Foreword ISIS is a cult that wants to transform Islam at gunpoint, and to defeat it the world must understand the group on its own terms, according to Malcolm Nance. As an analyst, historian, and counterterrorism expert, Nance explains that ISIS has deep roots, stretching back to the earliest days of Islamic history. He's absolutely clear, however, that it was a very modern event that allowed ISIS to burst onto center stage and show off its brutality for the world to see. "The invasion of Iraq," he writes, "was not just an exhausting failure, unsuccessful in stamping out insurgency and terrorism, it actually created the entire legion of terror and tyranny that we know as the Islamic State." In his detailed and informed study Nance argues that, in effect, America's War on Terror created a new breed of vicious terrorists who wear the mask of Islam like actors in a Kabuki theatre while carrying out horrifically un-Islamic acts like posing for selfies during battle, and burning a hostage alive. But as William Shakespeare scoffed, "the Devil can cite scripture for his purpose." --Richard Engel December 23, 2015 Excerpted from Defeating ISIS: Who They Are, How They Fight, What They Believe by Malcolm Nance All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
