked. For that I apologize in advance. I want to thank everyone who agreed to speak with me, but especially Tom Corrigan, formerly of the Joint Terrorism Task Force, who was generous not only with his time but also with crucial documentation that allowed me to present the words of the jihadists profiled herein. Former CIA analyst Mike Scheuer and former FBI agent Chris Voss, who now runs the Black Swan Group, helped stitch often-disparate threads together into a coherent whole. Alia Rashid sat down for two interviewsâ which were arranged with the help of Rashidâs attorney, Ken Wassermanâas did Ray Royer. Bilal Philips persisted through days of phone tag with a fourteen-hour time difference during Ramadan so that we could speak. There were many more, and each provided unique value. A number of people consented to speak on a not-for-attribution basis who could not have spoken otherwise.
Much of my work is based on documents, and many people were generous in sharing the primary source material that forms the core of the narrative. The Motley Rice law firm in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, working to represent the families of the victims of September 11, has created an unparalleled resource on al Qaeda and Islamic extremism, and its lawyers shared material with me that would never have seen the light of day without their efforts. The U.S. Attorneyâs office in Boston endured a great deal of hassle in making documents from the Boston Al Kifah Center available to me, and I want to thank Aloke Chakravartyand Christina Dilorio-Sterling for their help and their patience. Terrorism investigators J. C. Brisard and Evan Kohlmann generously provided key information and documents relating to Bosnia. Peter Lance provided transcripts of the World Trade Center bombing and the âDay of Terrorâ court cases.
Several people helped on the back end of the book as well. David Hebditch and Ola Flyum, the makers of the television documentary
Sarajevo Ricochet
, gave me the opportunity to go to Bosnia and to conduct on film several of the interviews used in this book. The outstanding Bosnian Muslim journalist Esad Hecimovic shared both information and insight. Jody Jenkins, the writer and the producer of the
American Jihadist
documentary, helped with advice on sources at various points and with a screener copy of the excellent film, which was directed by Mark Claywell. Roxanne Euben and Aaron Zelin provided me with invaluable help in understanding the complexities of jihadist ideology, and Aaron also provides notes on an early draft of the manuscript. Thanks are also due to Lawrence Wright and Marissa Allison for facilitating conversations with some of their own valued sources.
Chris Heffelfinger, of the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, introduced me to Hilary Claggett of Potomac Books, Inc., who gave me the chance to write this book. She and Katie Neubauer of Potomac helped turn it around fast.
Anne Berger transcribed hours of audio with amazing accuracy, expending extraordinary effort to get down often-obscure Arabic terms, sift through accents, and enhance source files that were often less than ideal. At various points, she enlisted most of the rest of my family to assist in this effort.
Geneva Berger has read probably tens of thousands of pages of things I have written over the years, always providing support and encouragement, even when the material never made it out of my desk drawer, and I am incredibly grateful for that.
Rachel Milton helped in more ways than I can count, talking out difficult issues, developing ideas, providing source material, and remembering who was who and who
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
It took a lot of help to make this book possible, and this list will certainly omit people who deserve to be thanked. For that I apologize in advance. I want to thank everyone who agreed to speak with me, but especially Tom Corrigan, formerly of the Joint Terrorism Task Force, who was generous not only with his time but also with crucial documentation that allowed me to present the words of the jihadists profiled herein. Former CIA analyst Mike Scheuer and former FBI agent Chris Voss, who now runs the Black Swan Group, helped stitch often-disparate threads together into a coherent whole. Alia Rashid sat down for two interviewsâ which were arranged with the help of Rashidâs attorney, Ken Wassermanâas did Ray Royer. Bilal Philips persisted through days of phone tag with a fourteen-hour time difference during Ramadan so that we could speak. There were many more, and each provided unique value. A number of people consented to speak on a not-for-attribution basis who could not have spoken otherwise.
Much of my work is based on documents, and many people were generous in sharing the primary source material that forms the core of the narrative. The Motley Rice law firm in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, working to represent the families of the victims of September 11, has created an unparalleled resource on al Qaeda and Islamic extremism, and its lawyers shared material with me that would never have seen the light of day without their efforts. The U.S. Attorneyâs office in Boston endured a great deal of hassle in making documents from the Boston Al Kifah Center available to me, and I want to thank Aloke Chakravartyand Christina Dilorio-Sterling for their help and their patience. Terrorism investigators J. C. Brisard and Evan Kohlmann generously provided key information and documents relating to Bosnia. Peter Lance provided transcripts of the World Trade Center bombing and the âDay of Terrorâ court cases.
Several people helped on the back end of the book as well. David Hebditch and Ola Flyum, the makers of the television documentary
Sarajevo Ricochet
, gave me the opportunity to go to Bosnia and to conduct on film several of the interviews used in this book. The outstanding Bosnian Muslim journalist Esad Hecimovic shared both information and insight. Jody Jenkins, the writer and the producer of the
American Jihadist
documentary, helped with advice on sources at various points and with a screener copy of the excellent film, which was directed by Mark Claywell. Roxanne Euben and Aaron Zelin provided me with invaluable help in understanding the complexities of jihadist ideology, and Aaron also provides notes on an early draft of the manuscript. Thanks are also due to Lawrence Wright and Marissa Allison for facilitating conversations with some of their own valued sources.
Chris Heffelfinger, of the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, introduced me to Hilary Claggett of Potomac Books, Inc., who gave me the chance to write this book. She and Katie Neubauer of Potomac helped turn it around fast.
Anne Berger transcribed hours of audio with amazing accuracy, expending extraordinary effort to get down often-obscure Arabic terms, sift through accents, and enhance source files that were often less than ideal. At various points, she enlisted most of the rest of my family to assist in this effort.
Geneva Berger has read probably tens of thousands of pages of things I have written over the years, always providing support and encouragement, even when the material never made it out of my desk drawer, and I am incredibly grateful for that.
Rachel Milton helped in more ways than I can count, talking out difficult issues, developing ideas, providing source material, and remembering who was who and who
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