Dina Temple-Raston

The book is OK, but only superficially examines the depth of the issues that are causing conflict between America culture and Islamic culture. Yes, it does recap the events that led to the trials of young men, who the writer leaves to decide what their intentions were (despite the contentions of the young men at trial). Unfortunately or not, these young men failed to understand the sensitivities of Americans to Islamic youth that visit countries that have elements within them that support and sponsor terrorism, and make contacts with some of those elements.… (mere)

Were the six young men who lived in Lackawanna, NY members of the first homegrown "sleeper cell" discovered during America's War on Terror? Or were these men born of Yemeni families merely confused and mis-guided friends who ended up traveling overseas to spend time in an al-Qaeda training camp? Journalist Dina Temple-Raston does an excellent job tracing the facts in this complex case. In all candor, part of the satisfaction I received in reading the book came from the fact that I'm a journalist in Western New York who knows a good number of the key players in this saga -- including some of the lawyers, prosecutors and investigators. But even if the names and geographic turf were unfamiliar territory, I think I would have found "The Jihad Next Door" quite interesting. The author delves into issues that include cultural/ethnic bias. There's no doubt that critics might accuse her of unfairly depicting some of the defendants as casualties in America's fight against terrorism. But she backs up her assertions with compelling facts, presenting them in an intriguing fashion. True, she also weaves in other cases that tend to weaken the tome's overall cohesion. But it's a worthy read.… (mere)