Book Review: Enemy Combatant
By UsaydAuthor: Moazzam Begg assisted by Victoria Brittain
Publisher: Free Press (27 Feb 2006)
My Rating: 5/5
Enemy Combatant: A British Muslim’s Journey to Guantanamo and Back
Review
When I was in Year 10 in January 2005 I did a presentation to my English class on the indefinite detention of potentially innocent human beings in Gunatanamo Bay. Handing out some of the few pictures actually available from the media and articles describing the horrific events that took place in Guantanamo to the class showed some interest, in particular a cutting from a newspaper highlighting the release of 4 Britons, one of whom I have come to know as Moazzam Begg.
Almost two years later, at ExpoIslamia in Manchester I saw a book which immediately struck me as something of interest. I found it difficult to relate from my initial studies into the crimes in Guantanamo to this book, something that you will only really understand when you read it. The personality enclosed in a book is so much more powerful then any article you could read in the newspaper or any piece on the TV news, and this book does not differ.
I guess a question that could easily be asked is what is there to gain from reading this book? Honestly I think you will gain from reading anything, the amount of knowledge to be gained from books is immense, unfortunately something I know I haven’t really been taking advantage of recently.
The thing about this book is that even though it is completely factual, it portrays the story as something which makes you attached to Moazzam’s ‘journey’. You ultimately feel weak and helpless sat there in your warm sofa reading about someone no different to yourself being taken from his home in Pakistan into 3 years of illegal detention. He is British and lived but an hour away from me. The only real difference was his choice to help his Muslim brothers suffering in other countries, something which we all strive to do.
The journey takes you from England to Bosnia, Pakistan to Afghanistan, Bagram to Cuba and finally back to England. A mixture of emotions run through you as you read about the terrors, the praying, the lack of food, the torture – psychological and physical, the excitement of small acts of kindness. If you don’t cry at least once when reading this book you have a heart of stone or just really didn’t read it.
Ensnared within this steel quagmire,
Our view holds little to admire,
So to the darkness we retire,
Amidst the chime of the razor wire.
I opened the file I kept with the research I did on Guantanamo in year 10 and suddenly I could put a real picture to the faces of the people talked about in the articles. I could put a real image to the few pictures of the camps in Guantanamo. It’s funny how you think you’re well educated on the problems of the world until you really learn just how deep it goes. The example of Moazzam’s father becoming active in campaigning for his son’s release really touched me:
“Old feuds between my father and his siblings had stopped, and they had come together. People who hadn’t spoken to one another for years had turned up to my fathers house and offered him their complete support. I had come home to a united family”
Astonished that out of so much evil has come some good. There are so many things to say about this book, but really – just read it. You will truly see what a mess we are in today, what our governments are doing beyond the laws, how people just like us are suffering for no apparent reason. “You do NOT have the RIGHT to remain silent.” (used by Amnesty protestors against Guantanamo).
Perhaps it is time to starting making a difference.
November 11th, 2006 at 11:15 pm
hmmm no links!! wow that must be a first! Good review as soon as i’ve finished the pile of reading i need to do for uni i’ll give it a try insha Allah
.
November 14th, 2006 at 9:19 pm
“The thing about this book is that even though it is completely factual, it portrays the story as something which makes you attached to Moazzam’s ‘journey’.” — There may be a bit more to it than the guy chooses to let on. Honestly, I find it hard to believe that someone could blunder into a war zone.
A review is available over at New York Review of Books.
November 14th, 2006 at 10:26 pm
I went to Iraq. It happens to be my country of origin. Does that make me a terrorist? As far as I know you are permitted to go anywhere you like. Did someone make some new rules that I haven’t heard about? Perhaps the same rules they made to illegally detain people for three years without trial?
November 16th, 2006 at 7:09 pm
I don’t see how anyone that read the book could miss this tiny detail that he was a Brit enamored with the Afghan regime known for its human rights violations. And he claims this inanity: “It had been months since we’d evacuated Kabul, Afghanistan, where we had helped establish a girls’ school and dig water wells.”
He established a girls’ school in Afghanistan? Under the Taliban regime, who are known to have shut down schools for girls (this is not just a Jewish/American propaganda, its a fact. I should know I am an Afghan). And he is not Afghan, returning to his home country.
