Chapter 1
The Issue at Hand: Survival
The war we are engaged in, we are told, is a war against 'terror'.
But terror is an emotion, and terrorism deployed against a people is a
tactic, like blockade, blitzkrieg, ambush, or siege. As such, terrorism
is not an enemy per se, but simply a tactical method deployed by
unsavory characters. The term ‘terror’ does not describe the
philosophical, social, or political motivations of a people adopting
terrorist methods, and is an entirely inadequate term to describe the
current worldwide conflict. Though such vague nomenclature may be
reassuring to our society obsessed with political correctness, it is
unnecessarily nebulous. Such poor precision is deception because it
prevents rational evaluation of the true threat behind the terrorist
weapon deployed against us. Those who limit their thinking to the
constraints of the politically-correct 'thought police' seem content to
believe that we are not really fighting individuals or nations, but
rather some kind of abstraction, … as if somewhere there are soldiers
with "Republic of Terror" embroidered on their uniforms marching
lock-step to attack us. Terrorist acts are simply the weapon of choice
deployed by actual enemies of flesh and blood to accomplish some
objective. As will be shown, the terrible agenda behind such methods
are even broader and more insidious than the individual terror acts
they employ.
In reality, we are no more in a war against ‘terrorism’ than we
were ever engaged fighting the scourge of Machine guns in WWI, the
plague of Zeros or German Tanks in WWII, or the threat of Nuclear
weapons in the Cold War. In wartime, it is not machine guns, kamikaze
zeros, tanks, bombs, and bullets which by themselves are responsible
for killing people; … it is actual real people, acting on some
nationalistic, political, or religious ideology which pull the trigger
and are responsible for all causalities. In fact, all potentially
lethal weapons are just inanimate objects, perfectly content to remain
safely in storage, until some ideologist chooses to pick it up and use
it to advance some personal, nationalistic, or religious cause.
Ultimately it is not only the foot soldiers, but the leadership, and in
particular the ideology itself, which is responsible for all acts of
war committed in its name, by whatever weapon. Contrary to popular
nomenclature, ours is not a war against "evildoers," a creaky tag that
conjures faceless entities lurking in the dark. Terrorism may be the
method employed, but Jihad in support of Islam is the ideology all
these militant movements share. That simple fact remains difficult to
express because of the inferences that naturally follow. It remains
unacceptable to draw any conclusions implying that; to effectively ward
off Jihadist aggression, we may need to also combat an ideology born of
a religion. In the formerly Judeo-Christian (currently
relativist-hedonist) West, such a thought triggers near panic: How can
religious worship inspire anything but goodwill among men, aren't
terrorist tactics opposed by all but a statistically invisible Islamic
fringe? Instead of identifying the real enemy, and discrediting the
dangerous ideology inciting them, we courageously fight ‘terrorism’,
and determinedly target ‘evildoers’. Like the well-intentioned and
noble Don Quixote, we slash at windmills. All the while, actual real
terrorists with steely determination and considerable support, plot
their next massacre.
Most Americans have a benignly positive attitude toward religion,
but this partiality allied with political correctness is blinding us,
keeping us from asking reasonable questions upon which the survival of
our civilization may well depend. Does our culture, obsessed with
tolerance, render us incapable of drawing reasonable conclusions about
Islam’s core values and designs? The general reluctance to criticize
any non-Christian religion, and the almost universal public ignorance
about Islam, make for a dangerous and potentially lethal mix. The
gentle reader should be forewarned that this work delves much deeper
into the cultural, spiritual, and religious roots of the current
conflict than others dare to go. This is not for the faint hearted, but
is presented for the benefit and enlightenment of all lovers of truth,
knowledge, and freedom. Unfortunately there are large numbers of
Americans leaning one direction or the other on the issue of the ‘war’
based solely on popular opinion, because they lack either specific
knowledge, or the deep moral convictions and strong values that our
society has traditionally depended on for its strength and prosperity.
Those lacking knowledge or with no convictions are dangerous because,
with no moral compass of their own, they can be easily manipulated
through misinformation and spin. Stalin referred to these as "the
convenient masses".
There are two very practical pieces of advice upon which one can
base fair judgment of other people, religions, and governments. In fact
those who fail to embrace this advice completely are destined to remain
forever as lost as 'old' Europe is today. I believe my source is a good
one. The first litmus test to use in judgment is … "Only through a mans
works is his true nature exposed". The other is "By this we can know if
man has truly repented … he will confess and forsake the bad behavior".
By these two pieces of advice, one can fairly judge the value of
individual and groups actions, and also gauge the progression if and
when they realize their actions lead to bad fruit, and make claim to be
reformed. Until then, it would be stupid to call the kettle anything
other than 'black', even when speaking from a pot that is less than
white.
