Know your enemy

What a wonderful article, one just has to read the Koran, hadiths and suras to understand the war we in with islamic terrorists. the problem is that we have lumped all religions together, and so many stop critizing when the other side hides behind the curtain of "religion". Islam is much like other cults,and facism,that is, it controls your everyday life, and takes you away from your friends and family if they do not believe in your religion. The PC police abound in the State Dept, EU, UN, MSM, when will the elephant in the room become vivisble..hopefully not under a mushroom cloud.

I am a retired military veteran of 30 years service. Based on this limited but focused experience, it seems to me that the author has identified the wrong target for this article. I believe that the Political Scientists and the jobs they ultimately become involved with in Government would be a better target audience. These are the people who ultimately set National policy and goals, however indirectly. Once these policies are established, then it is up to the Department of Defense to figure out a way to accomplish their portion of these Policies and Goals.

Of course the DoD should be familiar with the principles pointed out, but in my experience they already are taught these things. Many other enemies of the past have practiced deception and were inspired by religion for example.

Another "target" of this article should be the news media. If they understood the principles of deceit commanded in the Koran and the various derivatives, then the ability to use the media for military and political gain would be defeated.

I spent nearly 3 years working in Iraq as a civilian for the US Army in the oil reconstruction effort. (Not KBR.) During that time I saw many examples, even in country, of people and companies who believed that if they closed their eyes and wished real hard they would not be at a war. I am sure this attitude contributed to extra deaths and injuries amoung civilian contractors. For the record - civilian contractor deaths and injuries are not included in the official casuality count.
Understanding the historical basis and religious mindset of our enemies is not bigotry nor is it condemning all who practice a religion. Unless we acknowledge reality, which includes the religious and historical basis for the current war we are engaged in, the end results will be unnecessary deaths and destruction.

Muhammed was a successful warrior, but the vast spread of Islam came in his wake. A proper study should also include his followers over the years, and the conquered, as well as those that stopped and pushed back the advance. And that is just the start, Islam eventually spread further than Alexander's empire, in all directions.

The Muslim community isn't the only enemy of the US. China is, too:
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=67407

We are Disarmed in the War of Ideas, ignoring The Quranic Concept of War because studying it and using our understanding of it to defeat our enemies would require admitting the painful truth that significant numbers of Muslims are at war with us. This is an inconvenient truth that must be officially denied and quietly acknowledged as we go about turning other Muslims against their murderous brethren. And turn them we must, or steel ourselves to kill them in huge numbers.

Publicly acknowledging that the United States of America is at war with a religion, the free exercise of which Congress is Constitutionally forbidden from prohibiting is an untenable position politically.

Where is Hesham Islam these days and what is he up to now?

Jeffy, if you want to be a dhimmi, there are plenty of flights to Fraudi Arabia. Get yourself a ticket and go...now be quiet, the adults are discussing the enemy.

Jeffry --
"we mean peace" -- but do they? Keep in mind that a vote for Obama is a vote for Iranian A-bomb. Is that what you are rooting for? Is that the "change" you want?

(Please withhold) --
Your last paragraph is a superb condensation of what is wrong with our public debate. When ideas are stifled, the trouble is not far ahead.

A brilliant acticle. Bravo to the author and the AT!

I find it hard to believe that Jeffery Pages actually believes everything he writes. His rants are so "over-the-top" and so devoid of any rational thinking that I am left to conclude he is simply trying to be provocative. I sincerely hope this is true because the alternative is that he must be one of the most inveterate fools ever to walk the planet!

There is no clearer example of the danger that Islam poses to the world than the Canadian Human Rights case against Mark Steyn. Any group of people that believes they have the absolute, in fact God-decreed, right to determine what is free speech are enemies of freedom. Those that mock freedom are going to have serious problems as the 21st century progesses. We, as Americans, are going to quit supporting regimes and people that cannot find it in their culture to allow freedom. FDR gave it a try with his Four Freedoms but people like Jeffry always flip it upside down.

