The Gathering Storm: Getting a Handle on the Terror War

Those in the know are quite aware that our political and military leaders either refuse to understand or don’t understand and the true nature of our enemy and the many different tactics they employ. Every once and while a light bulb goes off in some corner of the political-military-think-tank universe and they flirt with a way to go about confronting our Islamist enemy.

Such was the case of a Georgetown University professor.

Defeating terrorism - or at least battling it back to pre-9/11 levels - takes both brawn and brains, a Georgetown University professor said Friday. Yet so far, the United States has only used half that equation - the brawn of military muscle - in its war on terror, leaving the country just as vulnerable to attack as it was when al-Qaida blindsided the United States 5½ years ago, said Bruce Hoffman, keynote speaker Friday at a daylong seminar on religion, violence and terrorism at Case Western Reserve University.

So far so good. The professor understands militant jihad in the form of terrorism and on the battlefield is only a part of the overall strategy of multiple types of jihad that the Islamists are using against us.

He said the United States must pause now and thoroughly study the enemy - its motivation, its strategy, its culture, its strengths and weaknesses - to battle it on fronts that extend beyond a battlefield.

Ah! He understands. It’s not just the acts of terrorism that need to be defeated but the ideology that drives it as well.

Now, every time the U.S. kills part of al-Qaida, it simply regrows, Hoffman said.

Every time a terrorist plot is broken up, new al-Qaida operatives tinker with the plan to make it stronger so they can attack again, he said. Just as the United States knows it can't kill every terrorist, terrorists know they can't kill every Westerner. Instead, Hoffman said, terrorists are trying to use fear to undermine the pact between governments and their people, all the while planning to launch bigger and more sensational attacks.

Exactly! You don’t achieve victory by defeating the enemy on the battlefield. Those are just battles won. You achieve victory buy destroying their ideology at its roots and prevent it from re-surfacing again.

Unfortunately, the professor did not follow through on his argument by identifying the “motivation, its strategy, its culture” of our Islamic enemies. He failed to list actual examples of the tactics used by the Islamists everyday in the non-Muslim world like:

Ø Terminate America's freedom of speech by replacing it with statewide and nationwide hate-crime bills.

Ø Nominate Muslim sympathizers to political office to bring about favorable legislation toward Islam and support potential sympathizers by block voting.

Ø Yell ''foul, out-of-context, personal interpretation, hate crime, Zionist, un- American, inaccurate interpretation of the Quran'' anytime Islam is criticized or the Quran is analyzed in the public arena.

Ø Encourage Muslims to penetrate the White House, specifically with Islamists who can articulate a marvelous and peaceful picture of Islam. Acquire government positions and get membership in local school boards. Train Muslims as medical doctors to dominate the medical field, research and pharmaceutical companies. (Ever notice how numerous Muslim doctors in America are, when their countries need them more desperately than America?) Take over the computer industry. Establish Middle Eastern restaurants throughout the U.S. to connect planners of Islamization in a discreet way.

Ø Reading, writing, arithmetic and research through the American educational system, mosques and student centers (now 1,500) should be sprinkled with dislike of Jews, evangelical Christians and democracy. There are currently 300 exclusively Muslim schools in the U.S. which teach loyalty to the Quran, not the U.S. Constitution. In January of 2002, Saudi Arabia’s Embassy in Washington mailed 4,500 packets of the Quran and videos promoting Islam to America's high schools – free of charge. Saudi Arabia would not allow the U.S. to reciprocate.

Ø Nullify America's sense of security by manipulating the intelligence community with misinformation. Periodically terrorize Americans with reports of impending attacks on bridges, tunnels, water supplies, airports, apartment buildings and malls.

I await the day when one of our leaders stands up and identifies the multiple types of jihads that the Islamists are using against the non-Muslim and moderate Muslim world.