Wanted Women, Faith, Lies, and the War on Terror: Deborah Scroggins

I liked how the author picked two completely different people on their views towards Islam and alternated chapters between comparing their lives. It was obvious Scoggins didn't like Ayaan Hirsi, she remained neutral when discussing Aafia Siddiqui (until the end), but inserted her own judgments on Ayaan. Some were that she didn't think through her speeches, she didn't consider other Muslims who weren't extremist, etc. It bothered me because it seemed like she was promoting Aafia through judging Ayaan (until you get further into the book). Aafia was an interesting person. She kept pushing her husband to join the jihad, yet when the FBI starts investigating her she flees back to Pakistan fearing for her life. It was as though she thought her life was more important than her husband's. She was obsessed with being a martyr's wife. I can't believe she would put her children through that and they never did determine what actually happened to her baby. Aafia's story is sad because you feel for the children's father. The children were taken from him and even when they showed up again, living who knows what sort of life, he wasn't allowed to have them back. I learned through this book that Ayaan's book Infidel was actually written by a ghost writer. I was also surprised that Ayaan was upset about Holland cancelling her protective service when she gained American citizenship. First off, they advised her they were stopping at a certain date, extended it, advised her again and she still didn't think it would happen. Plus her actions are what caused her to need bodyguards in the first place and she was no longer a citizen of the country paying for the protection because of lying on the immigration paperwork!. The Book did a good job on summing up the comparisons between the two women with very strong, very different beliefs. Ayaan fought with words for peace and seems to live happily ever after; Aafia was plotting murder and will spend the rest of her life in prison.