Mr. Pages,
First of all, I don't think Mr. Ibrahim is directing this piece to all Muslims but the 5-10% of all Muslims that follow the radical ideology that they find and misconstrue from the Koran and Hadiths. Have you fully read (in its original text, Arabic) the Koran and Hadiths? If not, then you are not qualified to say that Mr. Ibrahim took Islamic doctrines out of context. If you read al Qaeda and other Islamic (yes, I said Islamic) fundamentalist's messages in Arabic to their fellow Muslims in the Middle East they constantly perverse the Koran and Hadiths to further their claim of the necessity to spread Islam by any means throughout the world. There words are not of reciprocity against the West's actions but rather a Muslim's duty to Allah to subdue the enemy (all non-believers) and spread Islam to the world. Now these are not followed by all Muslims but the estimated 5-10% of all Muslims who follow or are attracted to this fundamentalist talk (like the youth population). When you think about the total Muslim population in this world (1 billion), 5-10% is a huge number to worry about, is it not? Even if some are swayed with food and signals of peace and only 1-2% remain you still would have a huge population ready to blow themselves up at a local mall or God forbid a school.
Second, I really do not think that Obama is going to bring about the peace you write about. He already is making some Muslims upset by his staff's action at a recent campaign speech by making Muslim women with headscarves not sit behind him. Also, many fundamentalists Muslims may feel that he is an apostate (yes, even though his father was an atheist, he still was born a Muslim and they will feel that Obama was born Muslim, too). Islamic fundamentalism did not start with al Qaeda and has deep roots. Having Obama as president is not going to make radicals through down their bombs and start embracing the West--especially with the Winnie the Pooh approach suggested by Obama's advisor. This man is not a god but just that a man. What if there is an upsurge in violence in Iraq and he can't pull out troops? Or, he pulls out troops only having to bring them back (as he has mentioned at a debate)? That will cause more chaos and anger in that region. He promises of change are easy at this point. We will have to see if his actions can come to fruition if he makes it become president. It is very easy to talk about peace (I have been hearing about it's promise since I was born), but not that easy to implement it.
Third, I am on the fence about who I will vote for come November. However, I am going to come to McCain's defense with your comment about the "hundred years in Iraq". He was talking about having a base (like we do in so many other areas in the world). Do you really think that if we pull out of Iraq we will not at least have a presence there (even Obama has said we will) that might last a hundred years--especially since it is such a volatile area. So, Mr. Pages you are taking Mr. McCain's words out of context. Isn't that what you are accusing Mr. Ibrahim for and yet yourself are just doing the exact same thing?

Why not to try studying Soviet Army doctrine especially parts related to guerilla war and acts of sabotage? Please do not forget that many of contemporary terrorists and almost all of their teachers studied in Soviet Union. Was Soviet military doctrine following Koran? No way, but the goal in both cases was to conquer the world, and there are not too many options for any minority, be it Communists or Muslims, to do it. How to win this war? Let us try to do what Reagan did. Ultimately he won.

Actually, the full quote from Sun Tzu is "know your enemy and know yourself and you need not fear the outcome of 100 battles". Not only do we fail to make ourselves aware of our enemy - their tactics and strategies - but we systemiatcally refuse to know ourselves - our weaknesses and vulnerabilities which the enemy will exploit for victory.

One place to start might be a book with a similar title to this article:

Knowing the Enemy - Jihadist Ideology and the War on Terror, Mary Habeck, Yale University press, New Haven, 2006, 177 p.

On a more philosophical plane is:

Faith, Reason and the War Against Jihadism - A Call To Action, George Weigel, Doubleday, 2007 New York, 157 p.

Both are available from Amazon.

Responding to Mr. Zuburak, I too believe that China is a very real threat looming on the horizon. A perfect storm may be heading our way, and we would be well served to get out the raincoat.

Muslim extremists and even extremist nations cannot pose the sort of nation-toppling threat that China does. An alliance of China, North Korea, Iran (possibly other ME nations), and Russia against America and her allies would be a force that we would be hard pressed to reckon with, especially in a conventional warfare situation.

Despite what the pathetic buffoons in DC blather about, you can bet the brass of our armed services sees what's coming.

Lastly, to be positive (and I know it's not a perfect comparison), America's economy completely tanked in 1929. Just ten years later we became involved in a world war. Just two years later than that a portion of our navy was destroyed at Pearl Harbor, involving us in a war of two fronts.

My point is that America clawed it's way back from one of it's lowest points, fought a world war at a dizzying cost of lives and dollars, and despite it all rose to be the superpower we know today.

