Another Book Review: The Black Banners by Ali Soufan

A few weeks ago, I was at a BRIDGES meeting and the FBI agent recommended a new book called The Black Banners as a great insight to the efforts against terrorism and what happened post 9/11.  I wrote down the title but, as law school doesn’t lend much time for reading for pleasure, I forgot about it.  When I was in the airport last weekend, I stopped at the bookstore to find something to read on my long flight.  The Black Banners was in the recently released section and I immediately bought it.

The very beginning of the book places you in an interrogation room in Yemen with Ali Soufan (the author and former FBI Agent) and Abu Jandal (a senior al-Qaeda operative) just days after 9/11.  As you read, Soufan tracks back in his life to even before he joined the FBI. Soufan expertly writes about the violence that filled his youth in Lebanon during times of strife, the bet he accepted in college that brought him to the FBI, his own personal interest in Osama bin Laden based on shocking stories in newspapers from home, and the path that he walked as this hobby became his expertise, and his life.  From the very beginning of this book, it is clear that Ali Soufan is extremely knowledgeable about not only terrorism and al-Qaeda, but the Arab culture and the inconsistencies found between two.

However, it’s not a dry book about the history of al-Qaeda and the victories of the US.  While it can get overwhelming at points when many names are thrown around, especially when they are accompanied by one or more aliases, this book reveals the personal struggles Soufan dealt with when faced with the death of his mentor in the Twin Towers and his consistent criticism against Enhanced Interrogation Techniques. Soufan humbly and matter-of-factly details his successes in major wins from difficult and well-prepped interrogations that revealed information about the attack on the USS Cole, masterminds behind other potential plots, and the intricate workings of the organization we had known very little about before he came on board.

Throughout the book, you get a very clear understanding of who this man is, and what he would do or not do in the name of the United States. He believed that you have to outwit the person you are interrogating.  The only way to do that was to know as much as you could about the ideology of the organization, as well as the actual person you have in front of you.  In one instance, Soufan was able to convince an al-Qaeda operative to cooperate by calling him a nickname his mother gave him when he was young.  The operative thought that if Soufan knew about that, then he must know about everything else, and therefore would not be telling him anything new. 

My New Job at the ADC

I have posted earlier about the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee and all of the great work is done.  I am lucky enough to say that I am now a (small) part of that work!  I recently began working a few hours a week with the ADC Michigan office in Dearborn.  I am managing different cases that were already active, and taking in new complaints to determine how to move forward.  The ADC takes complaints from people about ways they were discriminated against in any form or fashion.  We get information about the incident(s) and identify what, if anything, we can do. This position is not a legal one for me, but my ability to spot a legal issue can help us make referrals to attorneys who may be able to help.  Sometimes, there could be a legal problem that is being dealt with, but also a civil rights issue that we address at the same time.

I am very excited about the work I am doing.  The ADC not only helps address the individual issue of discrimination with one person, it has the ability to bring a voice to the issue overall and bring about change on a greater level. It is so important for people to have an avenue to walk down and a place to go when they believe they have been mistreated.  ADC is that place for so many people in Southeast Michigan and around the country.  The techniques used and the relationships built through this process help to break down barriers, both individually and culturally, so that, hopefully, the issue before us can be prevented in the future.

I am slowly working down my own path to learning Arabic, a major disadvantage for me as most people who come into our office are bilingual.  I know this opportunity will allow me to grow personally and professionally.  In the end, I am glad to know that I am helping this wonderful organization to truly help people in my community and I can’t wait to see what happens next! To learn more about the ADC, visit their website at www.adcmichigan.org