Includes bibliographical references (p. 219-244) and index.

Vigilant resolve -- The July surprise -- Terrorists and moderates -- Al-Anbar awakens -- Hamas -- Hezbollah -- Israel -- Talking to terrorists.

"It has long been an article of faith that the United States does not "talk to terrorists" - that to peaceably approach groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Muslim Brotherhood would undermine our democratic principles and acknowledge extremists as legitimate political actors." "Not so, argues Middle East expert Mark Perry. Not only should we be "talking to terrorists," in fact, according to Perry we've been doing so successfully for years. In Talking to Terrorists Perry pulls back the curtain on the United States' secret history of diplomacy with some of the world's most vilified terrorist organizations. Among many previously unknown episodes, Perry reveals that in the weeks after 9/11, a U.S. envoy approached the leadership of Hezbollah, who pledged to support the American fight against Al Qaeda; in late 2003, Donald Rumsfeld advised a select group of aides to engage with Iraqi insurgency leaders; and in July 2004, U.S. Marine Corps officers met with senior leaders of the Iraqi insurgency in Jordan, where they learned of Ahmed Chalabi's connections to the Iranian government and negotiated a mutual "stand down."" "Based on extensive interviews with Pentagon insiders, Perry exposes the history of fruitful covert meetings between the U.S. Armed Forces and major terrorist leaders, while providing a template for reversing the failures of the past nine years. A vivid corrective to our unexamined assumptions about the Middle East, Talking to Terrorists demonstrates that diplomacy with extremists may be the only way to end terrorism - controversial wisdom we ignore at our peril."--BOOK JACKET.