I mourn the
thousands of innocent people killed on September 11, 2001 and for the dedicated
heroes who tried to rescue them at great personal cost. I mourn also for our
fallen troops and for the innocent civilians killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. I
fully support our brave and determined troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other
nearby areas as they fight to uphold the moral principles we here hold so close
to our hearts.
I strongly endorse our country's determination to stamp out those who have
brought such tragedy to our nation and others throughout the world.
I do believe we have to place a name on those terrorists that have brought this
tragedy to our nation and to so many in the world. In the events that have
followed, our world-wide reputation has been tarnished, in ways unthinkable to
us and to our world-wide friends just a few years ago.
These terrorists are extremist Islamists who are bent on waging Jihadist war on
all those who are against them and their narrow interpretation of the Qu’ran.
These Jihadists, currently led by Osama bin Laden, among others, will make
alliances with ANYBODY in order to achieve their long-term objective: the
annihilation of all who stand in their way. That includes not only us here in
the United States, but free people everywhere, including moderate Muslims who do
not subscribe to the extremist views of the Jihadists.
Continued funding from the Wahabis of Saudi Arabia has infiltrated much of the
academic and political thinking in our country and clouded our perception of
the Jihadist danger. The only real way to stop this risk is by helping America
and all free-thinking people understand the real danger of Jihadism. I commend
three sources for increasing your understanding of the historical Caliphate and
its influence over the last 1400 years. All three are available from Amazon or
Barnes & Noble (and from most public libraries).
The first is Bernard Lewis’ The Crisis of Islam (Holy War and
Unholy Terror).
The Boston Globe has called it “A lucid and concise work by the great Mideast
scholar … an indispensable primer.” This book opened my eyes to the many
aspects of the Muslim history and culture which have been on our world scene
for centuries, but of which I personally was woefully ignorant. It is a very
worth-while read.
The second book is an absolute must for your reading. It is Walid
Phares’ Future Jihad.
Dr. Phares discusses Middle East conflicts with the UN Security Council and
provides advice to the US and other western governments on international
terrorism. He teaches at Florida Atlantic University where he reveals many of
the fundamental misunderstandings about the aims of al-Qaeda, Hezbollah and
other Islamic terrorist organizations. He illuminates the connections between
Jihadism and nation states around the world and illustrates how terrorism could
play out on a global scale. Future Jihad also shows how our defenses
have been infiltrated, identifies the future generation of homegrown terrorists
and reveals the strategies these terrorists are adopting.
I recommend his book without hesitation. It's a frightening read because it's a
long overdue wake-up call on the true name of terrorism and the source of 1400
years of hatred, beginning with the split between Shiaa and Sunni elements.
Jihad is a name you won't forget, after you fully understand its meaning to
Islamic fundamentalists.
The
third book is in a completely different category, since it asks that you join
in understanding from the Islamic perspective those Muslims who strive to
reconcile their religious values with those of the modern world vs those
Muslims who always revert to the 7th Century and the "fundamentals"
of their faith.
The book is Reza
Aslan's No god but God.
Reza Aslan very
clearly identifies that the root cause of the current problem with the Islam
faith (and he is a Muslim) is that it has been hi-jacked over the centuries by
misogynistic men with a tribal mentality. They have subverted the original
doctrine of equal rights of that faith with the rigidity of masculine
dominance, most specifically the imposition of harsh Shariah law and its
radicalized version of the Qu'ran.
"Like puritans
of other faiths - militaristic or not - the Jihadists' principal goal is the
"purifying" of their own religious communities. In other words, their
first target is not the West, or Jews, or Christians, or Zionists, or
Crusaders, or any other outsiders (what the Jihadists term "the far
enemy"). Their first target is those hundreds of millions of Muslims who
do not share their puritanical worldview ("the near enemy").
Perhaps the most
hopeful development in this internal battle to define the faith and practice of
over a billion people is that Muslims themselves are becoming increasingly
aware that they are as much endangered by the extremist agenda as are the
so-called infidels."
"The theology
of those Wahhabists who wish to return Islam to some imaginary ideal of
original purity must be once and for all abandoned. Isalm is and has always
been a religion of diversity. The notion that there was once an original,
unadulaterated Islam that was shattered into heretical sects and schisms is a
historical fiction. God may be one, but Islam most definitely is not."
Mr. Aslan states
that in reality The Islamic Reformation is already underway.
"Reformations, as we know from Christian history, are bloody events...and
the Islamic Reformation has some way to go before it is satisfactorily
resolved."
In my viewpoint, We do indeed need to identify and support moderate Muslims
who are struggling mightily in Iraq and elsewhere to stand up against the
extremist Islamists, those Jihadists who are bent on world-wide domination and
the establishment of a new Islamic Caliphate.
However, if these moderate Muslims cannot or will not stand up to the
extremists because of threats to their families or themselves, then I think our
common cause with them, unfortunately, is lost, at least for now. I believe we
must face up to this reality, and recognize the implications, hard as it may
sound for them, and for us, because we, as world-wide citizens, need to stand
fully prepared to fight those radical Jihadists. I hope I am wrong in the
timing, but I believe it will probably take some generations for the new
Islamic Reformation to win the battle for the soul of Islam against the
extremist Jihadists.
We are finally withdrawing from a war in Iraq that many of us said we
should not enter. The Kurds, the Shiites and the Sunnis are working with our
best-intentioned efforts to implement an enduring constitution. Will they -
with our help - succeed? Or will the bitter lessons of history repeat
themselves?
Most importantly,
under the leadership of President Obama, we are finally directing our military
and economic resources in the correct area: the mountains of Pakistan, where
the terrorists have fled, the breeding grounds of the Jihadists.
My conclusions?
Finger-pointing and
recriminations do absolutely no one any good at this point.
I do, however, believe we need to realistically assess the validity of our
continuing military presence in this broad area, especially in Afghanistan
where the lessons of history teach us that the tribal loyalties most often win
out in the struggle to overcome corruption in government.
More to the point,
our US conception of "democracy" may not be the the true motivator
for peoples in this area that so many here in this country seem to take for
granted.
Our troops on the ground, in action, talking directly to the people, our heroes
who have seen comrades die in their arms, would appear to be in the best
position to make such realistic assessments.
In my viewpoint, we all need to listen very carefully to their
assessments (and NOT to the self-motivated
arguments of politicians, ego-inflated commentators and talking-heads).
Direct assessments from our troops on the ground, I do believe, should provide at
least one of the fundamental bases of our enduring foreign policy.
We absolutely need to remain determined to stamp out terrorism, most
especially as a threat to our citizens here at home. We must remain fully committed
to deploy our resources to that end. We need to help others, but we need first to
stay strong ourselves in our own self-defense. Only in that way can we help
others.
I, like most American citizens, remain fully confident that we in the United
States will indeed stand together and never, ever, let our faceless enemies
destroy all we hold dear. They have not won. We will prevail. All we can pray for
is "Help us, Lord, be with us, and help us to think very carefully before
we act."
I would certainly appreciate hearing from you with your response to my
considered thoughts above. Just send me an Email today! Put "MyThoughts" in the
subject line, and either "I agree" or "I do not agree" with
any comments you may choose to make. I will forward your replies both to
President Obama and to our congressmen. Thank you very much.
