Of the writing of (ISIS) books, there is no end

Of the writing of many books, there is no end. —Ecclesiastes 12:12

And they’re all pretty terrible. Each time I swing by my local Barnes & Noble it seems there’s a couple new ISIS books on the shelf. They just keep appearing, and with little new to say.

What’s shown above is not all there is. The few Syria war reporting books available are also pretty lousy. They all stay within the conventional narrative one would hear on CNN or NBC. The available ISIS/Syria books in the brick-and-mortar stores swing from a “clash of civilizations” type narrative (Robert Spencer and Pamela Geller neoconish stuff) to a “it’s Saddam and Assad’s fault” narrative (like Hassan Hassan).

One might stumble upon some useful information in these, but the words boring and predictable about sum it up. It took a while, but in the last couple years even the mainstream pundits have acknowledged Syria as an international proxy war. This means analysis of the covert side of this war should take primacy, but one is hard pressed to find this in the local Barnes & Noble.

The exception is Patrick Cockburn’s work – you can occasionally stumble upon his books on ISIS, Syria, and Iraq at your local bookstore. Happily, I did come across this new collection of Cockburn’s war reporting:

Finally 2 years after I first wrote about 2012 DIA ISIS memo, a book appears in my local bookstore that analyzes it. pic.twitter.com/ZOFwj02swI

— Brad Hoff (@BradRHoff) January 29, 2017

Unlike the others, Cockburn actually thinks countries like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the US pouring billions of dollars into the armed jihadi opposition was a huge factor in the rise and strengthening of ISIS. Only now is the mainstream perhaps catching up. The fact that Congresswomen Tulsi Gabbard can go on CNN and FOX and openly talk about a US covert war of regime change in Syria is a huge improvement (Jake Tapper just didn’t know what to do!).

But again, this perspective likely won’t show up at the local Barnes & Noble anytime soon.

Who knows if it’ll be any good, but I’ve been working (in fits and starts) on a book about Syria, the rise of ISIS, and the covert war for regime change. The internet has produced endless articles on this (much of it tainted by wild conspiracy and speculation), but I hope to produce something well-documented and professional, that might also say something new.

I’ve teamed up for this project with a close friend who teaches at Baylor University. But all I can really say at this point is we’ll see…