If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle: Sun Tzu, The Art of War.
Our government's handling of the war against Islamic terrorism seems to reveal a serious failure in knowing our enemy, as well as knowing ourselves. Many Americans will tell you that we went to war against Islamic terrorists right after their attack on September 11th 2001. That is not totally correct. We openly declared war on Islamic terrorism right after September 11th but we have been fighting fundamentalist Muslims for a much longer time. The Islam actually started this war in the first century, with the 6th Pillar of Islam or the Jihad: warfare against all those who refuse to submit to the authority of Islam. Since the 1st century, our enemy has been Islam, which is moved to violence by the foundational tenents of a religion rather than the desire for: wealth, land, resources, or imperalistic gains.
While it is true that there have been many conflicts and wars spawned or sanctified by a religion or religious element, there is only one religion that considers war as a valid element of its evangelistic endeavors. That religion is Islam. For the Fundamentalist Islamic evangelist the expansion of Islamic authority takes precedence over the acquisition of wealth, land, resources, or imperalistic gains. For example, during the American Age of Imperialism we set our eyes on the Philippians and the Filipinos set their eyes on independence. After about 4 years of warfare (1899-1902) the United States defeated the Filipinos and annexed their lands. During this war we fought numerous Filipino groups to include the Moro: Muslims. The Muslims, however, refused to acknowledge defeat. Even after the Filipinos won their independence, in 1946, fundamentalist Muslims have continued to fight for Islamic dominance in the Phillipines. Islamic fundamentalist activity ebbs and flows but it never totally goes away. Actually, there is probably stronger Islamic evangelization and radicalization activity in the Philipines and Indonesia today than at any other period of history.
One would be lead to think that the PhilippineMuslim history would tell American people something about fighting Islamic fundalmentalism … but it doesn't; Americans still do not demonstrate that they have a knowledge of our enemy. Perhaps the American people cannot come to know our enemy because we have lost sight of our own roots. We were once a Christian nation primarily made up of Northern Europeans and we bowed before no other peoples on the face of the earth. The bulk of our people believed that the Holy Bible is the complete, inerrant and final revelation of God's will for mankind. They believed that there is but one God: the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They also believed that there is but one way to eternal salvation and that is through Jesus Christ. There may have been a wide spectrum of fellowships in American but they all believed that following any religion but Christianity leads to eternal damnation. This belief was locked within their very soul by the Spirit of God and by their experiences serving the one true God.
In spite of all those who try to deny America's Christian heritage, America was birthed in the tenets of Christianity and grew as a nation on the nourishment of Christian teachings. Today, Americans still hold on to the Christian belief that we should try to live together in peace and be obedient to the government; but our fundamental belief in one God, one savior, one gospel and one religion has been lost. The loss of our belief in Christian fundamentals, combined with an emerging universal tolerance, makes it difficult to understand the Islamic religion. Americans and Europeans can no longer relate to the level of dedication that Islamic religious beliefs bring to the true believer. We read about the dedication of early Christians, under Roman percussion, but we cannot feel their passion for allegiance to the teachings of Jesus Christ. We have traded a belief in strict religious discipline for a warm and fuzzy spiritualism, which is blinding us to the realities of religious resolve; thus making it very difficult for us to know and defeat a religious and evangelistic enemy.
The irony in all of this is the commonality found in the fundamental tenets of Christianity and Islam. Except for a propensity toward violence, Muslim fundamentalists share the same belief in monotheistic evangelism as Christian fundamentalists. Our enemy, the Islamic fundamentalist, believes that the Koran is the complete, inerrant and final revelation of Allah's will for mankind. A fundamentalist Muslim believes that there is but one God: the God of Abraham. He also believes that there is but one way you will have eternal salvation and that is through Mohammed. He believes that the Koran makes it very clear that every other religion is false and to follow any religion but Islam leads to eternal damnation. The Islamic fundamentalist believes that they must take Islam to the entire world: through love or through force. This belief is locked within his very soul; our acts of violence toward these individuals only strengthen their resolve. Faith drove Christians into the Roman arena and it is faith that drives Muslims to die in the name of Allah.