I am not exactly condoning his detention or treatment at Guantanamo. What I question is his narrative and his profession of innocence. Siding with anything in a knee-jerk manner just because it suites your point of view isn’t much of a talent. One reads a book and decides to research the background of the author, his/her claims, examines the context, then one proceeds to judge the “factuality” of the book.
As Muslims more than anything we should learn not to just perpetuate the same non-critical attitude that brought us Guantanamo and the likes of Osama in the first place.
November 17th, 2006 at 3:02 pm
Honestly your response saddens me. It is filled with prejudice and complete disregard for another Muslim’s word.
Ever heard ‘innocent until proven guilty’? That is an internationally recognised law which states that you cannot accuse someone of committing a crime without solid evidence against him. That is why he was held at Guantanamo - and the same reason why he was released. They didn’t have any evidence and they have dropped the charges that were never actually brought to him.
Surely if he was setting up a school for girls he was actually doing good in a land where there is unfortunate lack of tolerance for such activity. Coming to think of it - what makes fact? Evidence and proof right? I can bet you he has evidence for his actions in Afghanistan, and to a certain extent, everything else he’s mentioned in his book.
I don’t mind people questioning evidence; of course it is one of the most important methods of verification. The real problem I have is when we always turn against our brothers - we side with the people who are killing our brothers and sisters all over the world. YES we need to be critical, but sometimes it is best to be critical of the real evil instead of nitpicking at the small differences between us.
Tell me - honestly - what you think Brother Moazzam would have achieved through ‘lying’ as you are basically saying, in his book? Is he asking for a pity vote?
Tell me why you find it okay to accuse him of lying but refuse to take action against the people who - regardless of whether he told the truth or not - committed a crime against humanity by holding a fellow human being for three years without charge.
November 21st, 2006 at 6:16 am
Huh? Simply because he is a Muslim he should get a pass?
“Innocent until proven guilty” may be a rule, but this isn’t a criminal case. I question what he says, and so far as I know of him, he doesn’t have much of a proof at hand for his activities. He went to Afghanistan out of sympathy for the regime which had a horrible record when it came to human rights (and certainly didn’t care for “proven until guilty”, which most Al Qaeda and Talliban didn’t believe in — again I know because I am an Afghan). And now he waxes on human rights? Must we smack each other with an iron frying pan here to figure out the inherent irony and hypocrisy in that?
I don’t care what he asks for. That he is getting an audience and is being dallied about by like minded Muslims and also ironically liberals and the anti-Bush crowd should be enough. Should I not question Osama and his murderous ways because some one fried an innocent Muslim in Gujarat?
Must I miss the tree for the forest or the forest for the trees? The context here is his dubious set of facts. Lets stick to that. Our loyalty should be to truth, not to someone whose name just happens to be Abdullah or Ahmed.
November 25th, 2006 at 12:15 am
There is little point in deconstructing your ‘argument’ because it is mired in delusion and lack of knowledge. If you want to know anything about human rights, I suggest you actually read some reports by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International and see who are the most frequent violators. Then, read some basic texts on law and politics. No one cares that you are an Afghan. It doesn’t mean you know anything; clearly, you don’t. There is some hope here - your overuse of archaic proverbs is extremely funny. Have you ever thought of going into comedy?
“The masses have never thirsted after truth. Whoever can supply them with illusions is easily their master; whoever attempts to destroy their illusions is always their victim.”
-Gustave Le Bon
November 25th, 2006 at 12:24 am
Well Jamal, you’ve basically summed this argument up in a single paragraph! Thanks, saved me a lot of trouble.
November 25th, 2006 at 2:08 am
Actually, building a girl’s school in Afghanistan is not entirely out of the question. From what I know of the subject, the question is when was it done. Ie post 9-11 or pre 9-11.
Evidence of such efforts can be found in Three Cups of Tea which has some material on Greg Mortenson’s efforts and experiences in Afghanistan. (See http://tinyurl.com/yjy3wg)
November 28th, 2006 at 8:14 pm
Very nice, Jamal… Now my use of archaic proverbs is the issue? Well, yes, shall we bother to read the human rights reports by these venerable agencies prior to 9/11? Or is it a case of lesser evil here? Since the Hindutva folks burnt only — and I say only — 2,000 Muslims instead of the alleged 500,000 or so thousand in Iraq, than I say we commend them and hold their actions as proof.
