29 December 2012

ANNE SPECKHARD: Talking to Terrorists

Member CONTRIBUTION

Book Description

Publication Date: September 11, 2012

This is an account of traveling through the West Bank and Gaza, into the prisons of Iraq, down the alleyways of the Casablanca slums, to Chechnya, into the radicalized neighborhoods of Belgium, the UK, France and the Netherlands, of sitting with the hostages of Beslan and Nord Ost, and of talking to terrorists. Dr. Speckhard gives us the inside story of what puts vulnerable individuals on the terrorist trajectory and what might take them back off of it. With more than four hundred interviews with terrorists and their friends, family members and hostages, Dr. Speckhard is one of the few experts to have such a breadth of experience. She visited, and even stayed overnight, in the intimate spaces of terrorists' homes, interviewed them in their stark prison cells, or met them in the streets of their cities and villages. Dr. Speckhard gives us a rare glimpse of terrorists within their own contexts. From the mouths of terrorists, their family members, comrades-and even their hostages, we learn of the manipulation of human weakness that can lead to violent acts. Through careful research of culture and religion and a genuine desire to understand the factors that motivate individuals to embrace terrorism, Dr. Speckhard deftly defines the lethal cocktail that leads to the creation of a terrorist. An internationally recognized expert on the psychological aspects of terrorism and an expert in the area of posttraumatic stress disorder, Dr. Speckhard's research also produces a knowledge of how to disengage, deradicalize, rehabilitate, and reverse the trajectory of a terrorist. Dr. Speckhard's studies spanning over a decade provide us with a deeper understanding of one of the most dangerous and violent phenomena of our times.

Editorial Reviews

Review

" Few academics can equal the breadth and depth of Anne Speckhard's field research and the penetration of her specialist interviewing skills."--Robert Lambert, St. Andrews, UK

"A remarkable well-written, wholly unique and seminal study combining a deep understanding of the academic literature on terrorism with an extraordinary number of sensitive and revealing interviews with terrorists. Everyone interested in terrorism will find this study fascinating and rewarding." --David Rapoport, Journal of Terrorism and Political Violence

"Talking to Terrorists is the inside story of how to approach the mind through the heart. As advisors to Detainee Task Force 134, I watched Anne in action at Camp Cropper, the world's largest detention center. Her empathy, smile, Belgian chocolates, and paper tissues for the occasional tears, worked to enlist the cooperation of even the most hard-hearted and unrepentant killers." --Rohan Gunaratna, Author, "Inside al Qaeda: Global Network of Terror", Columbia University Press, New York

"She wisely understands the clear distinction between personal faith and belief tradition, and the possible perverted and brutal acts of a terrorist." --Mokhtar Benabdallaoui Hassan II Univ. Morocco

"A daring woman with an open heart." --Farhana Qazi, Counter Terrorism Expert

"A new approach for understanding the motivation of terrorists"--Boaz Ganor, ICT

 "Reads like a gripping documentary movie." --Joshua Sinai, Virginia Tech

"The embarrassing truth about Terrorism Studies is that most writers on the subject have never met a terrorist. Dr. Anne Speckhard is an exception; in the last ten years she conducted more than 400 interviews with terrorists ... making her work highly original and, indeed, unique. With her empathetic approach, she makes clear that most terrorists are both shockingly normal and human--but also tormented souls. Nobody has gotten closer to the 'heart of darkness' than she has. An amazing achievement." --Alex P. Schmid, Director, Terrorism Research Initiative

"Provides critical new insights into the terrorist mindset." --Bruce Hoffman, Georgetown

 "Invaluable to those in the field of terrorism studies." --Yoram Schweitzer, Israel

"A fascinating study of pathways to violent radicalization" --Brynjar Lia, FFI

"A truly valuable read." --Arie Kruglanski, START

 "Evocative interviews that have illuminated the mind of the extremist." --Jerrold Post, George Washington Univ

"An arresting, highly readable book" --Stephen Sloan, MIPT

From the Back Cover

"The embarrassing truth about Terrorism Studies is that most writers on the subject have never met a terrorist. Dr. Anne Speckhard is an exception . . . Nobody has gotten closer to the 'heart of darkness' than she has. An amazing achievement." --Alex P. Schmid, Director, Terrorism Research Initiative

"A remarkable well-written, wholly unique and seminal study" --David C. Rapoport, Founding and CoEditor, Journal of Terrorism and Political Violence

"Anne is one of a handful who goes alone and without security into the lion's den to interview her subjects who most often have blood on their hands. This is a first-hand account and it's sensational!"--Peter S. Probst, Former CIA Officer

"Invaluable to those in the field of terrorism studies, as well as to the general public." --Yoram Schweitzer, Israel's Institute for National Security Studies

"Few academics can equal the breadth and depth of Anne Speckhard's field research and the penetration of her interviewing skills"--Dr. Robert Lambert, Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence, U of St. Andrews, UK

". . . her access to these incarcerated perpetrators and supporting communities is unsurpassed . . ."--Dr. Joshua Sinai, Adj. Associate Professor, Virginia Tech

"Talking to Terrorists is the inside story of how to approach the mind through the heart. I watched Anne in action at the world's largest detention center [as she] worked to enlist the cooperation of even the most hard-hearted and unrepentant killers." --Rohan Gunaratna, Author, "Inside al Qaeda"

"Talking to Terrorists is an arresting, highly readable book that has made a major and classic contribution to our study and understanding of terrorism." --Stephen Sloan, The Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism

". . . a fascinating study of pathways to violent radicalization, based on her very impressive fieldwork." -- Dr Brynjar Lia, Norwegian Defense Research Est.

