Coping with Islamists

By Dr. Sam Holliday

The Obama administration has stated that our enemy is al-Qaeda and its terrorist affiliates. They reject any suggestion that Islam motivates our enemies. John Brennan has said "Nor do we describe our enemy as jihadists and Islamists." They do not recognize the two faces of Islam. This view does not recognize that we are in a struggle with a worldwide movement, known as the Great Jihad, motivated by the teaching of Muhammad. It is time for the Obama administration to face the reality of the Islamists Threat.

Today there are Muslims who, in accordance with the Qur’an, continue the Great Jihad. They call themselves jihadists, or holy warriors. Those who value Western Culture should refer to them as hirabahists, or unholy warriors. Islamists is an accurate name for them, since that indicates Islamic motivation, yet it does not suggest all Muslims. Islamists call the current worldwide struggle the Third Jihad, and have five goals:

1. To weaken US influence in the Middle East and South Asia and to increase the “fifth column” in Europe and the United States.

2. To use the United Nations to paralyze effective action by the United States.

3. To control the oil in the Middle East, and then use that control to weaken the economic power of the United States.

4. To eliminate Israel.

5. To continue the struggle until a Great Caliphate is created.

How many Muslims are Islamists? It is impossible to know. Clearly the leaders of the Third Jihad are Islamists. Most of the terrorists lack the necessary historical perspective or theological knowledge to be Islamists. They are motivated by feelings of envy, frustration, greed, prejudice, and hatred resulting from manipulation by the leaders. What about most Muslims? Most Muslims believe in jihad, i.e. struggle.

However, they believe in different kinds of struggles. For some Muslims it is a personal (inner) struggle. Islamists struggle for the five goals of the Third Jihad. Some Muslims belief the Qur’an prevents them from condemning Islamists, or helping to neutralize them. The critical question is: How many Muslims will struggle for modernity and integration into Western Culture?

The current threat to Western Culture is from transnational Islamists with political goals. This is a battle of wills. We have not yet neutralized them or weakened their will, and they have not weakened our will. However, this conflict will not end as long as there are Islamists who believe the Qur’an requires a Great Jihad.

Muslims are not our enemies. Our enemies are all the Islamists that want to kill us and drive us out of “Islamic lands”, and those that provide them funds, sanctuary, and moral support; this includes al-Qaeda, Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, and many other groups and individuals. Islamists support an ideology that opposes modernity and Western Culture; but not all Muslims support this ideology. At this time the threat doesn't call for a Holy War; there is not justification for an overall strategy similar to those used in World War II or the Cold War. We are not yet in a Clash of Civilizations and it would be a mistake at this time to think that we are. We should attempt to handle the conflict as Irregular Warfare, until the threat from the Islamists becomes greater—or is neutralized.

Our Overall Strategy

Our overall strategy must include information dissemination (communication) that is as effective as that of our enemy. However, this should not be confused with the spreading of our own values, attitudes, and ideology about economic and political systems. The goal of our strategy should be stability (homeostatic equilibrium), not political or economic development. The immediate goals must be local security and local authority. In time, we can hope, all Muslims might learn to value the free exchange of ideas, tolerance, free market economics, and representative government and give up those aspects of Islam that are incompatible with Western Culture. In other words, conversion to what we consider best should not be the strategic goal. Our strategic goal should be stability and stopping those who want to destroy us.

Our strategy must include getting Muslims to become a counter-balance to the Islamists. But the two faces of Islam cannot fool us. On the one hand, Muslims can be outwardly moderate, understand, tolerate and peaceful when living among nonbelievers, but inwardly believe in the Great Jihad. Only those who will work against Islamists and the Great Jihad can be trusted.

To date Muslims have failed to:

• Point out that it is un-Islamic for the Islamists to claim they are conducting a Jihad (holy war), and that the so-called jihadists have perverted authentic Islam.

• Clarify the “jihad martyrdom” factor so that it is not used as a recruiting tool.

• Distinguish between offensive, defensive, and personal jihad.

• Clarify the meaning of “infidel”, so that it is not used for political purposes and the killing of innocents.

• Point out that many Islamist leaders are not clerics and have no authority to issue fatwas (religious edicts).

• Point out that the Islamists deliberately ignore or misread many passages of the Qur’an and the Islamic Jurisprudence (the Figh).

Any successful strategy against Islamists requires realism, frankness and a high degree of unity. It requires honesty from governmental officials about the threat, and honesty from a loyal opposition in domestic politics. The skeptics, ideological Luddites (those with naive political beliefs that destroy that which supports and protects them), and partisans cannot be allowed to sabotage our strategy against the Islamists. Domestic political disputes must not provide an opportunity for the Islamists to divide and conquer. The useful idiots must be exposed. We must face this threat as one nation. In Irregular Warfare motivation, dedication, unity, effort and sacrifice are just as critical to success as they are in Conventional War.