I have no talent for comedy. And I don’t carry any illusions. What actually does matter is that I am familiar with Afghanistan. I wouldn’t run around opining on Malaysia and the illusions of Malaysian Islamists purely on the writings of Naipul now, would I? Why? Because there are other possible narratives out there, and not everyone could be as deluded as the poor economist who is mauled by Naipul without his voice. And Naipul is by everyone’s admission the master of English language (and by this criteria, should be the authoritative voice). What matters is giving the victims their voice too. Not simply hailing whoever affirms your point of view.
If I use archaic proverbs then so be it. Neither do I have to belabor the point that Taliban did not look favorably upon female education. Enough ink has been spilt on that issue. Plato beat Gustave Le Bon to that conclusion long ago, and I could quote him to no end.
November 28th, 2006 at 8:20 pm
I am using Malaysia as an instance of forming an opinion, only to show that the Janus has two faces. On second thoughts I might as well requote: “The masses have never thirsted after truth. Whoever can supply them with illusions is easily their master; whoever attempts to destroy their illusions is always their victim.” -Gustave Le Bon
Ironically enough, that is precisely what I have been saying all along.
November 29th, 2006 at 2:08 am
I can honestly say I have no idea what you are now talking about; more to the point, I do not care. I would prefer to sit and collate your most cringe-worthy phrases into a handbook: ‘How not to write English.’
knee-jerk manner
now he waxes on
Must we smack each other with an iron frying pan here
Must I miss the tree for the forest or the forest for the trees?
is being dallied about
who is mauled by Naipul
by everyone’s admission
simply hailing whoever
Enough ink has been spilt
Utterly hilarious.
November 29th, 2006 at 4:58 am
Fine, feel free to do as you wish. I will be glad I helped someone in learning something, even if it means improving their diction and syntax. Although I must say my diction as it stands has served me well, and honestly I can’t recall any of my English teachers ever cringing at them, or me being penalized over it. Which sort of encourages this sort of writing further. I would rather have them point out my flaws since they know their craft and can actually pin point the source of my phraseology and stylistic influences.
I have been told that a lot of people read at sixth grade level, and it will serve me well to keep that in mind. A bit sad that the discussion has taken a turn to this sort of none sense.
November 29th, 2006 at 10:49 am
Ok guys, thats enough on this discussion. Thanks for your inputs.
November 30th, 2006 at 4:35 pm
Just something to keep in mind. But I agree that its about enough.
“The gunmen came at night to drag Mohammed Halim away from his home, in front of his crying children and his wife begging for mercy.
The 46-year-old schoolteacher tried to reassure his family that he would return safely. But his life was over, he was part-disembowelled and then torn apart with his arms and legs tied to motorbikes, the remains put on display as a warning to others against defying Taliban orders to stop educating girls.”
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article2023831.ece
December 7th, 2006 at 7:36 pm
Thank you for that dream.dragonfly. Even so, it is interesting that the same article equally points out that:
“Fatima Mushtaq, the director of education at Ghazni, has had repeated death threats, the notorious “night letters”. Her gender, as well as her refusal to send girls home from school, has made her a particular source of hatred for Islamist zealots.”
As such, it seems to me that the fairest conclusion would be - While it seems quite clear (from the earlier portion of that article) that the extremists in Afghanistan are keen to prevent girls from receiving education, it seems equally clear (as is evident from the subsequent portion of the article) that the more moderate Muslims are keen to encourage girls to receive education.
December 7th, 2006 at 10:42 pm
Nizam;
But that’s hardly the contention here. The significant proportion of Afghans don’t have a problem with educating girls. It’s the Taliban who are hardly moderate Muslims, and they had a blanket injunction in place against girls’ education (several UN agencies along with some other NGOs threatened to withdraw support unless Taliban modified their policies, but the Taliban refused. This much anyone with a moderate interest in world affairs would remember). So when someone claims that they were operating girls schools under the Taliban regime, then that contention is very questionable.
December 8th, 2006 at 1:07 am
I find it very interesting how you have completely avoided all real issues in the wider scale of things. What exactly is it that you question? Do you have an issue with the factuality or are you simply running from the truth? Do you seriously think that the whole book is invalidated due to an issue that you find ‘questionable’? Basically what I’m trying to ask is - What is your point?
The answer to this question is simple, you don’t want to accept that actually what is going on is horrific, is to be condemned. Regardless of whether you agree completely with the small points in the book, at the end of the day there’s the oppressor and there’s the oppressed. Who’s side was he on? It’s quite blatant really.
Commenting closed. Thank you all for your contributions.