Today I’ll add some of my own thoughts on the subject of the book review I just posted (Knowing the Enemy, Jihadist Ideology and the War on Terror by Mary Habeck).
First the good news: the jihadis do not have the military might to conquer our country, nor are they likely acquire that ability in the foreseeable future. Even if they get nuclear weapons they cannot take and hold our territory, nor can they overthrow our government. They are a small part of Islam and just don’t have enough people or soldiers to win an open war with any western country. They may be difficult to root out from their hiding places in the mountains of Afghanistan, but they cannot hope to win a war of conquest, at least at present.
There is bad news in this however. The jihadis do have the ability to create terror and disrupt our society as they did on September 9, 2001. If we let our guard down they can do something like that again. Worse, if they obtain nuclear weapons they can do much worse damage to our cities and our economy. I do not know how much danger there is that they will get such weapons. Iran is a possible source but even if that country manages to make nuclear bombs it is not clear that the Iranians would be willing to provide them to the jihadis. Another possible source is the black market. There are persistent rumors of some nukes, or at least bomb components, available to anyone with enough money.
So what are the jihadis likely to do? Anything they think will help reach their goal of collapse of the West and creation of a caliphate, preferably a worldwide caliphate. We must remember that those people have a very narrow focus and that they believe that they should kill their enemies, even women and children. Many of them are willing, even anxious, to die for the cause. We cannot afford to believe that they think the same way we do. In their minds, anything which might advance their twisted version of Islam is righteous; any failure to advance, or even attempt to advance, it is wicked.
We should also remember that those fanatics have a distorted picture of how effective their actions will be. They believe they will win, even in spite of evidence. Setbacks only encourage them to try again. Unfortunately catching some, either before or after they commit terrorism, will not stop others from trying. They will continue their terrorism until they are wiped out, either by death or by somebody like other Muslims convincing them of the error of their ways. Negotiation will not work. Providing economic aid will not work. As long as they live and have the mind-set they do, they will continue fighting the battle they believe is theirs by divine mandate.
All that is bad, but there is likely an even more dangerous aspect of this. Some of the jihadis may Hojjitieh. That is a shadowy fringe group, so fanatic that even the Ayatollah Khomeini wanted them banned. There are indications that the Hojjitieh believe it their duty to create worldwide chaos in order to cause the return of the Twelfth Imam and the establishment of a worldwide caliphate. If reports are correct, their goal is not necessarily conquest but simply stirring up trouble, the more the better. There is some evidence that Ahmadinejad in Iran is a Hojjitieh but that is uncertain at best.
We can be sure that there is a lot we don’t know about the terrorists. However we can be certain that they hate us, along with any semblance of democracy. We also know that they view us as both wicked and weak-minded. They believe that if they hit us with more terror we will give up and accede to their demands. They’ve seen our lack of persistence in other battles and they believe that we will give up the battle against them as well. I’m afraid there may be some justification for that belief; in the years since 9-11 we’ve become rather complacent.
In this country we’ve become accustomed to quick solutions. TV gives us the unconscious idea that all problems can be solved in half an hour to an hour – with time out for commercials. We’ve forgotten that some problems require prolonged effort before they are solved. We get excited about new problems but tire of them after time. That will not solve the terrorist problem. For that we need persistence. Otherwise they will just outlast us, then hit us again. No, I don’t believe we will give up, but we will be exposed to more terrorist actions.
Solving the jihadi problem will require that we put aside some of our squeamishness and prosecute the battle by every constitutional means at our command. That means we selectively go after those most likely to be terrorists. Grandma in her wheelchair may in fact be a terrorist in disguise, but the young middle-eastern man is a much higher probability and should have a higher likelihood of being searched at the airport.
