This is my attempt to clear up some misconceptions about the enemy we face in our global war against terror. Why bother? 2 reasons: #1 Know thy enemy. If you don't understand what makes your opponent tick, you will not defeat him.
#2 This lack of understanding has led to bad policy. This, in turn, has led to unnecessary and divisive political arguments in our country.
First, some light reading:
http://www.fas.org/irp/threat/frd.html
http://www.terrorism-research.com/insurgency/
http://www.gurus.com/dougdeb/politics/TS101.html
http://www.gurus.com/dougdeb/politics/Needham.html
And to back it all up, your enemy, in his own words:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6537.htm
So what is it that drives our enemy?
First, lose some misperceptions. Your enemy is not crazy. Your enemy is not stupid. They have proven capable of launching complex coordinated attacks.
Most importantly, they do not think in the same manner as us. This means that you cannot describe their motivations in the same context as ours.
The two most important factors in the creation of terrorists are their society and their religion. They view us through the same distorted lens we view them because of these differences.
Difference #1: They do not believe in separation of church and state and they have no history of separation of church and state. When they hear Falwell or Dobson speak, they do not believe us when we tell them that these 'clerics' are not really in charge. When our elected leader says that he 'consults with a higher father' on military affairs we may shrug it off, but they do not. When our elected leader describes the war on terror as a "crusade" they do not dismiss it as a grammatical error. They believe that our religion guides our government because that's how their government works.
Difference #2: Their religion condones 'jihad' and ours does not. It has been argued that the bible does actually condone holy war, but it is not interpreted by the mainstream that way. Mainstream Islam *does* interpret it that way. But before you jump on Islam as an evil religion, bear in mind that 'jihad' is only supported in defense of Islam itself. This distinction becomes important later.
Most Muslims believe that it is their duty to their God to defend Islam with their lives. They only become violent when they believe that Islam is under attack. There may be any number of things in society that they disapprove of (just as the devoutly religious in our own society), but you have never heard of them declaring holy war on McDonald's or sunbathers. This is a very important distinction.
What makes terrorism so dangerous is that the world is full of potential terrorists. They are motivated in a way that only religion can produce. They do not worry about winning, only fighting. They cannot become discouraged or demoralized. They have no qualms whatsoever about dying and killing for what they believe in.
All they need is to be set on the course of holy war. Once they have begun, there is no stopping them until they are dead. This is the only task that AlQaeda has. Convince the average Arab on the street that their very faith is under attack and that's really all it takes.
Some trash to be taken out:
"They hate us because of our freedom"
They don't give a rat's ass about our freedom and never have. They fight us because they perceive us as invaders who wish to destroy their religion, kill their families, and occupy their land.
"Dissent emboldens the enemy"
Not possible. You don't get much bolder than willing to die. Dissent in Washington has no effect on these people. They will not waver from their task so long as they believe it's just.
"We fight them there so that we don't have to fight them here"
Fighting them there merely reinforces the notion that they are under attack as a people. IOW invading Iraq was the most counterproductive thing we could have done.
"The terrorists are on the verge of defeat"
Again, not possible. At least not this way. The only possible way to defeat these people is to convince the general population that Islam itself is not under attack.
"Killing or capturing the senior leadership will cripple the terrorists"
Not true. These networks are highly decentralized and fluid. 3 more fighters will rise through the ranks before the slain leader's body has had time to cool.
"We will win this war by killing terrorists/ insurgents"
Nope. We will only win this war by stemming the creation of terrorists. There is not a finite supply of terrorists in the world, so it's simply not possible to kill them all. And as above, killing "enough" terrorists has no deterrent effect on potential terrorists. Think about it: These people are expecting to die. You really think they're gonna be scared off for fear that they will?
Terrorists are beaten only by being marginalized by their own population. These people, like any other, will not fight for a cause they don't believe in. In order to accomplish this, you must first stop marginalizing yourself.
This is NOT a holy war on our part. We are NOT out to exterminate Arabs. We are NOT out to overthrow Islam. Knock it off with the secret prisons and torture. Get the American forces out of Baghdad. The symbology just plain plays bad. Iraqi forces only within the city. American forces must refocus our efforts on intel gathering and interdiction. We must don the mantle of protectors instead of occupiers.
If we don't, we'll lose this war.
Second, we must let the terrorists lose their own war while we work with the clerics to alienate them. Despite all our technology and weapons, this war will be decided by the people of Iraq. We want them on our side.