Our leaders have to be candid about the threat, and what must be done; they should not speak in generalities or in words designed not to offend Muslims. They must believe in American exceptionalism. They must be honest, accurate and frank. They must project strength and confidence. Our leaders must admit that they don't know all and can't tell all that they know. They must explain:

• That this is a protracted conflict being played out on a global field with Islamists who have their tentacles virtually everywhere.
  
• That the "organization" of the Third Jihad has many autonomous parts and they often hide behind respected religious, culture, and welfare institutions.
  
• That the legal rights and protections of individuals, determined to be appropriate for peace, are a mill stone around the neck of open, free, representative societies during Irregular Warfare; they need be appropriately revised in those situations when the actions of Islamists destroy the conditions of peace.

Unless there are such revisions, the Islamists will exploit the weaknesses of their target countries to their advantages.

The Challenge

The ideology of the Islamists is hostile to pluralistic, representative, secular government, since true believers consider Qur’an law and its Sharia derivatives the only basis for governance. This view must be recognized as a subversive ideology; it should not be legitimized as a religion. It is true that Christianity, Shinto, and other religions do not have stellar records.

However, dhimmi status (subordinate, disfranchised, residents subject to discriminatory taxation and limits on freedom) is unique to Islam. The teaching of hatred for non-believers is unique to Islam. Only when Islam controls a country, and all non-Muslims have accepted dhimmi status, can Islamists accept diversity. We value God given rights of individuals—Islamists values submission to Islamic leaders.

It is true that Islamists want to expel Western influences from all territory formerly under Muslim control. They want their politico-economic and philosophical views to be dominant. Whereas most insurgents in the past were motivated by a utopian view of a better world with economic equality and social fraternity, Islamists seek spiritual purity in the eyes of Allah. Islamists see nonbelievers as too weak, too easily tempted, too confused to govern themselves; therefore, scholar-jurists who know the way of Allah must control them. They seek to protect people from worldly temptations; therefore they attempt to remove anything that will prevent people from submitting to Allah.

The ideology of the Islamists is hostile to pluralistic, representative, secular government, since Islamic true believers consider Qur’an law and its Sharia derivatives the only basis for governance. This view must be recognized as a subversive political ideology; it should not be legitimized as a religion. It is true that in the past the leaders of Christianity, Shinto, and other religions have twisted religious doctrine into political ideologies.

However, today this is true only of Islam. Dhimmi status (subordinate, disfranchised, residents subject to discriminatory taxation and limits on freedom) is unique to Islam. Only when Islam controls a country, and all non-Muslims have accepted dhimmi status, can Islamists accept diversity. Today the teaching of hatred for non-believers is unique to Islam. Western Culture values the God given rights of individuals—Islamists values submission to Islamic leaders.

“Moderate and reasonable Muslims” who support the Third Jihad—such as CAIR, the Holy Land Foundation, ISNA, Organization of the Islamic Conference, and the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination League--are a greater threat than terrorists. Such “moderates” are Islamists since they do not reject those parts of the Qur’an that call for a Great Jihad.

They hid their true intent and consider it in keeping with the Qur’an to deceive non-believers. They use our legal system to silence and punish free speech critical of Islamists or their sources of financing. They are the lead elements of the “fifth column” seeking to weaken Western Culture and prepare the way for Islamic domination of the world.

It is Islamists—not all Muslims—who want the Third Jihad to be a worldwide movement that will cause all non-believes to submit.

More effective ways to neutralize the tactics, techniques and strategies of the Third Jihad must be used in the future if it is to be defeated. We must defeat, deter, or neutralize our enemy. In Irregular Warfare there is never the final victory of Conventional War—success is defined by stability. First, we must recognize that killing Islamist leaders will not end the Third Jihad.

The leaders represent an important segment of our enemy, but not its totality. Second, we do not want to make Islam or an entire Islamic culture our enemy. Third, we must recognize that the demise of Israel will not mean an end of the Third Jihad, even though Israel will always be used to rally support for the Third Jihad. Fourth, we must recognize that withdrawal from the Middle East will only embolden the Islamists and make the final Clash of Civilizations more likely.

Strategy to Defeat the Third Jihad

The best strategy for defending Western Culture includes:

1. Assure that the Middle East and South Asia are stabilized and that worldwide no state is willing to support Islamists attempting to overthrow those in authority.

2. Work toward energy independence through:

• Developing the massive U.S. oil resources so that our economy is not dependent on sources that our enemies can disrupt. This would include the conversation of coal and natural gas into oil.
  
