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Shimshon Issaki was born in Basra.

Spending his first 16 years in that ancient Iraqi city gives Issaki, a retired brigadier general in the Israel Defense Forces and senior intelligence analyst, a certain insight into the language and the culture of what became the primary battleground of al-Qaeda's war on the West after the invasion of Saddam Hussein's Iraq.

And to Iraq Issaki has returned -- as the subject of his new book on the future of the war on terror, titled "Terror and Iraq: How We Can Better Combat Islamic Terrorism".

Issaki told The Jewish State in a phone interview that his familiarity with Iraq and with Arabic language enables him to look at events through our enemies' eyes -- something the West has always struggled with.

"We could see it all of the time," Issaki said, referring to the West's habit of "trying to deal with [events] in the Western style mentality, which is totally different from the Middle East or the Arab countries, because what the West is thinking about something is interpreted differently in the Arab world."

Issaki's book offers a blueprint for fighting global terrorism.

"It could be a tool for any intelligence and security service, governments, politicians, academia -- everybody can contribute, any individual can contribute to minimize terrorism," he said.

Issaki believes tougher immigration policies should be a cornerstone to any effective security strategy. For example, he said, aspiring jihadists from Western countries would train in terror camps in Afghanistan, and then return home to fight from within.

"All those should be detected, followed, and whoever is proved to be involved one way or another [in terrorism] should be extradited from the country," Issaki said.

Saudi-funded textbooks used to teach Muslim children in the United States, he said, are encouraging hate right under our noses.

"They are saying, 'the monkeys are the Jews, and the pigs are the Christians... when you see a Jew hiding behind a tree go and kill him.' This is in the education books here," Issaki said. "When teaching a child of, say, 9 or 10 years old with this hatred, what do you expect when he becomes 18, 20 years old?"

This education goes on in the mosques as well, he said. And he advocates for greater scrutiny on these religious institutions, arguing that a breeding ground for terror should not be excused from examination in the name of "civil liberties".

"Laws should protect the civil liberties of the innocent against the murderers of innocents," Issaki said. "We're talking about the results and consequences of Sept. 11, 2001. My concern is the coming Sept. 11. It could be here, anytime, if we keep on going in the same way."

Mosque activity also represents one of al-Qaeda's weak points, he said, and we must exploit the enemy's weak points if we are to succeed.

"Mosques are the most important place for recruitment," Issaki said. "So control it. This is a weak point they cannot avoid because they will always use the mosque."

Likewise, they must use cell phones and computers to communicate. Issaki contends the West must be willing to monitor communication to disrupt Islamists' collaboration. If we can do that, he said, the terrorists will lose their organization and will make mistakes that the West can exploit.

Along those lines, Issaki believes there must be better international cooperation on issues like tracking terrorist funding. He said Osama bin Laden is still receiving money, yet he has been the public face of Islamic terrorism for almost a decade.

He said funding for terror groups changes hands several times from its source to its destination, and learning how to trace it from beginning to end is crucial.

"It can give you the pattern of how the money is going and where," Issaki said.

Issaki said pressure should be brought to bear on countries that support terrorism. The connection between Iranian-funded and Syrian-supported terrorist groups, such as Hezbollah and Hamas, is well known and must be confronted, he said.

"It's obvious what is going on," Issaki said. "Everybody knows who are hosted by the Syrians in Damascus; everybody knows how Iran is supporting terrorism. So, things should be done comprehensively by all concerned countries."

The situation will only get worse, according to Issaki, if Iran achieves nuclear capability. What is to stop Iran from collecting -- in a sort of Russian "near-abroad" method -- smaller countries along its border, such as Bahrain or Qatar?

"Who will dare to say anything to Iran in this respect?" he said.

Just as in Israel's 1981 attack on Iraq's nuclear facility at Osirak, Issaki believes the world expects action from Israel that it will condemn publicly but praise privately.

"So [Iranian nuclear weapons are] a threat to these countries, maybe more than it is a threat to Israel," he said, adding that Iran may believe Israel has a nuclear deterrent, but knows most Mideast countries do not.

Issaki also said that if coalition forces move out of Iraq before the Iraqi state is able to defend itself, Iran will have immediate influence there. It will attempt to use its control over southern Iraq, Issaki said, to take advantage of having at least a hegemonic control from Iran west through Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon to the Mediterranean Sea. Could the Jordanian monarchy, in such a case, maintain its control over its Palestinian population? Issaki doesn't think so.

Nor does Issaki think a nuclear Iran would stop there.

"In my opinion, the first target of al-Qaeda will be Saudi Arabia; it could happen, even with the support of Iran," Issaki said. "Because in the eastern province in Saudi Arabia there is a majority of Shiites, [and] from time to time there were some [Shiite] riots against the Saudi authorities. So I can anticipate that this could start there. If this will be done with nuclear capabilities, then I think the oil industry in that region, the policy will be dictated by Iran."

"Terror and Iraq" is available from Barnes and Noble, Amazon.com, Atlasbooks.com, and other major booksellers.