I apologise for the rambling post. I hope this has helped you have a clearer understanding of what you're up against.
#2 This lack of understanding has led to bad policy. This, in turn, has led to unnecessary and divisive political arguments in our country.
First, some light reading:
http://www.fas.org/irp/threat/frd.html
http://www.terrorism-research.com/insurgency/
http://www.gurus.com/dougdeb/politics/TS101.html
http://www.gurus.com/dougdeb/politics/Needham.html
And to back it all up, your enemy, in his own words:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6537.htm
So what is it that drives our enemy?
First, lose some misperceptions. Your enemy is not crazy. Your enemy is not stupid. They have proven capable of launching complex coordinated attacks.
Most importantly, they do not think in the same manner as us. This means that you cannot describe their motivations in the same context as ours.
The two most important factors in the creation of terrorists are their society and their religion. They view us through the same distorted lens we view them because of these differences.
Difference #1: They do not believe in separation of church and state and they have no history of separation of church and state. When they hear Falwell or Dobson speak, they do not believe us when we tell them that these 'clerics' are not really in charge. When our elected leader says that he 'consults with a higher father' on military affairs we may shrug it off, but they do not. When our elected leader describes the war on terror as a "crusade" they do not dismiss it as a grammatical error. They believe that our religion guides our government because that's how their government works.
Difference #2: Their religion condones 'jihad' and ours does not. It has been argued that the bible does actually condone holy war, but it is not interpreted by the mainstream that way. Mainstream Islam *does* interpret it that way. But before you jump on Islam as an evil religion, bear in mind that 'jihad' is only supported in defense of Islam itself. This distinction becomes important later.
Most Muslims believe that it is their duty to their God to defend Islam with their lives. They only become violent when they believe that Islam is under attack. There may be any number of things in society that they disapprove of (just as the devoutly religious in our own society), but you have never heard of them declaring holy war on McDonald's or sunbathers. This is a very important distinction.
What makes terrorism so dangerous is that the world is full of potential terrorists. They are motivated in a way that only religion can produce. They do not worry about winning, only fighting. They cannot become discouraged or demoralized. They have no qualms whatsoever about dying and killing for what they believe in.
All they need is to be set on the course of holy war. Once they have begun, there is no stopping them until they are dead. This is the only task that AlQaeda has. Convince the average Arab on the street that their very faith is under attack and that's really all it takes.
Some trash to be taken out:
"They hate us because of our freedom"
They don't give a rat's ass about our freedom and never have. They fight us because they perceive us as invaders who wish to destroy their religion, kill their families, and occupy their land.
"Dissent emboldens the enemy"
Not possible. You don't get much bolder than willing to die. Dissent in Washington has no effect on these people. They will not waver from their task so long as they believe it's just.
"We fight them there so that we don't have to fight them here"
Fighting them there merely reinforces the notion that they are under attack as a people. IOW invading Iraq was the most counterproductive thing we could have done.
"The terrorists are on the verge of defeat"
Again, not possible. At least not this way. The only possible way to defeat these people is to convince the general population that Islam itself is not under attack.
"Killing or capturing the senior leadership will cripple the terrorists"
Not true. These networks are highly decentralized and fluid. 3 more fighters will rise through the ranks before the slain leader's body has had time to cool.
"We will win this war by killing terrorists/ insurgents"
Nope. We will only win this war by stemming the creation of terrorists. There is not a finite supply of terrorists in the world, so it's simply not possible to kill them all. And as above, killing "enough" terrorists has no deterrent effect on potential terrorists. Think about it: These people are expecting to die. You really think they're gonna be scared off for fear that they will?
Terrorists are beaten only by being marginalized by their own population. These people, like any other, will not fight for a cause they don't believe in. In order to accomplish this, you must first stop marginalizing yourself.
This is NOT a holy war on our part. We are NOT out to exterminate Arabs. We are NOT out to overthrow Islam. Knock it off with the secret prisons and torture. Get the American forces out of Baghdad. The symbology just plain plays bad. Iraqi forces only within the city. American forces must refocus our efforts on intel gathering and interdiction. We must don the mantle of protectors instead of occupiers.
If we don't, we'll lose this war.
Second, we must let the terrorists lose their own war while we work with the clerics to alienate them. Despite all our technology and weapons, this war will be decided by the people of Iraq. We want them on our side.
I apologise for the rambling post. I hope this has helped you have a clearer understanding of what you're up against.