• Reducing dependence on fossil fuels, and using less energy overall, while maintaining our standard of living.
  
• Developing new sources of energy—primarily proven nuclear energy systems, such as those non-SL1 systems abandoned by the Army in the 1960s.

3. Adopt a policy of containment until the faults within the Third Jihad cause its ideological certitude to collapse, allowing other Muslims to neutralize the Islamists. Pursue such policies, both overt and covert, to hasten this collapse.

4. Face the fact that communication superiority is a prerequisite for success in Irregular Warfare--just as air superiority is a prerequisite for victory in Conventional War. To date we have been ineffective in the strategic communication campaign to strengthen the will of our own people, to weaken the will of our enemies, and to gain the support of people around the world. In the current battle of wills strategic communication is the center of gravity. This conflict is not to be won through economic, diplomatic, and military means.

5. Develop a message as effective as Muhammad's in winning hearts and minds. Then develop a sociopolitical structure to communicate that message which is more effective than that of the global revivalist movement known as the Third Jihad.  Recognize that the true believers of the Third Jihad are willing to suffer, sacrifice, deceive, kill, conquer, and die for their cause. Recognize that we need true believers in our cause, i.e. the principles and ideals of Western Culture.

6. Encourage respected leaders and scholars of the Islamic world to condemn in religious terms those using violence in the name of Islam. Also condemn as “useful idiots” those in the West who give aid, comfort and support to Islamists.

7. Take actions to strengthen pride in Western Culture. The weakening of the will in Europe and America, and ability to protect Western Culture as it developed in the modern era (from 1500 to the 1960s), has many causes. Partly it is the result of actions by those disillusioned by World War I and World War II, and partly it is the result of the cycle of rise and decline common to all groups. The ability to counter the Third Jihad depends on strengthening the will and unity of all of those who value Western Culture.

8. Designate any Muslim an Islamist, even if he or she claims to be a moderate, if that person will not condemn the Islamists and renounce that portion of the Qur’an that calls for the Great Jihad.

Life and liberty requires knowledge of your enemies and the ability to destroy or neutralize those enemies.

Dr Sam Holliday is Director of the Armiger Cromwell Center

All publications copyright © 2010 Armiger Cromwell Center. Permission is granted to forward this article by e-mail to friends or colleagues on a fair use basis. For reprint permission, contact Armiger Cromwell Center at armigercc@comcast.net

All posts by Sam Holliday on Politeia

Related dossiers

- The Unholy Alliance"
- "The Jihad Project"
- "In Defense of Liberty"
- "Legal Jihad"
- "The Balkan Caliphate"
- "Stop Islamization of Europe/America"
- "Eurabia"
- "Islamization=Apartheid"
- "Apostating Islam"

The Real Purpose of the Gaza Propflot

This wasn't a one off, but a new tactic in assymetrical warfare toolkit - or should that be warfare under the guise of humanitarian aid? Lebanon is now preparing to send propflots, only they are no longer propaganda tools, but covert warfare. Here's the collection point on Articles.

Al Manar TV: "“Flotilla Assault Marks the Beginning of the End for Israel”"

June 6, 2010

more about "The real purpose of the Gaza flotilla", posted with vodpod

This article explains what you've seen in the video.

Just Journalism: "UPDATED: Peace activists or violent agitators: How the media narrative on flotilla incident is shaping up"

With the Israeli government standing firm on their claim that IDF soldiers were met with severe violence from Gaza aid convoy participants, Just Journalism will be following developments closely and publishing new information on a rolling basis.

Before the incident had occurred, MEMRI had published this footage, with Arabic to English translation, showing participants on board one of the ships chanting violent anti-Jewish slogans before setting sail.

The activists shout: ‘Khaybar, Khaybar, oh Jews, the army of Muhammed will return’ - a reference to a seventh century attack in Khayber, Arabia, by Muhammed and his followers against Jews.

A female activist on the boat is also translated as saying, ‘We are now waiting for one of two good things – either to achieve martyrdom or to reach Gaza.’

The same chants invoking Khayber were also played on loudspeaker to a huge crowd gathered on Saturday in Istanbul to see off the flotilla, as has been broadcast by Turkish television. This footage also includes the repetition of ‘Intifadah! Intifadah!’

