I just finished watching Mark Bowden’s Stalking Jihad on the History Channel. You may remember Bowden as the author of Black Hawk Down. Stalking Jihad covers the US-Philippine war against Abu Sayyaf, which is al Qaeda’s branch in the Philippines. It covers the rescue of American missionary Gracia Burnham, who along with her husband Martin was taken hostage by Abu Sayyaf in 2001, and follows past that to the defeat of Abu Sayyaf’s commander in 2002. Stalking Jihad does a great job of laying out the realities of the rules and difficulties of anti-terror operations involving alliances between US intelligence services and indigenous militaries. It will air again Sunday afternoon at 1 pm. If you have the time, Stalking Jihad is two hours very well spent.