Concussus surgo

I have a very simple question.

Can we live in peace with people of the Islamic faith?

Raymond Ibrahim quoted a number of verses from the Koran and other writings that imply that, you can not be a Muslim and tolerate the presence of any other religion. He is not alone in doing this, there have been any number of writers who've made the case that the Islamic faith doctrine demands it's dissemination by violence. If that is truly the case, then the only solutions to this problem become draconian.

So, can we live in peace with the followers of Islam, or are we doomed to a perpetual war with the people of that faith until one side or the other is annihilated?

Where we get lost is understanding that the Moslem religion is intertwined within the Islam Political System. Islam is not a religion but the political system of Sharia law. Once our leaders and media begin to understand this truth, we can separate the two and fight against the political system of Islam, which is in direct opposition to our political system, Republic Democracy. This is also our way to victory by demanding Islam or anything that represents the political system of Islam gone. Stating that the Moslem religion is fee to worship but must not be intertwined with Islam political system as allowing the representation of Islam or Sharia Law is in direct opposition to our constitution.

Great article! And, I see so many comments responding to Jeffry Page, but his comment are gone but I can deduce that he was being typical JP, Obama is the messiah and going to save the world! Lord, help us all...

It is important to understand the enemy's tactics, but it is just as important to understand his strategy. It appears that the strategy is two fold:
1.) Distract us with acts of terrorism
2.) Attack our freedom of speech in the courts while teaming up with the liberals that are enamored with multi-culturalism.

The external attacks are a diversion. They know they cannot defeat us militarily. They are attempting to defeat us from within by exploiting our fear of offending anyone.

It is important to understand the enemy's tactics, but it is just as important to understand his strategy. It appears that the strategy is two fold:
1.) Distract us with acts of terrorism
2.) Attack our freedom of speech in the courts while teaming up with the liberals that are enamored with multi-culturalism.

The external attacks are a diversion. They know they cannot defeat us militarily. They are attempting to defeat us from within by exploiting our fear of offending anyone.

God. Terrorists are NOT insurgents! Insurgents go away after you stop occupying their country! TERRORISTS DON'T!!! They come to the U.S. with all sortsa high explosive goodies. We are fighting terrorists for Christ's sake!!!

"Nothing in our faith says it's OK to kill anyone."
(Ahmed Bedier of the Council on American-Islamic Relations)

"Slay the unbelievers wherever ye find them..."
(The 'Holy' Qur'an, Verse 9:5)

Crap. Don't ya just hate them contradictions. Oh well, when in doubt, kill an infidel, huh Mohammed?

Knowing thy enemy, very important; knowing thyself would go a long way too. I wish our current prez bought into the Bush doctrine. If we can't / won't stick to a sound principle, understanding the enemy will not take us very far.

An excellent article. One further thought - you need to take the whole body of work to understand its meaning. Since Islam does not have a central authority (other than the Qur'an, and to a lesser extent, the hadiths) it is possible for zealots (both Muslim and western) to focus on a few passages, and extrapolate to the whole religion and the whole community of believers. That's very dangerous, as we try to get to understand the Muslim worldview.

Two other elements of Islamic warfare merit consideration:

1) What Philip Hitti (1886-1978) called "the traditional choice". This is the rule under which enemies of the invading muslim armies where given the choice of a) slavery b) voluntary conversion to Islam or c) death. You could only choose option b before battle. After a fight you got options a and c. You can see how this worked to the advantage to the rapidly expanding Islamic armies. There was great pressure for option b.

2) Abrogation or the principal that in the Koran the latter verses, lines or Sura trump the former. When Mohammad was young he was somewhat powerless and the Sura are more peaceful but as he became more and more successful the Sura became proportionally more warlike. By tradition latter verses trump earlier verses, so the more warlike verses trump the peaceful verses.

i fear that one day americans will wake up and ask themselves , what ever happened to life , libety, and the pursuit of happiness.
the average american is asleep politically,
little by little , American history is being snuffed out
like a flame. the school system is tuning young minds to think that America is to blame for most of the worlds problems. Our children are being taught to be "nice little socialists", so that when the Chinese armies, or whomever, come marching through the streets of our cities, they will be so stunned into submission they will not have the drive to resist. I pray that i am dead wrong about these things. I am sorry, i cannot cast away these visions.