The
War on Terrorism
The fight against religious terrorism is a kind of global guerrilla war that defies the logic of conventional warfare, yet with all the history of guerrilla warfare military and diplomatic leaders still think that it can be won by applying military tactics. No matter what the motive for such struggles, and no matter how powerful and strong the dominant society, the advantage rests with the guerrilla. Religious terrorism is different then other forms of terrorism in that the terrorist often views their battle not in military, but in theological terms. They regard social conflict as a spiritual contest, and thus see their acts of religious terrorism as an aspect of a spiritual struggle of cosmic proportions. For this reason alone viewing religious terrorism as a political and military strategy, to be responded to in kind, proves insufficient for either understanding or combating religious violence. If we do not address the realities of this spiritual war and the human aspirations that often accompany it, including the desire for a renewed role for religion in public life, we will default the world to the lowest common denominator of violence, aggression, frustration and fear. "Religion
is the underlying source of the divisiveness The politics of the world, since Sept. 11th, are revolving around a war against terrorism. War is the word and it was declared thus by Bin Laden: “The ruling to kill the Americans and their allies, civilians and military, is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it in.” And it is written in the Koran, ``I have been sent with the sword between my hands to ensure that no one but Allah is worshipped, Allah who put my livelihood under the shadow of my spear and who inflicts humiliation and scorn on those who disobey my orders.” The al-Qaeda organization and other Muslim extremists feel that in their holy war, since American taxpayers finance the military and vote in the leaders who take responsibility for its actions they are exempt from civilian status and protection. President Bush’s response, “We're angry at the evil that was done to us, yet patient and just in our response. Our war on terrorism has nothing to do with differences in faith. It has everything to do with people of all faiths coming together to condemn hate and evil and murder and prejudice.” The
World
Trade Center was not a massacre or terrorist incident. “The atrocity in Bali is a grim reminder that we are in a long war,” says Tony Judt of the Times, “a war that pits a few thousand unidentified individuals against most of humankind, from the beaches of Bali to lower Manhattan.” Is this really true? Are we to accept this as fact just because the mass media would like us to see it this way? The conceptualisation of current events through this most narrow view is dangerous because it understates the world’s problem. This long war will not end with the killing of a few thousand Islamic terrorists, but yes, a long war has started that will only end when the people of earth educate themselves to what is going on, what is wrong, and from that clear perception decide to do what is compassionate, fair and just.
We
are not at the end of this conflict According to Michael Klare “Bin Laden is engaged in a holy war to drive the United States out of the Persian Gulf area. This is a war, as they see it, of the strong and resolute in spirit but weak in military power against those who are weak or corrupt in spirit but strong in military power. Throughout history, the weapon of those who see themselves as strong in spirit but weak in power has been what we call terrorism. Terrorism is the warfare of the weak against the strong: if you have an army, you wage war; if you lack an army, you engage in suicide bombings and other acts of terrorism. (Remember: this is exactly what the American Revolution looked like to the British, the strong force in 1775.) Though fundamentalism is calling for a religious jihad or holy war, part of this mess has to do with the US backing of the Saudi royal family, which is an autocratic, totalitarian regime that allows no public expressions of dissent. There is no constitution, no Bill of Rights, no political parties, no freedom of the press or assembly, no parliament. Those who express any forms of dissent are arrested and put in jail, exiled (as in the case of Osama bin Laden), or executed. In this environment, any form of opposition to the regime, whatever its orientation, must operate underground, and in secrecy. Why would freedom-loving America back such a regime? One word explains it all, oil!” (Is it not logical to expect the United States government to become what it supports in the long run, meaning more autocratic and totalitarian itself?) "Islam is at war with us. In fact, Islam has been at war with the West, with Christianity, with Judaism indeed, with the entire non-Muslim world ever since the days of Muhammad. In Muhammad's era, Islam swept through the Arabian Peninsula to conquer the Middle East. Its armies then marched on Europe, Asia and Africa. In the late 17th century, Islam's armies were at the gates of Vienna,” writes Joseph Farah. For a 1,000 years after Islam's founding in 622, Islamic states and their rulers were the most powerful entities in the world, far more impressive than any of their European and Christian rivals. At the turn of the previous millennium, the great cities of culture, learning, and science were Cordoba, Baghdad, and other urbane Arab metropolises. Though this is no longer the case it is important to understand this because Osama bin Laden and other radical Muslims look at the present condition of the world not just in contemporary terms, but in light of the whole 1,400-year sweep of Islamic history. So we also need to see things in this light. Perhaps Islam is not at war with us but with violent systems of thought that emanate from the deepest structures of western thought. Perhaps if we changed some of those structures we would not be seen as such abominations in front of Allah in their eyes. Or perhaps the abominations they see in us are just mirrors of the abominations in them, those that are certainly evident in their treatment of many of their women. After Sept. 11, President Bush explained that though we find It is an interesting situation, Islam is at war with us and we are at war, but not with them. This is the idea that Bush verbalizes, what he actually believes is unknown. Osama bin Laden and millions of Moslem people today obviously feel that the religious dimension of this conflict is central to its meaning. The words of Osama bin Laden are saturated with religious argument and theological language. Osama bin Laden himself couldn't be clearer about the religious underpinnings of his campaign of terror. This is a religious war against ''unbelief and unbelievers,'' in bin Laden's words. Islamic fundamentalists most virulently express religious anti-Americanism. In the words of Ayatollah Khomeini, Iran's late spiritual leader, "America is the great Satan, the wounded snake." Though much of the situation has nothing to do with faith and religion, there are religious factor that cannot be ignored. As such, any answers that fundamentally touch on solutions will have to include them. It is a fact of history that much of the evil, terror and war during these past two thousand years has been religiously sourced, thus we cannot ignore this in our examination of terrorism.
