BLACK FLAGS ; THE RISE OF ISIS by Joby Warrick

"昨今の中東と言えば、良くも悪くもISIS。今年は、イラクがISISとの戦いでの勝利を宣言して話題になったが、ISISに共鳴する若者たちによるテロやテロ未遂が欧米で頻発しており、ISISは国際情勢を理解する上でのカギの一つであり続けている。本書は、ISISの事実上のルーツとなったザルカウィのテロ集団に焦点を当て、如何にISISが勢力を拡大させてきたかを、スリリングに伝えてくれる良書である。淡々と事実関係を書き連ねるのではなく、ザルカウィとバグダディのほか、米国側のマクリスタル将軍などの重要人物の個人の側面にスポットライトを与えつつ、どうしてもハイライトとなってしまうテロや米軍による急襲の場面をアクセントして巧みに織り交ぜ、読者に飽きがこないような作りになっている。本書を読むと、中東情勢に明るくなる。ヨルダンは重要国と言われるが、これまで何の知識も関心も持ち合わせていなかったが、本書を読み、ようやくその重要性を理解することができた。ハシミテ家が、メッカの守護家だったこと、湾岸戦争には反対したものの国内テロ対策の観点からイラク戦争では米軍に協力したこと、その情報機関は世界屈指のヒューミント能力を持つことなどを初めて知った。また、米国による政策の失敗がISIS誕生の一員であることを本書は示唆している。第一に、世俗的なフセイン政権とアルカイダやザルカウィらのイスラム主義者は水と油の関係だったにも関わらず米国はイラク侵攻を強行した。第二に、米国はイラク戦争の戦後構想を何も考えておらず、無邪気にバース党員を公職追放した結果、バース党員がISISに身を投じることになった。本書は、CIAとマクリスタル将軍の特殊作戦部隊の間のフュージョンには高い評価を得ているが、インテリジェンスを捻じ曲げたブッシュ政権や、シリアのアサド政権打倒の機会をみすみす逃したオバマ政権には批判的である。中東関係の書物はこれまでいくつか読んできたが、最もスリリングかつ、中東情勢を最も分かりやすく説明してくれたのは本書であ...."

"Names such as Abu-Musad al-Zarqawi, ISIS, al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and al-Nusra have become very familiar to anyone keeping abreast of world affairs. They are all players within the seemingly evermore turbulent and violent landscape of the Middle East. Yet, I suspect that very few of us understand the relationship between the various factions and key players of these Islamist groups, how they have come into being and what their distinctive ideologies are. Joby Warrick is a Pulitzer Prize winning, American journalist who is the national security reporter for The Washington Post, and in this brilliantly written and thrilling narrative he traces the origins of ISIS from the brutal activities of the sadistic Jordanian, al-Zarqawi who established Jama’at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad, the first incarnation of the ISIS we are so familiar with today. As well as describing the rise and spread of ISIS and the other militant groups, Warrick remorselessly reveals how western action, or often inaction, contributed to the flourishing of this vile regime. Reading it, as I did, very soon after the Chilcott report on the war in Iraq, was timely to say the least. Warrick’s research and inside knowledge is remarkable and expansive, but in no way does it make the account turgid. In fact, I had to keep reminding myself that this was a work of non-fiction and not an action-packed novel. It is, to use an old cliché, a page-turner, and, from the very first page, when he recounts the order for the execution for the female bomber involved in the carnage of Amman’s Raddison Hotel in 2006, I found it utterly compelling as a read. It has made me much more enlightened about the context of current affairs and I strongly and unreservedly commend this book to anyone who wants to get a better handle on these world-shaping events and people. Indeed, I would go so far as to describe it as indispensable...."

영화 '제로 다크 서티(Zero Dark Thirty,2012)가 생각나는 작품이다. 영화가 '오사마 빈 라덴'을 추격하는 것이 중심 이야기라면 이 책은 ISIS의 탄생 배경과 확산 배경, 리더인 Zarqawi에 대한 이야기가 중심이지만, 중동지역을 둘러싼 여러 나라들의 역학적 관계를 이해하는데도 도움을 주는 책이다. 특히 미국이 이라크와 전쟁을 시작한 이유에 대한 다양한 견해들과 이라크의 대규모 살상 무기, 테러와의 연결 등에 대한 의혹 등이 다루어지고 있다. 다만, 저자가 PULITZER PRIZE의 수상자 여서 그런지 쉽지 않은 문장들이 많이 등장한다. 독자의 원서 경험에 따라서 읽기가 힘들 수도 있다. 중동문제나 ISIS 등에 대한 관심이 없는 사람들은 읽는데 어려울 수 있고 개인적으로는 책에 등장하는 사람들의 이름이 좀 낯설어서 적응하는데 시간이 필요했다.