Furthermore, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on Saturday revealed his view that an interception of the flotilla by Israel would be as much a victory as reaching Gaza. The Jerusalem Post reported:

"If the ships reach Gaza, it's a victory for Gaza," Haniyeh told some 400 supporters after touring Gaza City's small fishing harbor, where several smaller vessels breaking the blockade have docked in the past. "If they are intercepted and terrorized by the Zionists, it will be a victory for Gaza, too, and they will move again in new ships to break the siege of Gaza." (...) >>>



IDF DA Desk

Facebook: Facts on the Gaza Flotilla (w/ VIDEOS)

Free Gaza, the harassing 'peace' group is a coalition made up of the Turkish Islamist group of B.Yildirim, the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedom and Humanitarian Relief (IHH), a member of Sheikh Qaradawi's Ittilaf al Kheir (Union of the Good or the Muslim Brotherhood), and Marxist groups which includes Bill Ayers, Bernadine Dohrn and Jodie Evans (Code Pink). Here are the NGOs involved.

The vessels have been furnished by Free Gaza and the IHH. Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi recently paid IHH millions of euros to organize actions against Israel. This is one of them. 

While Israel has announced it will free 600 prisoners, Free Gaza just let it be known it has dispatched yet another harassment vessel to Gaza.

The Dutch Telegraaf newspaper is revealing today that one of the two Dutch nationals arrested by Israel is the Hamas representative in the country. The 43 year old Dutch passport holder, Amin Abou Rashed is of Palestinian descent and operates out of the port city of Rotterdam. According to the official website of the Muslim Brotherhood the man is one of the main organizers of the propflot operation.

Intelligence sources say Rashed appears prominently in various reports as the leader of Hamas in the Netherlands. He's also known as Amin Abou Ibrahim. The American anti terror group Nefa is mentioning him in connection to the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe. He's worked for Al Aksa, a fundraising organization for Hamas and is very active in a pro Palestine foundation called PPMS. His name is also appearing in the Holy Land Foundation trial in de US.

Source: Elsevier

According to Dutch Iranian columnist Afshin Ellian the operation masks a power struggle in Turkey. PM Erdogan is looking for ways to cut ties with Israel, whereas the military opposes such a move.

FoxNews: "Israel: Global Jihad Linked to Flotilla"

Israeli defense officials now say dozens of passengers who were aboard the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara, the scene of a bloody showdown with Israeli commandos Monday, are suspected of having connections to terrorist organizations. The Israeli Army says it's identified 50 passengers on the ship with terrorist links. (...) >>>

Meanhile on JTA ...Hamas has refused to accept the aid brought by a Gaza-bound flotilla intercepted by Israel. (...) Hamas Social Affairs Minister Ahmad al-Kurd told reporters that it would accept the aid only if it entered "without anything being stolen from the activists, and without any exceptions." "This includes the prefabricated homes, the cement, the iron and the electric generators," he said. Israel has prevented such equipment from entering Gaza, saying it could be used by Hamas to build bunkers and other military installations in the strip. (...) >>>

June 2, 2010



The flotsam and jetsam of martyrdom operations - Aboard the propflot were at least 100 jihadis from various global Islamist chapters seeking martyrdom. Another title might well have been 'Martyrdom by IDF'.

On the legal side of the affair:

NGO Monitor: "Lost at Sea: NGO Legal Distortions in the Wake of the Flotilla Incident"

Since the violent clash between the Free Gaza flotilla and Israeli naval forces on May 31, numerous NGOs and “human rights groups” have issued harsh and one-sided condemnations of Israel’s actions. Many of these statements have been couched in the terminology of international law. However, as the following analysis demonstrates, these claims are legally incorrect or dubious. They represent the continued exploitation of international law for political ends. (...) >>>

PJM: "As Reality Unfolds About Flotilla, World Media Continues with Fictional Narrative", by Allison Kaplan Sommer

The emerging reality on the ground in Israel regarding the nature of the Gaza flotilla, and the story being told around the world, are so utterly different that they could be taking place on two separate planets. As the days pass in Israel and more information is uncovered, the popular international narrative of brutal Israeli soldiers casually slaughtering tens of innocent peace activists bearing humanitarian aid drifts further and further from reality. (...) >>>

Caroline Glick: The fact that these pro-Hamas activists intended to commit suicide in order to discredit Israel on camera was made clear by the fact that the Turkish organizers named the lead ship Rachel Corrie - after the most famous pro-Hamas suicide protestor. (...) >>>

Irish Times: "Irish ship Rachel Corrie was sabotaged by Israeli intelligence says report", by Cathy Hayes

The Irish ship, MV Rachel Corrie, was tampered with by the Israeli Defense Forces according to Colonel Itzik Turgeman. The Rachel Corrie was planned to be the first ship to arrive into Gazan waters last weekend but was delayed due to mechanical problems now suspected to be a form of sabotage. (...) >>>

June 3, 2010

Shock! Financier Free Gaza linked to New York Cordoba Project, the 15-story mega mosque projected near Ground Zero ...

