<P> In the book, Fisk criticizes the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom for what he perceives as their hypocritical and biased foreign policy towards the Middle East, especially in regard to the Arab - Israeli conflict and the 2003 Iraq War . He contends leaders of both countries deliberately misled the world about their motivations for invading Iraq in 2003 . </P> <P> The name of the book comes from a campaign medal Fisk's father was awarded for his services in the First World War . </P> <P> 1 . "One of Our Brothers Had a Dream ..." is about Fisk's first interview in 1996 with the leader of al - Qaeda, Osama bin Laden in the mountains of Afghanistan . The title of the chapter is derived from bin Laden who explains that one of his fighters had a dream of Fisk, wearing a robe and with a beard, and who was approaching them on a horse, signifying that he was, according to bin Laden, a "true Muslim". Fisk immediately understood the context of the dream as an attempt by bin Laden to recruit him into his organization . </P> <P> 2 . They Shoot Russians is on the 1980 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan where Fisk chronicles much of the problems the Soviet Union faced in dealing with the Afghan mujahideen when they entered the country as well as the invasion's galvanizing effect in recruiting thousands of foreign Muslim fighters to the country and the resurgence of Islamic extremism in the country . </P>

The great war for civilization the conquest of the middle east