It seems inevitable that this work is likely to be tagged by some
as Islamophobic or racist. It may appear (and some will undoubtedly
charge) that the facts and views presented herein are extreme. But the
data is in fact genuine, accurate, as is the context in which it is
presented. It seems inevitable these days that perspectives based on
traditional values are quickly tagged as politically 'incorrect', and
often judged as coming from the extreme far right. The author admits
only to ascribing to a political and social philosophy centered much
more on personal responsibility and social/cultural accountability than
is currently interpreted as 'politically correct' by the far-left.
There is Far-Left, Left, Middle, Right, and Far-Right. Be careful not
to limit and ascribe correct thinking and judgment to any one political
philosophy. Within all these leanings are valuable perspectives, truth,
and sometimes even wisdom. The trick is sorting through the mountains
of propaganda necessary to get to any information of true value.
Whatever our political affiliation, continued prosperity, as well as
our very survival, now dictates that this people put aside their
differences and concentrate on the values we share, and the threat
common to all of us.
This work will explain exactly why the West waits in vain for
Islam to take full responsibility for the vile acts being produced in
her name by a myriad of groups. Hopes will remain unfulfilled that
majority peaceful Islam, out of a sense of principal and humanity, will
actually doing something to reform itself, without having to be
pressured by others. Until such a day we must be realistic and realize
that what we can expect is more of the same …a little 'hand wringing'
is probably all we will ever see from their regional and world leaders,
along with more finger pointing at Israel and the West. The reasons for
such pessimism will become clear later. In the mean time, until we see
effective action and hear convincingly from this supposed vast silent
majority of peace-loving Muslims, it is expedient for the rest of the
world to take off the blinders and begin to live with both eyes wide
open. From knowledge comes wisdom, from wisdom comes power, and from
power comes safety. The only thing that springs from ignorance is
error, weakness, and sometimes …mortal peril. This is one of those
times.
The Emperors Raiment
Once upon a time, there was a grand Emperor who enjoyed elaborate
clothing and fine robes as ornate and decorated as any great leader of
vast kingdoms. Seeking to be the greatest of all he sought ever finer
raiment so that others might see outwardly the greatness and power of
his office and influence. He had the finest clothes and trappings
commensurate with his desires, but a great tailor and wizard from
another land came and whispered in his ear that he could create an
adornment so beautiful, grand, and powerful that all who saw it would
naturally worship the wearer as the greatest of all leaders. He claimed
the material to be used possessed the unique quality of being visible
only to the truly enlightened and intelligent, but would be invisible
to stupid infidels. Work commenced and soon the great one was on proud
display with his new robe for the entire world to see. ‘The Emperor's
New Clothes’ by Hans Christian Andersen should be studied carefully as
it seems more applicable today than any other time in history. Today
many view plainly the works of Islam yet continue to issue the usual
politically correct euphemisms of how beautiful and perfect the new
robes appear (i.e. how peaceful the great religion is). The simple
innocence and honesty of an unafraid, unsophisticated child is called
for to give the rest of us the courage to state the obvious. Who are
the modern-day weavers of the emperor’s new clothes today? Islamic
apologists, the myopic liberal media, academic elitists, as well as an
unusual conflagration of fascists, communists, European socialists,
anarchists, and many other far-left and far-right organizations
throughout the world. But then even President Bush regularly defends
and praises the "great, peaceful world religion", giving it blanket
legitimacy irrespective of the inaction and failure of the worlds
‘best’ religion to put a lid on terrorist acts committed in its name.
You can call me stupid, I just don’t see it. The reader is hereby
promised that if you study without bias the facts herein in their
entirety, the robes will also become invisible to you. The spectacle of
‘Islam Undressed’ is neither benign nor pleasing, and is likely to
invoke embarrassment or horror from the on-looker, but should also
result in a healthy dose of apprehension and accompanying survivalist
thinking. Survival is the first order of the day, once secure, we can
return to debating the niceties of various political and cultural
differences and resurrect more sensitive approaches to handling
differences in religion and culture. Difficult social issues relating
to our hyper delicate racial, sexual, and gender sensibilities can be
debated again later. For now, the sight of this self-described great
emperor needs to be dealt with, particularly his intentions with
respect to the sword of Jihad in his right hand already dripping in
blood.
The Enemy at the Gates
On September 11, 2001, self-described devout Muslims carried out
an act of brutal terrorism and murdered some 3000 people in America and
caused over 100 billion in property damage. They hijacked 4 planes,
slit the throats of stewardesses, and destroyed the World Trade Center
and part of the Pentagon. Remaining Americans were impacted by the
trillion dollars in capital and millions of jobs lost. The victims of
the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the crashing airliners were
not armed and did not fall in pitched battle. Of the three thousand
dead, none expected their fate, but were nonetheless combat casualties
of self-described religious warriors. On March 11, 2004 hundreds in
Madrid, Spain experienced the same fate, at the same hands, for the
same reasons, with thousands left wounded and maimed. The Israelis know
intimately the nature and intents of Islam, while the children of
Beslan had their up-close and personal introduction to ‘real Islam’
Sept 2004. Londoners received their bitter taste of reality on 7/7/05.