HotAir: "Founder of Ground Zero mosque part of group that helped fund Gaza flotilla"

As said ... martyrdom by IDF ...

Jerusalem Post: "'We had no choice'"

IDF Spokesperson: "Ship Attempting to Break Maritime Closure of Gaza Strip Boarded by Israel Naval Forces with Compliance of Crew"

For Immediate Release

June 5th, 2010

12:45

IDF naval commandos boarded the ship attempting to break the maritime closure of the Gaza Strip a short while ago with the full compliance of the ship’s crew members. According to initial reports, there was no violence or injuries amongst the soldiers or the crew, as the use of force was unnecessary and no shots were fired. (...) >>>

Related articles

- PJM: "Dead Muslims? Only Wake the EU and UN if Jews Did It", by Leon de Winter
- RBO: "Klein: Ayers, Dohrn top activists in Gaza flotilla group"
- Spectator: "'Peace convoy'? This was an Islamist terror ambush", by Melanie Philips
- Israel Politik: "Insider Facts: Flotilla"
- IDF Spokesperson: "Weapons Found on the Flotilla Ship Mavi Marmara Used by Activists Against IDF Soldiers, 31 May 2010"
- Yid With Lid: "AMBUSH! A Videologue of How A Turkish Terror Group Caused The Israeli Navy/ Gaza Flotilla Violence"
- Reuters: "Statement by Israel's Netanyahu on flotilla deaths"
- Jerusalem Post: "Navy commandos:‘They came for war’"
- JIDF: "Israeli commandos open fire after being attacked with axes & knives by Gaza flotilla "peace activists"

The Cross and the Crescent (II)

From the desk of Dr Sam C. Holliday, director of the Armiger Cromwell Center

~~-:-~~

Continued from Part I

Strategy of the Third Jihad
It is a mistake to focus only on terror. The strategy of the Third Jihad is far more complex. It is to be expected that the media, politicians, and those trained for conventional War will focus on the violence of Al-Qaeda, Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Taliban. After all, this is why the current conflict is called a War on Terror – although terror is only a tactic.

However, the most significant threat to Western culture comes from non-violent means: infiltration into Western countries; the conversion of people to Islam; subversion of Western institutions – particularly academic; manipulation of the media; demonstrations and other forms of confrontation; penetration of Western political parties through funding; and manipulation of Western legal systems. The objective is to undermine confidence in traditional values as well as legal and political systems.

This is not to suggest that terror, and the direct action units of Al-Qaeda, Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Taliban, are not important tools used by the Third Jihad, but to suggest that they are not necessarily the most important. Neutralizing those using terror tactics is a necessary condition, but it is not a sufficient condition.

The Third Jihad is a continuation of a religiously inspired movement based on an ideology teaching that it is every Muslim's duty to use any means necessary to compel everyone’s submission to "the way of the Prophet." After Muhammad’s death, in the seventh century, the First Jihad spread under the caliphs (vice regents) west from Medina across North Africa and then into Spain, France, and Italy, and east across the Middle East deep into Southwest Asia. Then Islam consolidated its control of the lands conquered.

The First Jihad ended in 1492 when Islam was driven out of Spain. The Second Jihad started with the fall of Constantinople in 1453. The Ottoman Turks then implanted Islam in the Balkans and established hegemony over lands from North Africa to India. The Second Jihad was stopped in 1682 with an unsuccessful attempt to capture Vienna; it was held in check during the modern era (eighteenth and nineteenth centuries) by European power, and ended in 1924.

In 1979 the Third Jihad started with the Shah of Iran being overthrown by Shiite followers of Ayatollah Khomeini. It was given focus in February 1998 with a Sunni fatwa, which declared war on America and its allies. The Third Jihad is just another effort to spread Islam – and to take down the Great Satan. The goal of the Third Jihad is to replace all secular governments from Morocco to Indonesia with a single Great Caliphate that would then be able to convert the rest of the world to Islam. This is why it is an illusion to think that the threat will end just as soon as Western armed forces are withdrawn from the Middle East.

