Insurgent Iraq - Loretta Napoleoni

This short book describes the making of a terror legend. Utilising original material and interviews with people who have met Zarqawi during his life, the author will show how a simple man, like thousands of jihadists today, has become a new leader of the Islamist insurgency through a series of events, through his experiences in the war against the Soviet Union, his association with key figures in the Islamist movement, and his imprisonment in his native Jordan.

The book will argue that the United States largely contributed to the metamorphosis of al Zarqawi into a global terror leader. Unlike Osama bin Laden, al Zarqawi is the product of the policies of fear pursued by the West after 11 September 2001.