He was a brawny, blue-eyed, Irish-American religious convert who became a holy warrior in the name of Islam -- until the holy war began to change.

Aukai Collins grew up hard: abandoned, surviving in the streets and running with thugs. While serving time, he converted to Islam, and went to fight with the Muslims who were targeted for genocide in Chechnya and Bosnia. This led him to Usama bin Laden's training camps in Afghanistan. As terrorist attacks on civilians around the world intensified, Aukai was asked to lead a mission that included hostage taking and the killing of civilians -- something he would not do.

Disillusioned by those who used Islam for their own ends or to attack innocents, Aukai offered his services to the FBI and CIA as a counter-terrorist operative, even getting close to one of the leaders of the September 11 attacks. Yet his greatest strength -- providing insight into the problems surrounding the U.S. government's fight against something it doesn't understand -- was ignored by inept members of the American intelligence community.

My Jihad is an insider's story about the greatest threat to world peace and stability in modern times, told by an unforgettable true-life warrior who has walked the walk, fought the fights, and lived to tell about it.



Author Bio: Aukai Collins converted to Islam when he was eighteen. He has traveled and fought jihad in several regions across the globe, including Croatia, Pakistan, Kashmir, Afghanistan, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kosovo, Liberia, and Chechnya -- where he left a leg behind. He works in overseas security and currently resides in the United States. This is his first book. He can be contacted at abusafudeen@hotmail.com

Review 1 (3900 characters maximum): [A] blood-soaked account of training in Osama bin Laden's camps in Afghanistan. Source: Washington Post