Jihadi Du Jour: The Black Wind Of Death

From the paper "Deterrence Now 2" by guest writer Leonard Magruder of Vietnam Veterans For Academic Reform.

Following are three basic but contrasting interpretations as to the cause of Islamic terrorism.

1) "Root causes" is the problem.

The first is from the book "Warrant for Terror" by the noted Israeli strategist, Shmuel Bar.

"It cannot be ignored that the lion's share of terrorist acts and the most devastating of them in recent years have been perpetrated in the name of Islam. This fact has sparked a fundamental debate both in the West and within the Muslim world regarding the link between these acts and the teachings of Islam. Most Western analysts are hesitant to identify such acts with the true teachings of one of the world's great religions and prefer to view them as a perversion of a religion that is essentially peace-loving and tolerant. Their "root-cause" explanations include political causes (the Israeli-Arab conflict); cultural causes (rebellion against Western cultural colonialism or decadence); and social causes (alienation, poverty). While no public figure in the West would deny the imperative of fighting the war against terrorism, it is equally politically correct to add the statement that, for the war to be won, these grievances pertaining to the root causes of terrorism are justified and should be addressed. An interpretation which places the blame for terrorism on religious and cultural traits, they claim, runs the risk of being branded as bigoted and Islamophobic."

2) U.S. forces in Muslim lands is the problem.:

A second interpretation is found in an analysis of the most comprehensive collection of data on terrorism by professor of political science Robert A. Pape of the Univ. of Chicago in his recent book, "Dying to Win."

"With data from more than 430 suicide attacks we now know that these individuals are not mainly poor, desperate criminals, or uneducated religious fanatics but are often well-educated, middle-class political activists. Terrorism is not primarily a product of Islamic fundamentalism. 95% of suicide terrorist attacks occur as part of coherent campaigns organized by large militant organizations with significant public support. Every suicide campaign has had a clear goal that is secular and political to compel a modern democracy to withdraw military forces from the territory that the terrorists view as their homeland."

3) Islam is the problem.

The third interpretation is from "An End to Evil", by former CIA analysts David R. Frum and Richard Perle.

"The terrorists kill and will accept death for a cause with which no accomodation is possible. That cause is militant Islam. Moreover, these beliefs are not really confined to a radical fringe, but infect even ordinary Muslims. Even though it is comforting to deny it, all the available evidence indicates that militant Islam commands wide support , and even wider sympathy, among Muslims worldwide, including Muslim minorities in the West. The roots of Muslim rage are to be found in Islam itself. While there are multiple terrorist groups, the common element of Islam makes the threat monolithic.The ideology that justifies the terrible crimes of Hamas and Hezbollah is the same ideology that justifies the crimes of al-Qaeda. The result is an unlimited threat to dominate the world through Jihad.This strain seeks to overthrow our civilization and remake the nations of the West into Islamic societies, imposing upon the whole world its religion and its law.

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THE BLACK WIND OF DEATH

Here are four items reported in the news recently that show the danger America faces from Islamic Jihad. From terrorist groups, but also entire Muslin nations issuing threats.

al Qaeda, in a statement claiming credit for the Madrid bombing, March 11, 2004:

"We announce the good news for Muslims in the world that the strike of the black wind of death, the expected strike against America, is now in its final stages - 90 percent ready - and it is coming soon.") note: Why "good news for Muslims ?" Because they know that the vast majority of Muslims secretly or openly approve of a campaign of terror against "infidels." )

WorldNetDaily recently reported this:

"Top U.S. government officials are contemplating what they consider to be an inevitable and much bigger assault on America, one that is likely to kill millions, destroy the economy, and fundamentally alter the course of history. According to captured al-Queda leaders and documents, the plan is called "American Hiroshima", and involves the multiple detonation of nuclear weapons already smuggled into the U.S. ."( Note: The terrorists hope to ruin America in one blow. Multiple cities simutaneously could do it, as would an electromagnetic pulse attack.)

WND-Washington - .James Woolsey, former director of the CIA, testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee in February that Iranian President Ahmadinejad , who is close to Hezbollah, says he knows of 29 sites in the U.S. and the West and is ready to attack in order to "end Anglo-Saxon civilization." An Iran campaign to recruit suicide bombers registered 55,000 ready to carry out attacks against two targets, "the infidels occupying Iraq, and Israel ," in a fight against "global blasphemy."- that is, all non-Muslims.

"Osama bin Laden now has religious approval to use a nuclear device against Americans." Michael Scheuer, the former head of the CIA unit charged with tracking down bin Laden, told Steve Kroft on "60 Minutes" Sunday, (November 14, 2004) . "Even if bin Laden had a nuclear weapon, he wouldn"t have used it for a lack of proper religious authority, authority he now has." The approval found that bin Laden was perfectly within his rights to use them, to kill up to four million Americans, two million of them children."

Two comments - First - these items hint of horrendous destruction, far greater than 9/11 and must be taken very seriously, second - the idea that God has given bin Laden permission to murder 2 million American children should give anybody an insurmountable problem with Islam. In the light of this threat, no plan can be considered "too radical." We must take no chances with insanity like this. It is this convergence of religion and murder that has rightly placed all civilized nations on high alert.--[L.M.]

Labels: al-Qaeda, American Hiroshima, Islam, Leonard Magruder, Nuclear Terrorism, Osama Bin Laden