Essay --

We like to think that once a criminal is put behind bars that he or she no longer poses a threat to society. In The Fertile footing of Jihad Terrorisms Prison Connection, Patrick Dunleavy, a former official within the clean York State part of Correctional Services, shows the delusion behind this mindset. Dunleavys dissertation is that terrorists use the Ameri mickle prison system to recruit the disenfranchised to radical Islam. While many Americans may be oblivious to this practice, Dunleavys familiarity in Operation Hades, an investigation conducted by the State of New York to consider the extent of recruiting to Islamic extremism that took place within the states prisons, makes him kind of familiar with the process. Writing from experience, Dunleavy examines cases that show just how this recruitment takes place.Throughout the confine, Dunleavy follows the news report of Abdel Nasser Zaben. An immigrant and member of Hamas, in 1993 Zaben was arrested and sent to prison in New York State. Dunleavy finds that convicts nowadays are not isolated from society (p.100), Zaben being a pinnacle example. Like another(prenominal)s before and since, once within prison Zaben became a work for a prison imam. This expanded his influence, furthered the radicalization process, and put him in contact with other radicals outside of prison.The Fertile Soil of Jihad demonstrates that Dunleavy has a clear concord of the prison system in America. It benefits the reader by showing the problems in this system (at least as far as its connection to terrorist recruitment goes) as characterized by Zabens experience. Perhaps the most glaring mercantile establishment is that of prison imams. Dunleavy indicates that many of the imams in the employ of the New York State Department of Correctional Servi... ...Patrick Dunleavys The Fertile Soil of Jihad endeavors to bring to fire up an often misunderstood or unrecognized problem. And in so much(prenominal) as it does that, i t should be praised. However, his analysis of this issue is fraught with his own misunderstanding. Ultimately, the books worth depends on what the reader wants to get out of it. If he or she seeks to understand the radicalization process that occurs in American prisons, then it is a good source. Yet, if the desired outcome is to understand Islam, jihad, or how prison radicalization can be addressed on a societal or cultural (rather than institutional) level, then it is inadequate. Whether America is at war with Islam or it is the other dash around is never made clear. The book could be read each way. To truly address the problem, an understanding of Muslim culture and Islam is necessary a radical notion indeed.