In 2002, sixty prominent American intellectuals released an open letter defending the use of military force against al-Qa’ida. The letter sparked an impassioned international debate unlike any other, in which jihadists, journalists, liberal Muslims, and German pacifists engaged one another on the most pressing issues of our time: terrorism, U.S. policy, and Islam-West relations. A valuable resource for specialist and non-specialist alike, this volume chronicles that debate and includes contributions from both sides of the political spectrum in America and the Middle East-and even from al-Qa’ida.