Yes, it's a war against Islam

[Truth Seeker]

Defining the enemy: The real enemy is not terror, it's an ideology

David Brooks

 

WASHINGTON When foreign policy wonks go to bed, they dream of being X. They dream of writing the all-encompassing, epoch-defining essay, the way George Kennan did during the cold war under the pseudonym X.

 

Careers have been spent racing to be X. But in our own time, the 9/11 commission has come closer than anybody else. After spending 360 pages describing a widespread intelligence failure, the commissioners step back in their report and redefine the nature of America's predicament.

 

We Americans are not in the middle of a war on terror, they note. We're not facing an axis of evil. Instead, we are in the midst of an ideological conflict.

 

We are facing, the report notes, a loose confederation of people who believe in a perverted stream of Islam that stretches from Ibn Taimaya to Sayyid Qutb. Terrorism is just the means they use to win converts to their cause.

 

It seems like a small distinction - emphasizing ideology instead of terror - but it makes all the difference, because if you don't define your problem correctly, you can't contemplate a strategy for victory.

 

When you see that our enemies are primarily an intellectual movement, not a terrorist army, you see why they are in no hurry.

 

With their extensive indoctrination infrastructure of madrasas and mosques, they're still building strength, laying the groundwork for decades of struggle. Their time horizon can be totally different from our own.

 

As an ideological movement rather than a national or military one, they can play by different rules. There is no territory they must protect. They never have to win a battle but can instead profit in the realm of public opinion from the glorious martyrdom entailed in their defeats. We think the struggle is fought on the ground, but they know the struggle is really fought on satellite TV, and they are far more sophisticated than we are in using it.

 

The 9/11 commission report argues that we have to fight this war on two fronts. We have to use intelligence, military, financial and diplomatic capacities to fight Al Qaeda. That's where most of the media attention is focused. But the bigger fight is with a hostile belief system that can't be reasoned with but can only be "destroyed or utterly isolated."

 

The commissioners don't say it, but the implication is clear. We've had an investigation into our intelligence failures; we now need a commission to analyze our intellectual failures. Simply put, the unapologetic defenders of America often lack the expertise they need.

 

And scholars who really know the Islamic world are often blind to its pathologies. They are so obsessed with the sins of the West, they are incapable of grappling with threats to the West.

 

We also need to mount our own ideological counteroffensive. The commissioners recommend that the United States should be much more critical of autocratic regimes, even friendly ones, simply to demonstrate our principles. They suggest we set up a fund to build secondary schools across Muslim states, and admit many more students into our own. If you are a philanthropist, here is how you can contribute: We need to set up the sort of intellectual mobilization we had during the cold war, with modern equivalents of the Congress for Cultural Freedom, to give an international platform to modernist Muslims and to introduce them to Western intellectuals.

 

Most of all, we need to see that the landscape of reality is altered. In the past, we've fought ideological movements that took control of states. Our foreign policy apparatus is geared toward relations with states: negotiating with states, confronting states.

 

Now we are faced with a belief system that is inimical to the state system, and aims at theological rule and the restoration of the caliphate. We'll need a new set of institutions to grapple with this reality, and a new training method to understand people who are uninterested in national self-interest, traditionally defined.

 

Last week, I met with a leading military officer stationed in Afghanistan and Iraq, whose observations dovetailed remarkably with the 9/11 commissioners. He said the experience of the last few years is misleading; only 10 percent of our efforts from now on will be military. The rest will be ideological. He observed that we are in the fight against Islamic extremism now where we were in the fight against communism in 1880.

 

We've got a long struggle ahead, but at least we're beginning to understand it.

 

Source: NYT

[NGONGE]

^^^ What's your reaction to this other than it being a war against Islam?

 

How do you think this "war" will pan out and what will be the resulting positives/negatives?

 

Do you think they'll resort to winning the hearts and minds of the Muslim people in order to win this war? Or, will they attempt to turn every Muslim country into another Turkey?

 

How moderate are the moderates and how extreme are the extremist?

How does this affect your party’s plan for a Khilafa? What will be your message in reply?

[Truth Seeker]

"How do you think this "war" will pan out and what will be the resulting positives/negatives?"

 

This war leads us to the inevitable Clash of Civilisations of Capitalism and Islam. As can be seen in recent history when two ideologies existed in a state level capacity (Communism).

 

"Do you think they'll resort to winning the hearts and minds of the Muslim people in order to win this war? Or, will they attempt to turn every Muslim country into another Turkey?"

 

Capitalism is an ideology that exploits it has no possiblility of winning hearts and minds, look at there own society and the endemic problems. Its own people are not happy but it is that they are not shown the alterntive of Islam to solve their problems. They will do whatever is neccessary.

 

"How moderate are the moderates and how extreme are the extremist?"

 

Both terms are given to us by the West - if you accept there way of life then you are a moderate, if you dont then you are extreme. Even if as with Hizb ut Tahrir its method is purely intelectual and not violence.

 

"How does this affect your party’s plan for a Khilafa? What will be your message in reply?"

