Self-Portrait of the Muslim Radical as a Young Man
by Andrea Useem, Religion BookLine -- Publishers Weekly, 12/6/2006
Daveed Gartenstein-Ross has one important credential that most other counter-terrorism experts lack: He used to be an extremist Muslim himself. In My Year in Radical Islam (Tarcher, Feb.), the 30-year-old author writes of his conversion to Islam in college and his gradual immersion in zealous, Saudi-inspired Islam.
"It's not the usual story," admitted Gartenstein-Ross, who started life as the only child of liberal Reform Jews in hippie-centric Ashland, Oregon. Through a college friendship he was drawn to a moderate, mystical brand of Islam and formally converted while studying abroad in Italy. Between college and law school, Gartenstein-Ross took a job at a Saudi-funded charity in Ashland where his social justice-minded beliefs gradually crumbled as co-workers pushed him toward a more militant interpretation of Islam. He began praying for Muslim fighters abroad, reading anti-Semitic literature and even questioning his relationship with his beloved, but non-Muslim, fiancée.
Of course Gartenstein-Ross is not the only young American to have been seduced by the dark logic of Muslim extremism. Better known are Adam Gadahn, (nee Adam Pearlman) an Al-Qaeda spokesman indicted for treason and still at large, and John Walker Lindh, the 26-year-old California convert currently serving 20 years without parole for fighting alongside the Taliban. (Don't expect a memoir from Walker Lindh anytime soon: His plea deal included a 20-year gag order.)
Gartenstein-Ross's experiences were different than Gadahn and Walker Lindh's—"I would never have been a card-carrying member of Al-Qaeda," he told RBL—but helping explain how "smart guys" like himself get wrapped up in a hate-filled ideology inspired him to tell his own story. "There hasn't been much written on how people get radicalized. I went through that process, and I wanted to share what I learned," he said.
The author later left Islam for Christianity, and, after 9/11, assisted the FBI in their investigation into the Ashland charity's financial ties to Al-Qaeda. That legal case has stalled, Gartenstein-Ross said (the two principle suspects—including the charismatic Iranian who was his boss—are outside the U.S. and unlikely to return), allowing him to write freely about his involvement.
What sets his book apart from others in the terrorism genre, said Gartenstein-Ross, is its lack of policy prescriptions. "I didn't draw pat conclusions for readers. I wanted to outline my experience objectively, and then let readers formulate their own questions," he said.
Gartenstein-Ross included little in his book about his current life as a Christian and D.C.-based counter-terrorism consultant; his reticence on his current religious life may have readers looking for a sequel. Does Gartenstein-Ross plan to write one? "Maybe in 30 years, when I have more to write about," he laughed. Right now, he's got other projects in mind. "I'd like to write about moderate Islam: What is it? And what can the West do to empower it? That's where I think I can make a contribution."
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