". . . provides critical new insights into the contemporary terrorist mindset." --Professor Bruce Hoffma

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TWITTER FLASH- BlackNET Intell fails at first original Tweet @BlackHoleNET:

UpDATE: Judy Miller Tells Scott Malone About The White House-NSA AQ Intercept she had before 9/11

""And I always wondered how the person who sent that [intercept] warning must have felt." - - - - - - -- Judith Miller, 27 APR 2006 * ................................................. *- WSM, 2011: The very military intelligence official who in fact made sure that that intercept-intelligence was passed to the CIA and the WHITE HOUSE's Scooter LIBBY in the first place was the source who pointed Scott Malone to interview Member Judy Miller on this precise question in the first place also. ........................................... MUCH MORE on this still untold CRIMINAL 9/11 OBSTRUCTION of JUSTICE SCANDAL COMING Back to the BlackNET in September......... Names NAMED

History: UPI showed some love to BlackNET

[Ed Note: Digging up some old info; even back in the day UPI had discovered the BlackNET; and what we do...]

Original UPI Article Here

Feature: BlackNET abuzz over Iraq showdown

Published: Tuesday, March. 19, 2003 at 3:59 PM
By HIL ANDERSON

LOS ANGELES, March 19 (UPI) -- Ensconced at an undisclosed location in the lonely wooded mountains of West Virginia, the BlackNET has been abuzz in recent weeks as the United States prepares for the moment of truth in the Persian Gulf.

The pending invasion of Iraq and the possibility that it will bring new terrorist attacks to the United States has stoked the level of chatter on the Internet mailing list that has become a "must-have" for government officials, investigative reporters and world affairs scholars in the netherworld of international spooks.

"The consensus is that (Iraqi leader) Saddam (Hussein) is an eternal optimist," said Scott Malone, moderator and founder of the Web site dubbed "BlackNET," which was originally launched in Arlington, Va., in the immediate wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, suicide attack on the nearby Pentagon. "And (President) Bush is going to do exactly what he says."

Saddam's optimism is likely fading with American and British troops expected to be moving in on his dug-in military at any moment, but the imminent showdown has been the primary topic of discussion for months among the members of BlackNET who share a professional interest in the shadowy world of international terrorism.

"We picked up some Israeli chatter last week," Malone told United Press International on Monday in a telephone interview.

"It was some amateur radio buffs who were monitoring some U.S. fighter pilots who said the invasion was going to be on Tuesday."

The chatter appeared to have been off by a day, [not so--the invasion DID BEGIN that Tuesday,’ EST, just five hours after this article went out.] but it's the kind of fodder that makes BlackNET a font of tidbits and a plethora of analyses that go out to the membership list of roughly 100 in real time and uncensored and unfiltered by officials, editors and spokesmen.

And they seem to have found some of our members (from the article):

"It's an interesting group," said Morgan Clements, a member of the list and publisher of the Web site TerroristWarning.com.

"They have a curious and uncanny awareness of things which are not always publicly available and are clearly a group of knowledgeable individuals working toward a common goal behind the scenes without getting or expecting credit for the information they provide..."

"It's witty and sometimes even funny," observed member Roger Twinning. "It's a strange, overly informed and timely mutant (newswire)."

Being described as a "mutant" might not seem like high praise, but the White House said after Sept. 11 that the war on terrorism would sometimes be carried on outside the view of the mainstream media, and that might give the myriad BlackNET members a leg up on everyone else.

If you go directly to the UPI Pro; you'd find that there is more depth to the BlackNET then appears to the naked eye....

Malone, a multiple Emmy and Peabody award-winning investigative reporter who chronicled Middle East intrigue and the Branch Davidian siege at Waco, Texas, for the Public Broadcasting Corp. series "Frontline," says he limited BlackNET's membership to others who work in the field of intelligence gathering or homeland security, or those in ancillary fields such as public healthcare and cyber-security...

The members are all assigned a code number that keeps them both anonymous and protected against both repercussions from their bosses and static from Web surfers who have little to offer to the discussion other than a political ax to grind.

"It's like belonging to a secret club," he joked.

"The cachet of BlackNET is that you are part of a team; it's a cooperative of online investigations," Malone said. "I began this site to sell it to security firms, but then changed my mind. If it were to go public, we wouldn't be the same thing."

While BlackNET's MemberSHIP , as noted by UPI, is limited to people that work in the field of security and intelligence, you can read here some of our latest OPEN SOURCE intelligence, that is for unlimited public dissemination.

As always; keep your eyes here, as there will be more to come....
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Posted by W. Scott Malone at 6/19/2008 05:50:00 PM