 

This attack on Islam has been ongoing, they (the West) worked with their agents (Kemal Attaturk, Saud) to destroy the Khilafah in the first place. Our work and that of the Muslims is continuos upon strictly adhereing to the method of the Prophet (saw) to bring about change through establishing AL Khilafah.

[Conscious Manipulation]

asalaamu alaykum,

 

Of course it is a war against Islam, they've never made this a secret. They're just getting frustrated now bc after they thought they've successfully defeated Islam and produced a generation of self-loathing Muslim secularists, Muslims are coming bck to the light of Islam alhamdulilah.

 

Capitalism is an ideology that exploits it has no possiblility of winning hearts and minds, look at there own society and the endemic problems. Its own people are not happy but it is that they are not shown the alterntive of Islam to solve their problems. They will do whatever is neccessary.

I've recently started reading the works of the anti-globalizationist like Naomi Klein and what amazes me about these ppl is although they know VERY VERY well the devestating effects of their current economic model they don't seem to understand that this model stems from the same political idealogy they hold so dearly, democracy. They're not sincere enough in their efforts to ever accept or consider Islam as a viable alternative.

 

I personally think for now dawah carriers should limit their efforts to Muslims in order to instill confidence in them in the Islamic system.

[NGONGE]

We also need to mount our own ideological counteroffensive. The commissioners recommend that the United States should be much more critical of autocratic regimes, even friendly ones, simply to demonstrate our principles. They suggest we set up a fund to build secondary schools across Muslim states, and admit many more students into our own. If you are a philanthropist, here is how you can contribute: We need to set up the sort of intellectual mobilization we had during the cold war, with modern equivalents of the Congress for Cultural Freedom, to give an international platform to modernist Muslims and to introduce them to Western intellectuals.

They’re planning to write the agenda for us to follow. Are there any realistic hopes of resisting such an onslaught when it happens? How?

[sahal]

They’re planning to write the agenda for us to follow. Are there any realistic hopes of resisting such an onslaught when it happens? How?

I think they'll find many more Hamid Karazai's and Ayad Alawi's as long as the dictatorship, injustice and the slavery become some of the main feautures of the MUSLIM countries.

[Truth Seeker]

The West is very creative when it comes to its attack on Islam, the following are a number of styles used, this is by no means all of them:

 

- Physical Occupation

- Imposition of Dictators

- Promoting Integratinsists

- Desigining the Education curricular for the muslims

- Anti Terrorism/religious intolerance Laws

- Encouraging Nationalism/Secularism

[Tuujiye]

CM I think you should read them books. They are very good. And like what you said sis, muslims are coming back to their religion now. They have seen the kufars realy hate them and how much they are uniting to attack the great religion of Islam.

 

I think since Bush came to power, he some how helped the muslim people because he showed them the real face of America an their Asss kissers.

 

Islam is great threat to Zionism and zionists won't rest until they get rid of the real Islam.

But like our sister CM they are surpriced because every thing change on them. their bad doings to us has become good things for us.

 

Yes they are some consiquinces, but is working for us.

 

wareer badanaa!!

[Nur]

A great article, May I suggest a change of title

 

"Islam is coming, Islam Is Coming" after the famous Movie " The Russians are coming, The Russians are coming" The 1966 Comedy Movie of Norman Jewison.

 

 

I see that the world becoming a small village

I see Prophet Muhammad SAWS preaching Islam alone

I see more and more people joining Islam

I see Islam spreading against all odds

I see women of all groups joining Islam more than any other group

I see Islam depending only on the word of mouth and model of believrs lifestyle to spread

I see Islam natural and appealing

I see the unbelievers unhappy with the message of Islam its siplicity and appeal

I see the unbelievers frustrated

I see them trying to contain the tide of islam

I see them weighing different options

I see them deciding to frame them with terrorsism

I see that the framing is not working

I see Islam is getting free advertisement (negative) which is earning it enough curiosity

I see a fraction of the audience digging for facts about Islam and finding out for themselves.

I see Moses being accused wrongfully by Pharaoh

I see Jesus being paraded by the Romans

I see Bilal being dragged on the hot desert sand

I see that the world became a small village again

I see medieval Mecca again

I see patience , non-violence and diligence to be the key to overcome hardships.

I see Islam with its splendour rising again from the west.

Impossible! you may say

Ask the man who killed all new born males of the oppressed people of Israel in Pharaoh's Egypt.

The oppressed rose again against the odds!

It is Allah's wisdom.

 

Nur

[Yeniceri]

The same jibber-jabber about how the West is the 'enemy.' I wonder when people will revert back from the conspiracies that live only in their minds but have little or no applicable manifestation in reality. The West wants to 'brainwash' us. The West this, the West that!

 

The real true enemy is ourselves. Conquer the evil within first. Our weakness is internal. The Islamic Empire dominated the world for more than 500 years. But what happened? The rulers became autocrats who wholly indulged themselves in the unholy acts of adultery, alcoholism and injustice! Since the fall of the Islamic Empire, what has followed is generation after generation of corrupt rulers and piously weakened societies across the Muslim world. Let's conquer our internal enemies first before finger-pointing at others. We do everything we abhor about the non-Muslim community!