Among the tactics and techniques used by the Third Jihad are:

• Infiltrating and taking over existing political, social, campus, and cultural organizations to realign them towards the goals of the Third Jihad;

• Using deception to mask the intended goals;

• Cultivating the intellectual community into "understanding Islam," including the establishment of think-tanks and advocacy groups and publishing “academic” studies, to legitimize positions of the Third Jihad and to chronicle the peaceful history of Islam;

• Using destructive criticism to weaken those in authority by suggesting they are an elite mistreating the “disadvantaged” for their own personal interests;

• Maintaining the appearance of “moderation” by avoiding public alliances with known terrorist organizations and individuals;

• Involving ideologically committed Muslims in democratic institutions on all levels in Europe and America, including government, NGOs, private organizations and labor unions;

• Using existing Western institutions until they can be converted and put into the service of the Third Jihad;

• Monitoring Western media in order to quickly respond to "smears against Muslims;" Forming alliances with Western “progressive” organizations that can provide aid and support to Islamic action groups;

• Keeping Muslims living in the West “in a jihad frame of mind;”

• Establishing a right to Sharia law within their communities;

• Making the Palestinian cause a global wedge issue for all Muslims;

• Collecting funds to indefinitely support the Third Jihad globally; and

• Establishing financial networks to fund actions in target countries.

These tactics and techniques are used differently within each target country to weaken or overthrow those in authority. However, the Third Jihad does have a general strategy of five stages in which conflict moves from peace, through irregular warfare, to war. This is the same strategy used by insurgents for centuries. The tactics and techniques listed above are the activities by the insurgents – who can be either home grown or from other countries – during the first, second, and third stages.

Terror is not used in the first stage (Creation), and it has an insignificant role in the second stage (Organization). Terror plays an important role in the third stage (Control of the People) and is expanded in the fourth stage (Territorial Control), as the conflict becomes hybrid war. In the final stage (Overthrow) violence goes beyond terror to become conflict between the insurgents/embryonic state and the authorities of a state/failed state. In fact often the final stage can accurately be called a civil war.

- Creation
A few individuals organize clandestinely. They increase the size of the underground and attempt to cause or accentuate insecurity among the people and weaken the government’s influence.

- Organization
The leaders continue to build their organization, camouflaging it behind legitimate political, social, humanitarian, campus, religious, and labor organizations. Action to cause insecurity and dissatisfaction grows bolder with strikes, riots, selective terrorism, and intimidation. The insurgents’ aim at this stage is to cause the officials to react awkwardly and to take politically unwise steps.

- Control of the People
Direct action units are organized, but terrorism is restricted. The aim is to weaken loyalty to the government. Warfare is everywhere and nowhere. The insurgents control certain areas, which the police avoid. The goal is to transfer the loyalty of the people from the government to the insurgent organization.

- Territorial Control
The insurgents create a base of operations and establish a “liberation government” to rival the legal authorities. Direct action units start to operate from the base areas, and the use of terror increases. Psychological operations, to gain approval for the insurgents and contempt for the government, are intensified both internally and externally.

- Overthrow
Operations are conducted to cause the fall of the government and to establish the insurgents as the legal government. During this stage the conflict might remain irregular warfare or it might be transformed into civil war.

Strategy to Defeat the Third Jihad
More effective ways to neutralize the tactics, techniques and strategies of the Third Jihad must be used in the future if it is to be defeated. We must defeat, deter, or neutralize our enemy. In irregular warfare there is never the final victory of conventional war – success is defined by stability.

First, we must recognize that destroying a few leaders will not end the Third Jihad. The leaders represent an important segment of our enemy, but not its totality. Second, we do not want to make Islam or an entire culture our enemy. Third, we must recognize that the demise of Israel will not mean an end of the Third Jihad, even though Israel will always be used to rally support for the Third Jihad. Fourth, we must recognize that withdrawal from the Middle East will only embolden the evildoers (Hirabahists) and make the final clash of civilizations more likely.

The best strategy for those that want to defend Western culture would be to:

1. Assure that Iraq, and the rest of the Middle East, is stabilized and that worldwide no state is willing to support insurgents attempting to overthrow those in authority.

2. Work toward energy independence through: (a) developing alternative sources of oil so that our economy is not dependent on energy sources that our enemies can disrupt; (b) using less oil, and less energy overall, while maintaining our standard of living; (c) developing new sources of energy – primarily nuclear.

3. Adopt a policy of containment until the faults within the Third Jihad cause its ideological certitude to collapse, and pursue policies, both overt and covert, to hasten this collapse.

4. Face the fact that communication superiority is a prerequisite for success in irregular warfare, just as air superiority is a prerequisite for victory in conventional war. To date we have been ineffective in the strategic communication campaign to strengthen the will of our own people, to weaken the will of our enemies, and gain the support of people around the world. In the current battle of wills, strategic communication is the center of gravity. This conflict is not to be won through economic, diplomatic, and military means.

5. Develop a message as effective as Muhammad's in winning hearts and minds and a sociopolitical structure based on that message which is more powerful than that of the global revivalist movement known as the Third Jihad. Recognize that the true believers of the Third Jihad are willing to suffer, sacrifice, deceive, kill, conquer, and die for their cause. Recognize that we need true believers in our cause.

