Uli Derickson

Born in what is now the Czech Republic, Derickson and her parents were expelled to East Germany in 1945. The family later escaped to West Germany, and Uli made it to the United States in 1967, where she became a flight attendant for TWA. In 1985, on Flight 847 between Athens and Rome, her plane was hijacked. Lebanese terrorists beat her, the pilot and the flight engineer. The terrorists didn't speak English, but Derickson realized she could talk with them in German -- and became their translator. She convinced them to let 17 elderly women and two children get off the plane during one of its many stops in the Middle East. When she realized the men intended to target Jewish passengers, she withheld certain passenger names from them. During a stop in Algiers, the ground crew wouldn't give them fuel without payment -- and the terrorists promised to kill a passenger every five minutes until they got some. "I asked for permission to go to my purse, and I got out my [credit] card and gave it to them. They put 6,000 gallons of jet fuel on my Shell credit card." After 36 grueling hours the hijackers let most passengers go, including Derickson; the rest weren't released for 17 days. But all but one of the 152 passengers and crew survived; the only death was a man beaten to death because he was in the U.S. Navy. Yet she never considered herself a hero: "They threw me a hot potato, and I had to handle it," she once said. Life was not easy after her deeds: she received threats from some thinking she hadn't done enough to shield Jews, and more threats from others who thought she did too much. She continued to fly, however, both with TWA and later Delta, until her 2003 retirement. Derickson died February 18 from cancer. She was 60. From This is True for 20 February 2005 Suggestions for further reading: Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations . .... By: Greg Mortenson List Price: $15.00 Amazon Price: $9.00 Editorial Review: The astonishing, uplifting story of a real-life Indiana Jones and his humanitarian campaign to use education to combat terrorism in the Taliban's backyard. Anyone who despairs of the individual's power to change lives has to read the story of Greg Mortenson, a homeless mountaineer who, following a 1993 climb of Pakistan's treacherous K2, was inspired by a chance encounter with impoverished mountain villagers and promised to build them a school. Over the next decade he built fifty-five schools especially for girls that offer a balanced education in one of the most isolated and dangerous regions on earth. As it chronicles Mortenson's quest, which has brought him into conflict with both enraged Islamists and uncomprehending Americans, Three Cups of Tea combines adventure with a celebration of the humanitarian spirit.   Seeds of Terror: How Heroin Is Bankrolling the Taliban and al Qaeda By: Gretchen Peters List Price: $25.95 Amazon Price: $17.13 Editorial Review: Most Americans think of the Taliban and al Qaeda as a bunch of bearded fanatics fighting an Islamic crusade from caves in Afghanistan. But that doesn't explain their astonishing comeback along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Why is it eight years after we invaded Afghanistan, the CIA says that these groups are better armed and better funded than ever? Seeds of Terror will reshape the way you think about America's enemies, revealing them less as ideologues and more as criminals who earn half a billion dollars every year off the opium trade. With the breakneck pace of a thriller, author Gretchen Peters traces their illicit activities from vast poppy fields in southern Afghanistan to heroin labs run by Taliban commanders, from drug convoys armed with Stinger missiles to the money launderers of Karachi and Dubai. This isn't a fanciful conspiracy theory. Seeds of Terror is based on hundreds of interviews with Taliban fighters, smugglers, and law enforcement and intelligence agents. Their information is matched by intelligence reports shown to the author by frustrated U.S. officials who fear the next 9/11 will be far deadlier than the first--and paid for with drug profits. Seeds of Terror makes the case that we must cut terrorists off from their drug earnings if we ever hope to beat them. This war isn't about ideology or religion. It's about creating a new economy for Afghanistan--and breaking the cycle of violence and extremism that has gripped the region for decades.   The Forever War (Vintage) By: Dexter Filkins List Price: $15.00 Amazon Price: $10.20 Editorial Review: National Bestseller Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award A New York Times Book Review Best Book of the Year One of the Best Books of the Year: New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Boston Globe, and Time An instant classic of war reporting, The Forever War is the definitive account of America's conflict with Islamic fundamentalism and a searing exploration of its human costs. Through the eyes of Filkins, a foreign correspondent for the New York Times, we witness the rise of the Taliban in the 1990s, the aftermath of the attack on New York on September 11th, and the American wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Filkins is the only American journalist to have reported on all these events, and his experiences are conveyed in a riveting narrative filled with unforgettable characters and astonishing scenes. Brilliant and fearless, The Forever War is not just about America's wars after 9/11, but about the nature of war itself.   