A modern or post-modern American Christian cannot understand just how determined an Islamic fundamentalist can be. It would probably take a Christian fundamentalist to understand what it is like to walk as a new spiritual creation in, but apart from, the physical world. The average American cannot truly understand that ones family, career and even life itself is without meaning; unless, one is dedicated to spreading the message of the Koran and other sacred Muslim writings. It is more than apparent that we have a serious problem in America: our government is suffering from a lack of Christian fundamentalists. Thus, our politicians and military leadership are not equipped to really understand our enemy. That is why our leadership has continued to underestimate the power behind Islamic teachings such as:
* Allah made you heirs to the land of the infidels and their dwellings and their property, and a land which you have not yet trodden, and Allah has power over all things.
* Allah sent His Apostle with guidance and the religion of truth, that He might cause it to prevail over all religions.
* Let not the believers take the unbelievers for friends rather than believers; and whoever does this, he shall have nothing of Allah, but you should guard yourselves against them, guarding carefully; and Allah makes you cautious of Himself; and to Allah is the eventual coming.
* The infidels desire that you should disbelieve as they have disbelieved, so that you might be alike; therefore take not from among them friends until they fly in Allah's way; but if they turn back, then seize them and kill them wherever you find them, and take not from among them a friend or a helper.
* "Muslims, do not make friends with any but your own people."
* when it comes to those who reject Islam "murder them and treat them harshly"
* "Instill terror into the hearts of the unbelievers"; "smite above their necks and smite all their finger-tips off them"
* ...kill the disbelievers wherever we find them"
* and fight with them until there is no persecution, and religion should be only for Allah"
The Islamic fundamentalist, on the other hand, believes in his or her heart that Allah gave this world to those within the Muslim faith and that Islam is to become the only religion on earth. All those who are not Muslim are to be converted to Islam or they are to be killed. One more time, for the slow learners in America: you submit to the authority of the Muslim religion or you die.
Islamic attitude toward us is very simple to understand. It has nothing to do with wealth, geographical areas, resources, ethnicity, genetics, geopolitical issues or man's ideologies. None of these things makes America an Islamic enemy. We are hated because we deny, and actively corrupt, the true Islamic faith. A true follower of the Islamic faith believes that the very foundational tenets of Islam are being undermined by Western morality; and they are correct. Let us be honest with one another; Islamic fundamentalists are not stupid. They can see that modern American and European Christianity has stripped the deity from Christ and universalized the one true God. They can see that American and European Christianity is rapidly becoming nothing more than religious pabulum for those seeking a spiritual experience. The Islamic fundamentalist also believe that it is the Christian fundamentalist's total adherence to nonviolent that will eventually doom them to extinction in Europe and America. The Islamic fundamentalist, however, is not about to face extinction without a fight. They know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that they face the same fate as European and American Christianity; unless, they are willing to fight and die for the true Islamic faith. It is very simple to understand the Islamic threat; you cannot defeat Islamic fundamentalism through violence … unless you are willing to kill them all!
There is another very important fact that American leaders seem to have overlooked, which is the reinforcement-of-belief generated by persecution. This is especially true for the only two religions in the world with a strong evangelistic zeal: both of these religions believe that they must undergo worldwide percussion before their final victory. For example, in the Muslim Hadith "The Tradition of Thawban" it is recorded: "The Messenger of God said: The nations are about to flock against you from every horizon, just as hungry people flock to a kettle. We said: O Messenger of God, will we be few on that day? He said: No, you will be many in number, but you will be scum, like the scum of a flash-flood, without any weight, since fear will be removed from the hearts of your enemies, and weakness (wahn) will be placed in your hearts. We said: O Messenger of God, what does the word wahn mean? He said: Love of this world, and fear of death." If you are a true Islamic believer, apocalyptic literature of this nature will move you to turn your back on worldly pleasures and look upon death as the doorway to your eternal reward. The Koran, reinforced with Hadith writings, has become a major fuel in Islamic evangelism and radicalizing; where radicalization is defined by House Resolution 1955 as: "the process of adopting or promoting an extremist belief system for the purpose of facilitating ideologically based violence to advance political, religious, or social change." A very wordy defination of Islamic radicalizing and one that seems to ignore the element of religious necessity. It is hard to believe that we cannot see the futility of limited military engagement and we continue to wage an unfocused war on Islamic soil. Through our religious ignorance; we have become a recruiter for Islamic Fundamentalism and we continue to reinforce the fundamentalist's resolve to fight.
