Books & more: Agent Storm

A Danish small-time criminal, who is on the brink of transitioning to major criminal activities as a member of a biker gang, finds a book about Islam in a library. Presumably, because Islamic or Islamist youths with migrant backgrounds and little integration are part of his milieu, he turns to religion. He first goes to Yemen to learn Salafist practices, and very quickly he mingles in jihadist circles between Denmark, England, and Yemen. It is a highly international scene of religious revolutionaries. When Morten Storm "detaches" himself from religious extremism, he becomes a sought-after source for Western intelligence services. Storm himself describes himself in the book as a "freelance intelligence agent." A gross misconception of the intelligence truth that while one loves betrayal, one never loves the traitor. He believes he is responsible for the killing of 30 top al-Qaeda men, bitterly noting that he never received the US million-dollar prize for killing Yemeni al-Qaeda chief Anwar al-Awlaki, even though he believes he led the CIA to the location where al-Awlaki could be killed by drone. Storm's autobiography reads like an engaging crime novel. Many of his acquaintances were jihadist attackers, but he claims he was never involved in any attacks. Instead, he allegedly played a leading role as a source for the CIA, British, and Danish intelligence in various disclosures. Whether all of this is true, the reader will never be able to ascertain. Morten Storm comes across as grotesquely self-assured in the book. One of the notable aspects of the book is the description of a fluid milieu consisting of true believers, religious teachers, and converts that is well-connected on an international scale - a jihadist scene that knows hardly any boundaries in its networks.

“Agent Storm: Mein Doppelleben bei Al-Qaida und der CIA” by Morten Storm with Paul Cruickshank and Tim Lister, Riva, 410 pages, Euro 19.90 (book) and Euro 15.90 (Kindle)