Dave Hunt, in his book, A Cup of Trembling: Jerusalem and Bible Prophecy says, "Islam is fighting a holy war for control of the world! That war was begun by Mohammed himself in the seventh century and is still carried on today by his faithful followers through terrorism." Islam believes that it is destined to conquer the world. And it teaches that war is holy if it advances Islamic control. Muslim soldiers who die in this war receive immediate entrance to paradise where 70 virgins lay on 70 bed sheets waiting for them. The Islamic Jihad also aspires to overthrow secular Arab regimes in order to establish an Islamic pan Arab empire with many seeing that war against the Jews and Israel as an initial, essential step toward fulfilling the goals of Islam. It is difficult to negotiate with attitudes stated by Sheikh Tamimi, "The Jews have to return to the countries from which they came. We shall not accede to a Jewish state on our land, even if it is only one village.” Hillel Fradkin, the president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C. has said, “The Koran presents Islam as the worthy successor, indeed the superior, of its monotheistic predecessors, Judaism and Christianity. Islam, unlike Christianity, has a political mission at its very heart. In contrast to Judaism Islam has a universalizing and missionary impulse.” I believe Fradkin is mistaken about Christianity not having a political mission here for at the heart of Christianity is the same basic arrogance that it is the only way. This kind of religious principle leads directly to violence for all who do not see it this way must be forcefully coerced in the right direction. Religious
fundamentalists view acts of violence In the west we might easily conclude that Islam is inferior to Christianity for the west has been much more ‘successful’ in building their civilization where the Moslem world has fallen far from the heights that they once knew. Also we do not see publicly Christians taking to the streets with glee celebrating the deaths of others and planning to go to heaven over further deaths and acts of terrorism. But this would be a mistake for the use of religion for extreme repression and terror is not of course restricted to Islam. For most of its history, Christianity has had a much worse record. From the Crusades to the Inquisition to the bloody religious wars of the 16th and 17th centuries, to the Crusade against the Cathars in France, Europe saw far more blood spilled for religion's sake than the Muslim world ever did. And today the reality is that the Christian west has learned much more subtle ways to control and terrorize and are incredibly successful at hiding its true face. The big difference between Islamic terrorism and Christian terrorism perhaps can be seen in the difference in people’s internal reaction to it. A Christian who has done wrong, who abuses and terrorizes the life of another is taught to feel guilt for his or her sin. The Moslem terrorist instead feels joy and is promised a nice place in heaven whereas the Christian is consigned to hell. What they share in common is far more important though. Both sides commit the abusive and violent acts. How they or we feel about it afterwards is really immaterial to the victims and to the human race in general. Both sides are bringing down civilization and which is doing it more successfully is irrelevant. The next chapter addresses fundamentalism, the common denominator of all the worlds’ principle religions. Civilization would be served in a much better sense if the war against terrorism became a war against fundamentalism, which we find on all sides of the present world conflict. This conflict between opposing fundamentalisms is indeed as momentous and as grave as the last major conflicts, against Nazism and Communism, and it is not hyperbole to see it in these epic terms. There is every reason to be alarmed for from the western perspective the enemy is much more formidable than Nazism or Communism which were fundamentalisms built on the very weak intellectual concepts of a master race or an impossible Communist revolution whose purpose was to serve the common person through central autocratic control. Islamic fundamentalism on the other hand is based on a glorious civilization and a great faith and thus has an unequalled power to harness, co-opt and corrupt more moderate people if it has a propitious and toxic enough environment. It has a more powerful logic than either Stalin's or Hitler's Godless ideologies could muster and it is an ideology practiced by already over a billion souls across many continents, and that number is growing rapidly. From the Islamic side their worries and concerns are laid out plainly by Osmara bin Laden and others, they see the west as fundamentally cruel, immoral, oppressive, selfish, and materialistic, a plain target for all that is wrong with the world.
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