The more mainstream Muslims in the world have a special part to play in this battle. They must take the lead in showing just how far on the fringes the jihadis are. They must speak out, even in the face of danger. Failure to do so risks takeover of their religion by the fanatics. History provides two examples of how that might happen: the Crusades and the Inquisition, both products of what passed for Christianity when a few were allowed to dictate how Christians should act. In fact the jihadi actions look like an Islamic version of the Inquisition. They have the same intolerance for anyone who does not accept their own version of their religion. Wherever they have been in control, they have imposed restrictions and punishments similar to those of the Inquisition. However they combine that with a militaristic desire to force their religion on everybody, something beyond even what the Crusades attempted.
So far the Islamic fanatics remain a fringe group of the religion while the Inquisition became dominant in medieval Christianity. I beg of my Muslim friends: do not allow the same thing to happen in your religion. Please fight those fanatics, for your sake and the sake of the whole world.
In conclusion, the fight against Islamic fanatics will be long and hard. We must be prepared for that and to continue our best efforts until the battle is won.
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Showing posts with label Jihad. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jihad. Show all posts
Monday, September 21, 2009
Friday, September 18, 2009
Knowing the Enemy (Book Review)
I hope my readers aren’t tired of book reviews because today I want to talk about what I regard as a very important book, one that could help us understand and face one of our biggest enemies in the world today. So here it is, another review.
Knowing the Enemy, Jihadist Ideology and the War on Terror by Mary Habeck. Yale University Press, New Haven & London, 2006. 177 pp plus notes, glossary and index.
Mary Habeck is an associate professor, School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University. She has produced here a book which I think should be required reading for anyone who wants to seriously discuss the problem of Islamic terror. I thought that I knew and more or less understood the motivations behind the attacks on embassies in Africa, the USS Cole, the 9-11 attacks etc. However this book showed me that my previous knowledge only scratched the surface.
First, Habeck is careful to distinguish between most of Islam and the small group of fanatics who carry out terrorist activities. She shows that people like Osama bin Laden draw on out-of-mainstream understandings of Islam to create a version of the religion that sees violence as a positive good. Their ultimate objective is a caliphate imposing Islamic rule (Shari'a) on the entire world, beginning with Islamic lands. And their definition of an Islamic land is any land ever ruled by or paying tribute to an Islamic ruler. That includes Spain, the Balkans, even Russia.
In those people's belief, the very existence of any system of government other than the caliphate is an assault on Islam because it tempts people to not join the “true” religion and government. Liberalism (not the US leftists but liberalism in the sense of self-rule) is a positive evil in their view. It is no wonder that they hate every country on earth, even countries most would regard as Islamic.
In the view of these extremists, true Islam does not exist in the world today since it requires a land ruled by the caliph strictly by Shari'a, God's rule. It must be understood that this viewpoint antedates the establishment of Israel and the oil states. It cannot be blamed on Israel, though that country is today regarded as the start of western colonization in Islamic lands.
In the beliefs of those fanatics, Shari'a must become the law of the land. That is their definition of freedom and nothing else will do. They believe that democracy, kings, and all other non-Islamic forms of government will eventually be replaced as people see how wonderful life is under the caliphate.
Also, in the view of the jihadis, any western presence in Islamic land is an assault. That is why Bin Laden considered the US aid to Somalia in the early 1990's as an attack. We were there only to help the people but to the jihadis it was an invasion. This may be difficult for the western mind to understand, but understand it we must if we are to protect ourselves from the fanatics.
There is also a lot of what I would term groupthink and wishful thinking among the jihadis. For example, bin Laden believed that the 9-11 attacks would cause Muslims world-wide to rise up and join the “true” Islam and that the US would fold and leave Arabic and other Islamic lands. When his predictions did not materialize he had to change his tune but that has not changed the minds of the fanatics.
“Because history is dominated by the struggle between good and evil, jihadis assert that all Muslims are called by God to participate in the fight – physically if possible, or at least by word or financially – acting as God's sword on earth to deal with the evildoers and their wicked way of life.” This becomes a duty even if such a fight makes no actual progress toward the caliphate. They also believe if a jihadist dies while killing the enemy, he gets a reward beyond comprehension in this world. That facilitates the recruitment of operatives, even those willing to commit suicide if by so doing they can kill their enemies.