6. Encourage the respected leaders and scholars of the Islamic world to condemn those using violence in the name of Islam in religious terms, rather than in Western secular terms, and condemn those in the West who give aid, comfort, and support to the evildoers (Hirabahists).

7. Make a distinction between war, irregular warfare, and peace and develop stability forces, distinctive from war fighting forces, specifically for operations in irregular warfare. Integrate members of all government agencies (specifically Defense, State, CIA, USIA, USAID, and Commerce) into the stability forces. Deploy war fighting forces as a deterrent in peace and irregular warfare but only engage them in combat for extended periods of time with a declaration of war by Congress. Use stability forces in overt and covert operations during peace and irregular warfare. Revise the JCS Unified Command Plan into a National Security Operations Plan so that the stability forces have adequate supervision and support during peace and irregular warfare.

8. Take actions to counter the effects of postmodern thought on Western culture. The weakening of the will in Europe and America, and ability to protect Western culture as it developed in the modern era (until the 1960s), has many causes. Partly it is the result of actions by those disillusioned by World War I and World War II, and partly it is the result of the cycle of rise and fall common to all groups. The ability to counter the Third Jihad depends on strengthening the will of all of those who value Western culture.

Nation-building
We need to become more skillful in getting others to build their own nations at little or no cost to us. Those identifying with the nation being built must accomplish nation-building. Others can assist, but the leadership, dedication, vision, and energy must come from within – from those who are part of the nation being built. At the heart of nation-building is the creation and maintenance of a common sense of identity from which behavior is self regulated without coercion. Neocolonialists (those of the Wilsonian School) often assumed that the United States can build nations – this is foolhardy.

- Caption: Afghan heroin, police woman Malalai Kakar -

Nation-building requires continual attention to four interrelated tasks:

1. Achieve stability within a specific territory.
2. Provide effective local authority.
3. Organize and motivate the people.
4. Satisfy aspirations of the people.

Achieving stability is a prerequisite for the other three tasks. However, stability cannot be seen as an end in itself. It is merely a means to the end of nation-building. However, when the focus is on the creation of a state, actions to control the territory of that state can be carried to the extreme – such actions actually hinder nation-building since they do not produce a self-regulating equilibrium. This has been a major reason the neo-colonialists have failed to achieve long-term benefits.

Stability is achieved when the government of a state has a monopoly on force within the territory of that state, and no other group within that territory is willing, or thinks it is able, to use force to achieve political ends. Police forces of the provinces must be integrated into an alliance coordinated by the central government. In addition the central government would have armed forces stronger than any of the provinces. Any group committed to the use of force to weaken or overthrow the established government, i.e. insurgents, must be neutralized. It makes no difference where the insurgents come from.

• First of all, this requires an effective intelligence system that will allow rapid response to any attempt at intimidation by the insurgent group, or payment to it.

• When terrorism becomes a tool, policing appropriate for ordinary crime must be supplemented with counterinsurgency units, tactics and techniques. This will usually require some temporary limitations on civil rights and the legal system. This will require agreement on a social contract, which establishes limits on police activity, and the appropriate checks and balances. Finally, if the insurgent group gains control of any territory, control must be regained, with armed force if necessary, and the leaders must be neutralized.

A second task of nation-building is to provide effective local authority. Each individual lives in a concrete, human, face-to-face world of clear and specific events and situations. Aspirations and an unseen environment may shape his spiritual and material life, but he knows through what he sees, hears, smells, and feels.

This nation-building task provides local leadership – leadership which is: alert for signs of problems, inequalities, and injustices; able to use initiative and flexibility to win loyalty and produce results; capable of countering acts of intimidation, violence, and destruction; able to see that everyone can earn a decent living; loyal to the established institutions; creates a climate to encourage civilian investment; and is capable of educating each individual with values that blend freedom, ambition, duty, and responsibility in accordance with the customs and traditions of his nation. These judgments must be as seen through the eyes of the people and culture involved; they should not be as perceived through postmodern views in a wealthy, western, secular state.

The third nation-building task is to organize and motivate the people. A nation is no more than people welded together by a common destiny, which binds together tomorrow, today, and yesterday into an active whole. This nation-building task creates and maintains shared values, attitudes, habits, and goals which shape the institutions through which a nation lives and grows: the patterns of cooperation and conflict; the fabric of sanctioned relationships; the unseen lines of magnetic strength which link, join, and confine; the elusive cultural environment. This task creates kinship.

The fourth nation-building task is to satisfy aspirations of the people. The fuel of progress is the never-ending attempt to satisfy aspirations. Aspirations can unite people in a common effort; yet, aspirations can set one against another, preventing progress. Satisfying aspirations is an elusive, two-faced task of nation-building. Sole concern with satisfying aspirations can only result in turmoil, frustration, and bitterness; as past aspirations are approached new and more demanding ones are invented. This task means that each nation has its own, unique, ideology.