The Accidental Guerrilla: Fighting Small Wars in the Midst of a Big One By: David Kilcullen List Price: $27.95 Amazon Price: $18.45 Editorial Review: David Kilcullen is one of the world's most influential experts on counterinsurgency and modern warfare. A Senior Counterinsurgency Advisor to General David Petraeus in Iraq, his vision of war dramatically influenced America's decision to rethink its military strategy in Iraq and implement "the surge." Now, in The Accidental Guerrilla, Kilcullen provides a remarkably fresh perspective on the War on Terror. Kilcullen takes us "on the ground" to uncover the face of modern warfare, illuminating both the big global war (the "War on Terrorism") and its relation to the associated "small wars" across the globe: Iraq, Afghanistan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Chechnya, Pakistan and North Africa. Kilcullen sees today's conflicts as a complex pairing of contrasting trends: local social networks and worldwide movements; traditional and postmodern culture; local insurgencies seeking autonomy and a broader pan-Islamic campaign. He warns that America's actions in the war on terrorism have tended to conflate these trends, blurring the distinction between local and global struggles and thus enormously complicating our challenges. Indeed, the US had done a poor job of applying different tactics to these very different situations, continually misidentifying insurgents with limited aims and legitimate grievances (whom he calls "accidental guerrillas") as part of a coordinated worldwide terror network. We must learn how to disentangle these strands, develop strategies that deal with global threats, avoid local conflicts where possible, and win them where necessary. Colored with gripping battlefield experiences that range from the jungles and highlands of Southeast Asia to the mountains of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border to the dusty towns of the Middle East, The Accidental Guerrilla will, quite simply, change the way we think about war. This much anticipated book will be a must read for everyone concerned about the war on terror.   Inside the Revolution By: Joel C. Rosenberg List Price: $21.99 Amazon Price: $11.99 Editorial Review: Inside the Revolution takes you inside the winner-take-all battle for the hearts, minds, and souls of the people of the Middle East. It includes never-before-seen profiles of the Radicals, the Reformers and the Revivalists. It explains the implications of each movement and the importance of each leader-not only through the lenses of politics and economics but through the third lens of Scripture as well. Today, wars and revolutions define the modern Middle East, and many believe the worst is yet to come. Inside the Revolution deals with questions like these: How real and serious is the threat of Radical Islam to American national security eight years after 9/11? Are there any Muslim leaders who oppose the violence of the Radicals-and is there any hope that such leaders will come to power in key countries in the Middle East? What is God doing in the Middle East-and is there any hope that Muslims will find faith in Jesus Christ? How can we as Christians help strengthen our brothers and sisters who love Jesus in the Muslim world, and how can we reach out to Muslims here at home? Excerpts from Inside The Revolution: The Followers of Jihad: On April 1, 1979, Iran became the first Islamic republic in history. Three decades later, the shock waves from the Iranian Revolution are still being felt around the globe [and] we are rapidly approaching the most dangerous moment in the history of the Iranian Revolution. Iran-s senior leaders have stated publicly that the end of the world is -imminent.--They are feverishly trying to build, buy or steal nuclear weapons-.Iran, however, is not the only threat. Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda terrorist network remain a clear and present danger to U.S. national security-. What the Radicals need most is Western ignorance, apathy, and lack of moral clarity. If the West can be lulled to sleep-then the Radicals will soon be able to pull off a series of attacks that make 9/11 pale by comparison and could leave millions dead. The Followers of Jefferson: -Aren-t there any Muslims out there who think the Radicals are crazy and are willing to fight back against the jihadists?- I am often asked. -Where are the Muslim leaders who are promoting freedom and opportunity and trying to create and expand democracy, as difficult as that may be in the modern Middle East?--Here are the answers: -Yes, absolutely,- and -They-re out there, but they don-t get nearly enough attention.--While not all Reformers are full-blown -Jeffersonian democrats,- a growing number of Muslim leaders are, in fact, seeking to follow and emulate Thomas Jefferson-s teachings and example-.And they are not simply talking about the power of representative government; they are actually gaining real political power and wielding game-changing influence in critical countries in the Middle East. The Followers of Jesus: You rarely hear about it on the news. But the big, untold story is that more Muslims are coming to faith in Jesus Christ today than at any other time in human history-.During the course of interviewing more than 150 Christian leaders in the epicenter, I have been able to assemble enough data and anecdotal evidence to paint a picture of how powerfully the God of the Bible is moving to draw Muslims into His family-.The head of one leading Iranian ministry told me: -Based on all the things we are seeing inside Iran today, I personally believe that if every Iranian who secretly believes in Jesus could come forward right now and declare his or her faith publicly, the number would top a million.-

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