With the jihadis having the described mindset, it is easy to see why they are such a danger. We cannot reason with them, nor can we gain by negotiation (except for brief time periods while they re-arm). They consider treaties useful only to advance their cause and they believe they can break them pretty much whenever it suits their purpose to do so.
Habeck briefly suggests some things we can do to effectively fight the jihadis, though she is clear that a complete plan is beyond the scope of her book. She believes (and I agree) that we must deny them a land to rule as we did in Afghanistan. We must intercept their finances in order to deny them the more potent weapons they crave. And we must counter their preaching and recruitment by showing what a marginal part of Islam they are.
I strongly recommend this book
If you like my blog, please tell others.
If you don’t like it, please tell me.
Knowing the Enemy, Jihadist Ideology and the War on Terror by Mary Habeck. Yale University Press, New Haven & London, 2006. 177 pp plus notes, glossary and index.
Mary Habeck is an associate professor, School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University. She has produced here a book which I think should be required reading for anyone who wants to seriously discuss the problem of Islamic terror. I thought that I knew and more or less understood the motivations behind the attacks on embassies in Africa, the USS Cole, the 9-11 attacks etc. However this book showed me that my previous knowledge only scratched the surface.
First, Habeck is careful to distinguish between most of Islam and the small group of fanatics who carry out terrorist activities. She shows that people like Osama bin Laden draw on out-of-mainstream understandings of Islam to create a version of the religion that sees violence as a positive good. Their ultimate objective is a caliphate imposing Islamic rule (Shari'a) on the entire world, beginning with Islamic lands. And their definition of an Islamic land is any land ever ruled by or paying tribute to an Islamic ruler. That includes Spain, the Balkans, even Russia.
In those people's belief, the very existence of any system of government other than the caliphate is an assault on Islam because it tempts people to not join the “true” religion and government. Liberalism (not the US leftists but liberalism in the sense of self-rule) is a positive evil in their view. It is no wonder that they hate every country on earth, even countries most would regard as Islamic.
In the view of these extremists, true Islam does not exist in the world today since it requires a land ruled by the caliph strictly by Shari'a, God's rule. It must be understood that this viewpoint antedates the establishment of Israel and the oil states. It cannot be blamed on Israel, though that country is today regarded as the start of western colonization in Islamic lands.
In the beliefs of those fanatics, Shari'a must become the law of the land. That is their definition of freedom and nothing else will do. They believe that democracy, kings, and all other non-Islamic forms of government will eventually be replaced as people see how wonderful life is under the caliphate.
Also, in the view of the jihadis, any western presence in Islamic land is an assault. That is why Bin Laden considered the US aid to Somalia in the early 1990's as an attack. We were there only to help the people but to the jihadis it was an invasion. This may be difficult for the western mind to understand, but understand it we must if we are to protect ourselves from the fanatics.
There is also a lot of what I would term groupthink and wishful thinking among the jihadis. For example, bin Laden believed that the 9-11 attacks would cause Muslims world-wide to rise up and join the “true” Islam and that the US would fold and leave Arabic and other Islamic lands. When his predictions did not materialize he had to change his tune but that has not changed the minds of the fanatics.
“Because history is dominated by the struggle between good and evil, jihadis assert that all Muslims are called by God to participate in the fight – physically if possible, or at least by word or financially – acting as God's sword on earth to deal with the evildoers and their wicked way of life.” This becomes a duty even if such a fight makes no actual progress toward the caliphate. They also believe if a jihadist dies while killing the enemy, he gets a reward beyond comprehension in this world. That facilitates the recruitment of operatives, even those willing to commit suicide if by so doing they can kill their enemies.
With the jihadis having the described mindset, it is easy to see why they are such a danger. We cannot reason with them, nor can we gain by negotiation (except for brief time periods while they re-arm). They consider treaties useful only to advance their cause and they believe they can break them pretty much whenever it suits their purpose to do so.
