A “Perception Modification” for a Stagnating "National Policy”?
**The greatest danger ** for Americans confronting the Fundamentalist Islamic threat is to believe—at the urging of U.S. leaders—that Muslims attack us for what we are and what we think rather than for what we do. Blustering political rhetoric “informs” the public that the Islamic Public is offended by the Western world’s democratic freedoms, civil liberties, inter-mingling of genders, and separation of church and state. However, although aspects of the modern world may offend conservative Muslims, no Islamic leader has fomented jihad to destroy participatory democracy. It is also a basic & important perception that many Americans need to grasp an understanding of, that Middle Eastern “Terrorists” for the most part, utilize “Fundamentalist Muslim” furor and belief principals to recruit & provide motivation to those that are THEN used as the proverbial “Tools” of terrorist action. The religion of Islam is NOT fundamentally and formally aligned or allied with the numerous extremist &/or terrorist based leadership.
The “Factual Terrorists” are not in most cases the persons that transport, deliver, & detonate the suicide bomb, but rather the person that functions as the planner, recruiter, supporter and motivator BEHIND the action. The “Terrorist” is almost NEVER going to allow themselves to be the “Martyr” for the cause that he claims to support. The terrorist on the other hand, ALWAYS has an escape plan. The “Leadership” must continue and survive, in order to “Continue” the fight (…and “Receive” the notoriety, benefits, and power that is sought from the “Victory” of terrorism). They (The organizational leadership) must survive in order to “Lead” that perfect “Islamic Theocracy” that they are claiming to be fighting for. These individuals KNOW that they can not institute their bids for power and leadership under the philosophy of peaceful democratic change or threw a popular voting selection WITHOUT orchestrating that desired change threw the use of intimidation & threat. In effect, there is little that would actually differentiate the underlying goals of most terrorist organizational leaders, from the home grown “Jim Jones” or the “David Koresh” of our own recent national memory. BOTH operate(d) on the premise of utilizing the strong religious convictions of others as a tool to ascend to a form of absolute power & authority over the masses.
Knowing Thy Enemy: A growing segment of the Islamic world strenuously disapproves of specific U.S. policies and their attendant military, political, and economic implications. Capitalizing on growing anti-U.S. animosity, Osama bin Laden’s anti-western methodologies and agendas lie not simply in calling for jihad, but in articulating a consistent and convincing case that Islam is under attack by America. Al Qaeda’s public statements condemn America’s protection of what the fundamentalists feel to be corrupt Muslim regimes, unqualified support for Israel, the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan, and a further litany of real-world grievances and in fact, recent abuses of power against helpless prisoners. Bin Laden’s supporters thus identify their problem and believe their solution lies in war. They will go to any length, not to destroy our secular, democratic way of life, but to deter what they view as specific attacks on their lands, their communities, and their religion. Unless U.S. leaders recognize this fact and adjust their policies abroad accordingly, even moderate Muslims will be tempted to join the bin Laden camp. We as “Westerners” are LOOSING the war of “Middle Eastern Public Relation” & will thereby continue to loose ground in the so-called “War Against Terrorism”. It will not be until United States International Foreign Policy undergoes a series of fundamental philosophical changes, that we will begin to prevail against Middle Eastern based terrorist agendas.
UNTIL “US Policy” & “Western” or “National Perceptions” CHANGE, we will be it for the “Long-Haul”. Our leaders must start actually by UNDERSTANDING our enemies for THAT is the only road to UNDER-MINDING the success of their message of fear & their efforts to endanger INNOCENT civilians. IF we are in fact going to PROCLAIM an active “War-Against-Terrorism” as a nation, we must focus on the DEFEAT of the “Terrorist Threat” and the elimination (Neutralization) of those individuals, organizations and nations that utilize terrorist actions as a physiological, theological, &/or political weapon.
**There is currently a extremely dangerous and blatantly misguided but popular national trend ** of belief that wants to confuse the issues of what terrorism actually is, with the view that “All movements and persons that are combatant against western based interests are Terrorists”. Although this provides the American Public with an easy and palatable explanation for our current military activities in Iraq, it is singularly an inaccurate & politically perpetrated deception (AKA: What a growing number of “Thinking Americans” are finding to be a “Half-Truth” or “Truth of the moment”). It would seem that we might have returned in many ways to what was known in the ‘60’s within the CIA as the “Banana Republic” solution (Attempting to replace one evil dictatorship with a new hand-selected & American friendly government). Much more recently, this was dusted off and renamed as the “Regime Replacement” equation by our leadership in the oval office. One important historical fact that they would have seemed to have forgotten is that although it may have seemed to work for a short while, even then the policy didn’t work out over the long term. In this Author’s opinion, Iraq situation will eventually deteriorate into another “Iranian Style Theocracy” unless there would occur some highly significant and currently unforeseeable pro-western events. To declare and support a “War-Against-Terrorism" is not the same thing as backing the philosophy of a “War-Against-Anti-American-Totalitarianism”.
**Change & thereby victory ** will NOT be accomplished by focusing on our current “Action Plans” (…of which are in MANY ways, not that much different from “Our genitalia are longer & larger then THEIRS is.”)… The only way to DEFEAT such a foe is to DESTROY the organization’s CREDIBILITY and ABILITY to solicit sympathy and localized support &/or recruitment FROM WITHIN the organizations themselves. WE are currently doing the EXACT OPPOSITE… and THAT’S why we are LOOSING valuable credibility in the Middle East, and WILL continue to loose ground in the war-against-terrorism.