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Only three years ago, hardly anyone outside the circles of Middle East specialists and spook agencies had heard of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Then America's mishandling of the aftermath of its "victory" over Saddam Hussein catapulted al-Zarqawi to the top of the most-wanted list of the world's most dangerous villains and terror masters.
Al-Zarqawi made his way to the front pages by brutally beheading, with his own sword, Western as well as Muslim hostages taken in Iraq. His gruesome actions over the past two years were captured on videotapes by jihadists boasting about their terror, footage that proved to be popular either on the Al Jazeera satellite network or on CDs sold openly in street markets in Iraq and neighboring countries.
Little was known about the new guru of terror who adopted the name of Abu Musab, a 7th-century Islamic warrior who became the patron saint of jihadists and suicide bombers. His published profiles were incomplete, and the analysis was inaccurate or based on fanciful assumptions, rumors, and isolated intelligence and police reports. Thus, when Jean-Charles Brisard and his research partner, Damien Martinez, began to trace the roots of al-Zarqawi and his transformation from a local, petty criminal in Jordan into America's number-one enemy in Iraq, they ended with a most comprehensive study, not only of the notorious terrorist but also of the complex phenomenon of...