Habeck briefly suggests some things we can do to effectively fight the jihadis, though she is clear that a complete plan is beyond the scope of her book. She believes (and I agree) that we must deny them a land to rule as we did in Afghanistan. We must intercept their finances in order to deny them the more potent weapons they crave. And we must counter their preaching and recruitment by showing what a marginal part of Islam they are.
I strongly recommend this book
If you like my blog, please tell others.
If you don’t like it, please tell me.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Knowing the Enemy
If you like my blog, please tell others.
If you don’t like it, please tell me.
Terrorism, especially that committed by Islamic fanatics, continues to be a threat to the world. For that reason instead of presenting my own thoughts today I’m presenting a book review. Though I recommend everybody read the book, I believe this review contains good information that everybody should know about this problem.
Knowing the Enemy, Jihadist Ideology and the War on Terror by Mary Habeck. Yale University Press, New Haven & London, 2006. 177 pp plus notes, glossary and index.
Mary Habeck is an associate professor, School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University. I thought that I knew and more or less understood the motivations behind the attacks on embassies in Africa, the USS Cole, the 9-11 attacks etc. However this book showed me that my previous understanding only scratched the surface.
Habeck is careful to distinguish between most of Islam and the small group of fanatics who carry out the terrorist activities. She shows that people like Osama bin Laden draw on out-of-mainstream understandings of Islam to create a version of the religion that sees violence against any who reject it as a positive good. Their ultimate objective is Shari'a rule of the entire world, beginning with Islamic lands. And their definition of an Islamic land is any land ever ruled by or paying tribute to an Islamic ruler. That includes Spain, the Balkans, even Russia.
In the minds of those fanatics the very existence of any system of government other than the caliphate is an assault on Islam. That is because it tempts people to not join the "true" religion and government. Therefore they hate every country on earth, even countries most would regard as Islamic. In their view true Islam requires a land ruled by the caliph strictly by Shari'a, God's rule. To them any other form of government is idolatry since it puts man's will before that of God. They regard democratic self-rule as a serious evil.
The ultimate objective of the jihadis is a worldwide caliphate in which Shari'a is the law of the land. That is their definition of freedom and nothing else will do. They believe that democracy, kings, and all other non-Islamic forms of government will eventually be replaced as people see how wonderful life is under the caliphate. They regard any western presence in Islamic land as an assault. Bin Laden even considered the US aid to Somalia in the early 1990's as an attack because it put representatives of an infidel government on Islamic land. This may be difficult for the western mind to understand, but understand it we must if we are to protect ourselves from the fanatics.
We must also understand that this viewpoint antedates the establishment of Israel and the oil states. It cannot be blamed on Israel, though that country is today regarded as the start of western colonization in Islamic lands.
There is a lot of what I would term groupthink and wishful thinking among the jihadis. For example, bin Laden believed that the 9-11 attacks would cause Muslims world-wide to rise up and join the "true" Islam and that the US would fold and leave Arabic and other Islamic lands. When his predictions did not materialize he had to change his tune but that has not changed the minds of the fanatics. They just ignore the fact that his predictions did not come true. They are not what we would consider reasonable people and will not be deterred by reason or even by battlefield losses.
The Islamist mindset is briefly summarized as, "Because history is dominated by the struggle between good and evil, jihadis assert that all Muslims are called by God to participate in the fight physically if possible, or at least by word or financially acting as God's sword on earth to deal with the evildoers and their wicked way of life." This becomes a duty even if such a fight makes no actual progress toward the caliphate. In their view, if a jihadi dies while killing or attempting to kill the enemy, he gets a reward beyond comprehension in this world.
With the jihadis having the described mindset, it is easy to see why they are such a danger. We cannot reason with them, nor can we gain by negotiations (except for brief periods while they re-arm). Any treaty they make they consider useful only to advance their cause. Furthermore, they believe they can break treaties pretty much whenever it suits their purpose to do so.
