Radical Islam winning clash of civilizations
By Clifford D. May
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Nine years ago, I began a series of discussions about terrorism with Jack Kemp, Jeane Kirkpatrick and a small group of concerned philanthropists. Since today is the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 atrocities, that won’t surprise you. What might: Our first conversation took place before, not after, terrorists hijacked planes and flew them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
Those with whom I met grasped this: While America was cashing in the post-Cold War “peace dividend,” terrorists were bombing the World Trade Center (for what turned out to be the first time), slaughtering American troops at Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, attacking American embassies in Africa and driving an explosive-laden boat into the USS Cole. Most political leaders, intelligence analysts, academics and journalists did not see much significance in this pattern.
In the weeks that followed, we organized the Foundation for Defense of Democracies to undertake research to better understand terrorism and the forces driving it; develop useful policy options and help educate the public.
Among the most significant lesson I’ve learned since then: Terrorism is not the core problem. It is merely the weapon of choice for some of the regimes, movements and ideologies that are waging a war against democratic societies.
The terrorists regard themselves as “jihadis” - heroic Islamic warriors and conquerors. They see their enemies as “infidels” - enemies of Allah. Yes, the jihadis and those who support them have grievances against America, Europe and Israel. But resolving policy differences is not their goal. Their goal is to defeat the West, and to restore to Muslims the power and glory they enjoyed in the past and which they are confident they are destined to enjoy again.
Not all those who seek this restoration engage in acts of terrorism or even support them. There are those - call them “Islamists” - who are not militants. They believe non-violent strategies can more effectively hasten the transition from the rule of law as constructed by men to the rule of law as ordained by Allah, along with the transfer of global dominance from Judeo-Christian societies to “the Muslim world.”
It should go without saying: Most of the world’s Muslims are not participating in this struggle, are not eager for bloodshed and do not want to live under clerical dictatorships. But if, as has been conservatively estimated, only 7 percent of the world’s Muslims support Jihadism and/or Islamism, that’s more than 80 million people - a formidable force backed by enormous oil wealth. By contrast, Islamic reformers and peacemakers are isolated, targeted and without substantial resources.
After 9/11, the Bush administration conceived this conflict as a “Global War on Terrorism.” The link with Islam as preached by fiery clerics was acknowledged but not examined. The Obama administration has backed away from even that incomplete analysis.
Government spokesmen now talk only of “violent extremism” and “overseas contingency operations.” The first term ignores the ideologies motivating those waging war against us. The second term denies that it’s a serious conflict. President Barack Obama has conceded that al-Qaeda is at war with the U.S. - as though that’s all there was to it; as though that explained something.
The Sunday Times of London reported last weekend that Iranians are paying members of the Taliban to kill American soldiers in Afghanistan. Think about that: Iran’s rulers are collaborating with the Taliban, an affiliate of al-Qaeda.
Political leaders and the intelligence community ought to be pondering what this means, what it will mean if Tehran succeeds in acquiring nuclear weapons and how to prevent such an eventuality. Based on past performance, it’s more likely that they are avoiding the question.
How encouraging that must be to the jihadis and Islamists in Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Somalia, Yemen, Gaza and other fronts. It will reassure them that, nine years after the 9/11 attacks, they are thinking strategically - while their infidel enemies are not.
Clifford D. May is president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a policy institute on terrorism.
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