Today, many not directly affected by these attacks seek to forget those
terrible days, to push it out of relevance, but the orphans of those
causalities, and children of orphans not yet born, can never forget.
America and other nations responded and went after culpable Muslim
terrorist groups in Afghanistan, with a follow-on campaign against a
major sponsor of terror in Iraq. Elsewhere in the world, some
governments arrested men associated with Islamic extremist groups.
Those arrested were members of organizations participating in
terrorism, but whether convicted or not, they always claimed to be good
devout Muslims badly treated and misunderstood. As it turns out,
various terrorist cells, networks, and organizations stretch far and
wide. The enemy we pursue has proved to be adept at using false
identities and cloaks of privacy to hide. To conceal themselves, their
efforts, and their plans, they also make use of our own freedoms of
speech, movement, and religion, along with the seemingly always
available grass-root support from fellow Muslims.
Following September 11th, many Muslims living in the West defended
Islam, stating that it is a religion of peace. At the same time there
were many other Muslims in Islamic lands, and even some in America
(living in predominately Muslim communities as well as Muslim students
on American campuses) who openly celebrated the deaths and destruction.
Many throughout the Islamic world were observed rejoicing and calling
for the continuing destruction of America chanting "Death to America",
and "America is the Great Satan". Huge numbers openly or quietly
rejoiced, with the absence of sincere and coherent outrage palpable. In
the West, Muslim spokesmen were much more muted; some proclaimed that
"the Muslim terrorists have hijacked our faith" and that real Islam is
a kind, tolerant religion not associated with terrorist individuals or
events. A claim oft repeated in defense of Islam was that "Islam' is a
word which literally means 'Peace'". In response it was pointed out
that the Arabic word for peace is salaam, and that Islam is Arabic for
surrender or submission, quite a different concept than peace, and that
even Muslim means one who submits. Now the official line from Islam is
that "Islam' means Peace through submission to Allah's will", but the
opposite camp points out that the newly created definition is illusory
in that it does not mention what 'Allah's will' is with respect to
Jihad and its role in the advancement of Islam. The two camps often
seem to completely contradict each other. Obviously, they both cannot
be correct. Those in the West are left to divine, what's the bottom
line according to real Islam? Out of an overabundance of prudence, it
would be wise to first fortify ourselves with knowledge. If we fail to
thoroughly investigate what Islam is truly all about, there is a danger
we might inadvertently invite even more horrific sequels to the
disasters that have already been perpetrated upon us.
Since that dastardly attack the topic of Islam seems always in the
news, and there has been much more discussion about terms like "Jihad".
One question commonly asked is "why are so many associated with this
religion so violent?" Giving the benefit of the doubt to a poorly
understood religion, and to secure the support of the Islamic world,
the American political machine has gone out of its way to stress that
America and her allies are not fighting Islam, but rather, they are
fighting terrorists who have perverted the true teachings of Islam. On
the other hand, other voices have raised concerns that indeed there is
a violent component within the religion, and that Islam itself is part
of the problem. Thus far those expressing concerns about fundamental
Islam have been largely muted, out of an excess of political
correctness. But this overwhelming desire to view the Islamic world
through rose-colored glasses has resulted in significant resistance to
critical analysis of Islamic writings, practice, and history.
In addition, there is the problem that most Americans are
generally a busy people caught up in various pursuits, who have little
time nor inclination to dive into a foreign religious philosophy filled
with strange new words. Most of us are too lazy or distracted to learn
even our own religious heritage in any depth, let alone one that is as
different as Islam. Indeed, almost half of Americans have no interest
in religion at all, if not an aversion to studying or understanding any
religious culture or philosophy. Of the rest who consider themselves
religious, few study with the intent of understanding the details and
nuances of a doctrine. Most are content to read their sacred texts
occasionally, learn a few key concepts, listen to their appointed
leaders, and then go home after church to catch the football/basketball
game. The average American needs to understand quickly is that the
benefits for non-believers to understand Islam in some detail are
tremendous, especially if there are Muslims making Jihad headed your
way. Unfortunately many might not be able to appreciate that warning,
because many of us have a convoluted perception of what Jihad means.