Habeck briefly suggests some things we can do to effectively fight the jihadis, though she is clear that a complete plan is beyond the scope of her book. She believes (and I agree) that we must deny them a land to rule as we did in Afghanistan. We must intercept their finances to deny them the more potent weapons they crave. And we must counter their preaching and recruitment by showing what a marginal part of Islam they are.
I strongly recommend this book.
If you don’t like it, please tell me.
Terrorism, especially that committed by Islamic fanatics, continues to be a threat to the world. For that reason instead of presenting my own thoughts today I’m presenting a book review. Though I recommend everybody read the book, I believe this review contains good information that everybody should know about this problem.
Knowing the Enemy, Jihadist Ideology and the War on Terror by Mary Habeck. Yale University Press, New Haven & London, 2006. 177 pp plus notes, glossary and index.
Mary Habeck is an associate professor, School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University. I thought that I knew and more or less understood the motivations behind the attacks on embassies in Africa, the USS Cole, the 9-11 attacks etc. However this book showed me that my previous understanding only scratched the surface.
Habeck is careful to distinguish between most of Islam and the small group of fanatics who carry out the terrorist activities. She shows that people like Osama bin Laden draw on out-of-mainstream understandings of Islam to create a version of the religion that sees violence against any who reject it as a positive good. Their ultimate objective is Shari'a rule of the entire world, beginning with Islamic lands. And their definition of an Islamic land is any land ever ruled by or paying tribute to an Islamic ruler. That includes Spain, the Balkans, even Russia.
In the minds of those fanatics the very existence of any system of government other than the caliphate is an assault on Islam. That is because it tempts people to not join the "true" religion and government. Therefore they hate every country on earth, even countries most would regard as Islamic. In their view true Islam requires a land ruled by the caliph strictly by Shari'a, God's rule. To them any other form of government is idolatry since it puts man's will before that of God. They regard democratic self-rule as a serious evil.
The ultimate objective of the jihadis is a worldwide caliphate in which Shari'a is the law of the land. That is their definition of freedom and nothing else will do. They believe that democracy, kings, and all other non-Islamic forms of government will eventually be replaced as people see how wonderful life is under the caliphate. They regard any western presence in Islamic land as an assault. Bin Laden even considered the US aid to Somalia in the early 1990's as an attack because it put representatives of an infidel government on Islamic land. This may be difficult for the western mind to understand, but understand it we must if we are to protect ourselves from the fanatics.
We must also understand that this viewpoint antedates the establishment of Israel and the oil states. It cannot be blamed on Israel, though that country is today regarded as the start of western colonization in Islamic lands.
There is a lot of what I would term groupthink and wishful thinking among the jihadis. For example, bin Laden believed that the 9-11 attacks would cause Muslims world-wide to rise up and join the "true" Islam and that the US would fold and leave Arabic and other Islamic lands. When his predictions did not materialize he had to change his tune but that has not changed the minds of the fanatics. They just ignore the fact that his predictions did not come true. They are not what we would consider reasonable people and will not be deterred by reason or even by battlefield losses.
The Islamist mindset is briefly summarized as, "Because history is dominated by the struggle between good and evil, jihadis assert that all Muslims are called by God to participate in the fight physically if possible, or at least by word or financially acting as God's sword on earth to deal with the evildoers and their wicked way of life." This becomes a duty even if such a fight makes no actual progress toward the caliphate. In their view, if a jihadi dies while killing or attempting to kill the enemy, he gets a reward beyond comprehension in this world.
With the jihadis having the described mindset, it is easy to see why they are such a danger. We cannot reason with them, nor can we gain by negotiations (except for brief periods while they re-arm). Any treaty they make they consider useful only to advance their cause. Furthermore, they believe they can break treaties pretty much whenever it suits their purpose to do so.
Habeck briefly suggests some things we can do to effectively fight the jihadis, though she is clear that a complete plan is beyond the scope of her book. She believes (and I agree) that we must deny them a land to rule as we did in Afghanistan. We must intercept their finances to deny them the more potent weapons they crave. And we must counter their preaching and recruitment by showing what a marginal part of Islam they are.
I strongly recommend this book.
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