FIGHTING THE WAR ON TERROR
GLOBAL Counter-terrorist units And their Actions
A BOOK THAT PROMISES AN INTIMATE VIEW INSIDE THE WORLD OF COUNTER-TERRORISM, BUT FALLS SHORT Author: Judith Grohmann Publisher: Pen & Sword Price: £19.99
An interesting look into a selection of police and anti-terrorist actions over recent decades could have been a useful primer into the global ‘war on terror’, but falls some way short of its stated goals.
First, the title of the book is itself misleading. The phrase ‘war on terror’ is linked firmly with events in the 21st century, the targeted campaign against organised terrorist entities such as al-qaeda. Judith Grohmann chooses to start her story much earlier, with anti-ira operations in 1996, a bomber in France in 1993, hostage takers in Belgium in 1989 and others. There is no doubt that such operations are important pieces in the story of the fight against terrorism, but.
Perhaps most disappointing is that the book promises an intimate, behind-the-scenes look into counter-terrorist units across the world, mentioning the unprecedented access granted to the author. Such access is barely hinted at during the simple restating of events for each anti-terrorist action. There are no in-depth interviews with the security personnel involved.
A promise to explain what the work of counter-terrorist units “really involves, their most dangerous missions, and the physical and mental training required for them to perform these high-risk operations” is limited to a brief introductory section where random topics are dealt with in one or two paragraphs each. The result is a book that feels a little disjointed and does not appear to make full use of the access granted to the author. It remains interesting for its consideration of various terrorist acts over recent years, but readers are left to draw their own inferences.