This is not to say that we should ignore Islamic radicalizing: because we should not. We need to understand, however, that Islamic evangelism and radicalization are not the results of a few charismatic leaders. Islamic evangelism and radicalization are a part of the foundational tenets of Islam. Great leaders do fan into blaze Islamic zeal; but, Jihad will always be with us thanks to the language of the Koran and literature such as: "Fighting for the Cause of Allah (Jihad)." In the Translation of Sahih Bukhari, Book 52, Number 41 it is recorded: I asked Allah's Apostle, "O Allah's Apostle! What is the best deed?" He replied, "To offer the prayers at their early stated fixed times." I asked, "What is next in goodness?" He replied, "To be good and dutiful to your parents." I further asked, what is next in goodness?" He replied, "To participate in Jihad in Allah's Cause." I did not ask Allah's Apostle anymore and if I had asked him more, he would have told me more. When you believe that the Koran, and other recorded words of Mohammed, are true you will also believe that Jihad is true. When you believe in Jihad you will support Islamic evangelizing and radicalizing across the world. We cannot ignore Islamic evangelism and radicalization because it breeds more Islamic fundamentalist. More Islamic Fundamentalists means more terrorist attacks. It becomes very simple; either we submit to Islamic authority or we die. Of course we can fight. If we chose to fight we had best be willing to kill them all or be willing to fight forever.
Actually, we were on the right track for defeating Islamic fundamentalism in the 60's and 70's and even on into the 80's. Back then we knew our enemy; we smuggled alcohol and pornography into the Middle East by the boatload. We also supported things like the broadcast of Western TV lifestyles and morality across Islamic borders. And, it all worked! Back then, we were in the process of growing a new generation of modern Muslims: Muslims who loved Allah but were willing to live in this world with other faiths. The "new Muslims" were accepting the reality of a modern world where Islamic evangelism and radicalization were only elements of their early history. The new Muslim was making great strides forward until the Iranian revolution; thanks to a weak American administration we allowed it to succeed. Say what you want, our failing to stop the Iranian Revolution of 1979 opened the door for a world wide Islamic fundamentalist revival. We never could get our act together in resisting this uprising and Islamic radicals began springing up allover. Things got even worse when Jamie Gorelick and the Clinton administration decided to castrate the intelligence community. By the late 20th century, our pitiful struggle against Islamic Fundamentalism was doomed to failure. Even if we get back on the right battle plan it will take years for us to regain the ground we have already lost.
To return to a battle plan that will work, American and European leaders need to read the Koran and Hadith writings. They need to read them from a Fundamentalist Christian perspective. If they do, they will clearly see that an Islamic fundamentalist can have no other course of action than the one they are on. For the Islamic Fundamentalist there is no compromising what the Koran teaches about Jihad. Nations will submit to Islamic authority or they will die. Even if we give the Middle East to Islamic fundamentalist we will eventually have to give them Africa, the Philippines, Indonesia, and the world. If, on the other hand, we chose to fight we had best be willing to kill enough Islamic fundamentalists to reduce the level of terrorism to a point where we can live with it. Our battle plan must take into consideration the fact that: as long as there are those who believe what is clearly written in the Koran we will never be in a position to say that the war on Islamic terrorism is over.
At one time we knew the enemy and we were winning the battle against Islamic fundamentalism. We were patient, cunning, imaginative and most often covert in our actions. We did not overreact to terrorist's actions and we kept the media out of actions we did take. We did not paralyze Americans with fear and strip them of their individual freedoms. We were winning because we were helping the Muslim people attain a more balanced understanding of Islam. We were winning because we were getting Muslim's to recognize the difference between 1st century Islamic goals and 20th century Muslim reality. If we are ever to regain the initiative in this war we need to return to the battle plan that was working. We need to more actively support the general Muslim community in advancing their people into the 21st century. We need to reengage our covert programs for undermining the zealot foundation of the Islamic fundamentalist. It may take 3 or 4 generation; but given enough time the fundamentalist community will yield to the realities of the modern world and become partners with the European community.
You can only defeat Islamic fundamentalism from within the Muslim faith; you cannot defeat Islamic fundamentalism with infidel weapons.
P.S. There is a message here for Christians: Sola Scriptura.