For us to truly understand "Jihad" and Islamic violence in today's
time frame, we must start by examining the revered Islamic texts in
some detail. A sixty-second sound byte from some "expert" (be they
Muslim, Christian, Hindu, or otherwise) is not sufficient. To gain a
knowledge base sufficient for fair judgment one must more deeply
investigate the three sources of religious philosophy related to Islam
in their holy texts … the Qur’an, Hadith, and Sira. These texts form
the foundation of Islamic beliefs and philosophy. But quoting verse is
not enough, we will also have to acquaint ourselves with other sources
of history surrounding the period to understand the context,
background, scope, and applicability of the various passages related to
Jihad and violence in Islam. Otherwise, one would be left with many
passages that seemingly contradict each other, and be no closer to
truly understanding "Jihad", and the application of Islamic violence
today. A complete picture must be drawn. A mere phrase such as "Islam
means peace", or "Jihad is an internal struggle against internal,
sinful desires" or, "Islam is violent", has little support if one does
not know the actual teachings of Islam.
Since the death of thousands of Americans has occurred at the
hands of self-proclaimed devout Muslims, and since scores of similarly
disposed Muslims have vowed to continue to murder Americans, be they
men, women, or children, it is incumbent upon us to examine the
fundamental teachings of Muhammad, found in the afore mentioned texts,
to see how they are being applied or misapplied today. This
investigation and study has become all the more urgent because of what
is at stake. It is not just American lives (and way of life), which may
be at risk, but the lives of anyone living in free, democratic
societies, all non-Muslim peoples are at issue. Therefore, readers
should understand that when "America", or "American" is referenced, we
are also including Britons, Mexicans, French, Germans, Japanese,
Brazilians, Russians, Poles, Chinese, Australians, Canadians, and so
forth.
For a start, the sometimes-elusive Islamic concept of Jihad must
be clearly understood. In particular, we need to determine exactly how
it is understood, accepted and supported by a majority (or a large
minority) of Muslims today. If it is accepted as it is practiced by the
many militants, then by western standards it would really be incorrect
to call Islam a religion at all; rather it would represent more a
military, political and cultural threat. These hard questions need to
be asked to know if the actions of the many devoted murderous Muslims
in various organizations and lands today can be identified as truly
Islamic and if their violent acts are done in the spirit of real Islam,
or if they (and their active and passive supporters) represent a fringe
minority. Many prefer to believe that the threat to America comes not
from Islam itself, but from an extremist form of the religion espoused
by a few terrorists and their small but vocal band of supporters. If
they are a tiny insignificant minority, they may be manageable by
typical diplomatic, military, and law enforcement methods designed to
marginalize, isolate, discredit, and destroy. But a majority (or even a
large minority) from a population of about 2 billion is still a huge
number of people virtually impossible to manage by those methods,
because if millions or billions intend to kill and destroy a particular
people or nation, there is very little that society can do to protect
itself short of extreme protective self-defensive and even offensive
measures. Now, by observation of various Muslim and Western scholars,
up to 50% of all Muslims worldwide sympathize with the Jihadist
message, …if this is accurate were talking many hundreds of millions of
people, a number much too large to monitor and impossible to police.
The task of critically analyzing Islam is not a particularly
difficult task, as the writings and history of the 1400 year Islamic
movement are quite extensive and prolific. The difficulty arises when
anyone identifies any possible fault or point of critics whatsoever.
You see Muslims are what you would call hyper-sensitive to any
criticism or observation that does not glorify and honor their ‘best’
religion and in particular their prophet, ‘Muhammad’. Whereas all other
religions seem to be able to survive all sorts of arguments and
disparaging comments, Islam tolerates no such dissent or discussion of
any kind. In Islamic lands the punishment for insulting the prophet is
the same as it has always been …death. This sort of intimidation has
proven to be very effective in lands which are fully Islamic. Muslims
yesterday and today are terrified of the response by Islamic fanatics
should they accidentally disrespect the Qur’an or say something
negative about the prophet or accepted teachings. You can criticize
leaders and lay alike only by saying they are not Islamic enough, but
suggest that the theology is flawed or needs reforming, and be prepared
to be dispatched to hell very quickly. Non-Muslims have also suffered
at the hands of ‘believers’ by making ‘insensitive’ comments about the
religion or their prophet. The first documented violent acts of the
religion were when Muhammad attacked and killed several of his critics,
which seems to provide Muslims today all the justification they need to
continue that practice. Though potentially dangerous, we are keenly
interested in cutting through all fog and spin to ascertain what is
genuine, authentic, and indisputable. It is much more dangerous to
continue to give the religion and its fanatic followers cover through
our fear and silence. This book will be completely frank, with no
deference given to any group’s delicate sensibilities. For the future
of our families and country, we need clear understanding and honest
answers to the following three questions: #1 - What are the correct
scriptural teachings of Islam with respect to the application of
violence to further its cause both yesterday and today? #2 - Is real
Islam behind and does it condone the Sept 11th attack (and others
claimed in its name), or were those terrorists doing something outside
Muhammad’s religion? And… #3 - What does the future hold for Islam and
America (and all other non-Islamic countries)?
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