Summary

Although there has been criticism of some aspects of the American government's understanding of and response to 9/11,Satanic Pursestakes the story much further. In a savage critique, R.T. Naylor exposes the official story, and the resulting global War on Islamic Terror, as based on myth, misinformation, and even deliberate disinformation - all of it premised on misguided notions about the nature of terrorist financing and the structure and organization of terrorist groups. Naylor argues that bin Laden's role in various terrorist outrages has been grossly exaggerated and that the idea of al-Qa'idah as a well-financed, centrally directed movement is a fable akin to misconceptions about the Mafia. He also demystifies the notion of a great anti-Western Islamic resurgence and analyses how and why a story so contrary to easily verifiable reality was concocted and accepted. AsSatanic Pursesmakes clear, the myths surrounding the war on terror, particularly the alleged existence of hordes of Islamic terror dollars, have led Western countries, particularly the US, to policies that create death and disorder abroad and the loss of due process and privacy at home. Naylor shows that the secret agendas behind, and the private interests that profit from, an illusory War on Terror may be far more dangerous than the events that led to it.