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| Terror Networks |
| Out-thinking the bad guys |
| 2006-12-28 |
| Jim Geraghty, National Review On that note, two quick thoughts that I've been meaning to flesh out further: 1) What are al-Qaeda's fears? The men who make up the organization are not fearless. I’ve heard some cite the tale of General Pershing dipping his bullets in pig’s blood, or burying his defeated foes with pig’s carcasses. Betrayal? Failure? Doubt that God is not really on their side? These guys pledge loudly that they don’t fear death. But everyone knows fear. So what keeps these guys awake at night? And how can we use that to our advantage? 2) Al-Qaeda's sales pitch to young Muslim men is explicitly theological. “This is what Allah wants you to do. This is why you were created; your life has meaning, it has a purpose, you are special and you are called to a great destiny in a divine plan. This purpose is to kill infidels. In exchange for your sacrifice, you get 72 virgins in the afterlife and will be remembered and revered forever.” It is an evil message, but it is easy to grasp its appeal. The counterargument from the West is variations of, “it’s illegal, it’s immoral, it’s wrong.” But I don't know how much weight has been put behind the argument that “it is apostasy, that is not Allah’s will, that bin Laden and his ilk are offering Muslims a false doctrine that angers and insults Allah, and those who choose this path will be damned for all eternity.” Our enemies make an explicitly religious pitch, and offer not merely a cause to fight for but a worldview that lets the poor and uneducated reinvent themselves as noble and brave warriors for a cause synonymous with all that is ‘good’, complete with unseen and unimaginable rewards. Our counterargument has been largely secular, and thus ignores the spiritual, matters of the soul, a confused person’s yearning for a meaning and purpose to his life. What if we did? What if we systemically argued that following bin Laden betrays Islam, and that no good Muslim would consider that path? I’m sure many in the West would scorn the idea of making that argument, and many Muslims would probably contend that those of us outside the faith have no standing to debate their theological doctrines, or declare what is and what isn’t Allah’s will. (On the other hand, of course we have standing to make this argument; we’re the ones who will be the targets if they decide that conversion by the sword has been given a heavenly thumbs-up.) That's the short version of those thoughts... Discuss. |
| Posted by:Mike |
| #10 I am not arguing the destruction of their holy cities would stir up the Umma. Our very existence offends them. I am arguing that the destruction wouldn't matter much either way, except as being a waste of effort on our part. Baghdad was once the home of the Caliphate until the Mongols seized the city and smashed (literally) the Caliph. Islam got over that, too. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2006-12-28 23:22 |
| #9 AH9418-Do you happen to recall the enraged reaction to absolutely harmless Mohammad cartoons this year? Muslims were riotng and killing people over the mere insulting of Mohammad; what do you imagine they would do with the permanent desecration of their holiest cities? You can make the argument it would stir up a hornet's nest but I doubt the ummas would shrug it off. |
| Posted by: Jules 2006-12-28 19:43 |
| #8 An eradication of Mecca & Medina is not likely to matter much to the True Believers, who will simply redefine the meaning of the Hajj. The Holy Cities are not as significant as some infidels like to think. Mass movements like Nazism tend not to deflected by fear as much as by killing large numbers of followers until the rest believe resistance is useless. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2006-12-28 18:10 |
| #7 They're hamstrung by the literal reading of the Quran... Which means "They've read the Koran..." No, it's not theological argument that's needed here. A murderous ideology can only be defeated by killing a large percentage of it's followers. The sooner we start the sooner it will be over, and fewer of us will die in the process. Let's Roll, Faster Please, Nuqe Mecca! |
| Posted by: Parabellum 2006-12-28 18:01 |
| #6 A guided asteriod to Mecca would be a big fear. Esp if we really did it. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2006-12-28 16:06 |
| #5 General Pershing dipping his bullets in pigÂ’s blood, or burying his defeated foes with pigÂ’s carcasses. Pershing, Six Star General of the Armies, is one of my favorite military leaders. This is great Psych-Ops that should be brought back and rumors spread of dipping bullets into pig blood to be used on Jihadist. Jihadhist who are very willing to die normally but may have doubts in battle if they know they will be unpure before death by pigs blood. |
| Posted by: Spomort Greling4204 2006-12-28 15:28 |
| #4 We can only use their fears to our advantage if we are willing to stick with it. They greatly fear sexual humiliation, as do Islamists of all stripes. We tried that (nude pyramids and leashes, remember?), and then turned around and prosecuted some folks for it. Better make our minds up what fears we're willing to exploit. The "killing of infidels is against Islam" argument would be great if the majority of Muslims were proactively working it. They're not. They're hamstrung by the literal reading of the Quran, which does not protect infidels, and they're afraid of being personally accused of apostasy for calling to defy Mohammad's will, so they're busy covering their mouths and butts. Fear of the loss of Mecca, Medina, etc-the holy cities-would have to be a big fear. Fear of losing dominance in any arena but especially political/governmental/religious dominance is another. That last one could be worked, if the world had the will and confidence. I'd say it's too soon to tell, but so far, the world has been found lacking. |
| Posted by: Jules 2006-12-28 15:22 |
| #3 What if we systemically argued that following bin Laden betrays Islam, and that no good Muslim would consider that path? What if we stopped pandering to this absurd "religion" and eradicated it as a plague-meme? |
| Posted by: Excalibur 2006-12-28 14:47 |
| #2 One "promise" I've noticed is that dying in a Jihad won't hurt. "It will hurt less than a flea's sting". I would like us to kill these guys as painfully as possible with the message. "If it hurts, your not a Shahid". Al |
| Posted by: Frozen Al 2006-12-28 14:37 |
| #1 These guys pledge loudly that they donÂ’t fear death. Today, I can think of lots of Somali guys that blow that theory all to shit. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2006-12-28 13:19 |