People have been asking me when I think the war will conclude. I make a point to inquire “Which war?” Americans should realize we are fighting two wars: one against Iraq and one against terror. Many people have failed to understand this crucial point. Though the war in Iraq will end in the immediate future, the war against terror will not; it likely will be fought for generations.
As the victims of Al Qaeda terror, the American people ought to know why Osama bin Laden targets us. Bin Laden’s goal is to expel non-Muslims from the “holy land,” unite the world’s Muslims in one community (the Umma) and under one rule (the Caliphate) and wage war against non-Muslims. Bin Laden has used the Islamic religion to disguise and support his terror. Al Qaeda expert Rohan Gunaratna writes in his renowned book “Inside Al Qaeda: Global Network of Terror,” “Osama never interpreted Islam to assist a given political goal. Islam is his political goal.”
Bin Laden’s methodology of terror against non-combatants is strictly prohibited by the Koran, as is suicide. Gunaratna reports that bin Laden’s mentor, Ibn Taymiyyah, wrote “As for those who cannot offer resistance or cannot fight, such as women, children, monks, old people, the blind, handicapped and their like, they shall not be killed, unless they actually fight.”
Bin Laden places extreme importance on indoctrination of recruits, an indoctrination that is “an unprecedented exercise of corrupting, misinterpreting and misrepresenting the word of God to generate support,” Gunaratna writes.
Bin Laden’s ideology is evil and his goal is absurd. So what must be done? One obvious solution is to annihilate bin Laden’s network. But there is one perennial problem: resilience of the ideology.
The international coalition against terror must physically eradicate Al Qaeda and its ideology. As you might guess, such a goal is quite an endeavor, but too important to negate.
The coalition against terror has several options in fighting radical ideology. The first step is convincing Muslim scholars to vocalize their disagreement with bin Laden’s ideology. Too many remain silent on the issue. Islamic scholars have a duty to denounce bin Laden’s ideology, terror and corruption of their sacred text. Any Islamic scholar who refuses to denounce bin Laden shares responsibility for his evil.
Middle Eastern regimes must commit themselves to the eradication of Al Qaeda and terror. Regimes such as Saudi Arabia’s have closed their eyes and turned their heads for too long. Saudi Arabia, Syria, Jordan, Iran and the other regional regimes have the intelligence and the ability to crush terrorist organizations, but not the will. These regimes should learn a lesson from the current war in Iraq: crush terror or be crushed.
The final solution I offer here, because there are many to be considered, is the end of non-secular education in the Middle Eastern and nearby regions. Approximately 20 percent of Muslim schools (madrassas) are disseminating militant perversions of the Koran, while only 5 percent teach math and science, according to the Institute for Global Engagement. Many students have no choice but to attend madrassas because regimes such as Pakistan’s do not adequately fund education.
As a result, millions of Muslims across the world are subjected to terror indoctrination, according to a report by the World Bank. The United States should encourage and, if necessary, financially support (with monitoring) secular education in order to prevent the spread of terror.
It is fair to say bin Laden never will achieve his vast goal of pan-Islamic unity or the expulsion of the United States (particularly its military) and its culture from the Middle East. Rather, it would be best for the West to flood the Middle East with Western culture and military presence in order to step up pressure on the regimes to crush terrorism. I do not believe the average Middle Easterner hates America or Western culture, as the high number of miniature satellite dishes in that region indicates. I forget who first suggested this idea, but I agree with it: Show them blue jeans and Victoria’s Secret and they’ll come around.