For all Arab-Muslim countries this means a replacement of the pseudo-religious radicalism taught in the mosques with the progressive, compassionate teaching of Islam. This task, just like achieving stability, will actually hinder nation-building when it is carried to an extreme. If this conceptual framework is to be useful, actions to accomplish these four tasks must be interrelated, and the building and maintenance of a nation must be seen as a never-ending process.

Conclusions
Muslim extremists (Hirabahists) are indeed a serious threat to modern Western culture, but so is postmodernism. We should attempt to weaken the evildoers (Hirabahists) through separating them from those Muslims who accept pluralism, and through encouraging secular Muslim states to neutralize them. While our strategy must attempt to eliminate the evildoers (Hirabahists), it must also seek alliance with those Muslims who want spiritual purity in the eyes of Allah together with better lives – freedom, equality, self-determination, representative government, and the pursuit of happiness.

Western culture must be freed from the decline and decay caused by postmodern thought. The balance between secular authority (the control of behavior through the rule of law) and sacred authority (the control of behavior through shared moral, ethical, and religious convictions that provide an inner compass for individuals) must be reestablished [ed. see "Secular and Sacred Authority: why we need it!"].

Traditional patriotism needs to be respected, and national identity must be valued more than multiculturalism and diversity. The U.S. government needs to reorganize so as to reflect the reality of irregular warfare, rather than the War and Peace dichotomy of the past 300 years.

Copyright © 2008 Armiger Cromwell Center, Atlanta, GA 30319-1322. 404-201-7374. Permission is granted to forward this article by e-mail to friends or colleagues on a fair use basis. For reprint permission, contact Armiger Cromwell Center at armigercc@comcast.net

More by Dr Sam Holliday filed in "The Armiger Cromwell Center"

Related:

- "Reforming Islam: Beware of the Fifth Column"
- "Effectively Communicating Jihad: a spade is a spade"



- Filed on Articles in "The Unholy Alliance" -

The Cross and the Crescent (I)

From the desk of Dr Sam C. Holliday, director of the Armiger Cromwell Center

~~-:-~~

In his 1996 book The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, Samuel Huntington predicts a clash between the West and the Islamic world as some Muslims continue their attempt to establish the Great Caliphate – in which everyone is governed by “the ways of the Prophet.” In 1921 Hendrick Van Loon, in The Story of Mankind, described the struggle between the cross and the crescent. He explains how peaceful Arab shepherds listened to Muhammad, mounted their horses, drew their swords, and in less than a century pushed to the heart of Europe and proclaimed the glories of Allah, “the only God,” and Muhammad, “the prophet of the only God.”

Today we face the third episode in the Great Jihad (Holy War). The current so-called War on Terror could be a precursor for a final Clash of Civilizations, or it might be only a skirmish, which if handled correctly can prevent death and destruction of a magnitude the world has never seen. This essay is an attempt to determine the nature of the current threat to Western culture and to suggest what should be done.

Possible Outcomes
If ever there is conflict to the point that either Western culture or Islamic culture is utterly vanquished the world will be fundamentally altered. There will be more death and destruction than in World War I, II, and the Cold War combined. Terror will be an everyday occurrence, and weapons of mass destruction will kill millions.

Our challenge is not to accept the inevitability of this final Clash of Civilizations, but to do whatever is possible to prevent it. True excellence is not killing all of your enemies, but defeating your enemies without killing. Reasonable people must have the conviction, knowledge, and courage to challenge the extremists on both sides – evildoers (Hirabahists) and postmodernists.

However, from what we see on TV reasonable people might be in short supply. Reasonable Muslims around the world need to step forward and challenge those advocating the Third Jihad, for they are subverting Islam to advance their own agenda. The extremists call themselves jihadists (holy warriors), but they are hateful unholy warriors (Hirabahists) defaming the Prophet Muhammad.

Reasonable Westerners, and their allies around the world, need to prevent postmodern thinking from weakening Western culture to the point it is unwilling to defend itself and becomes an easy target for conquest by the Third Jihad. Postmodern thought attempts to eliminate or modify many of the roles, rules, standards, and character that were accepted as proper, good, and right in Western culture prior to the 1960s. Postmodernism visualizes "progress" toward an ideal “Postmodern Culture” that is nonjudgmental and nondiscriminatory, in which disagreements are resolved by universal law, debate, and compromise – but never by the use of force.

The Role of Islam
It is true that there are many violent apostates (Hirabahists) in mainstream Shi'a and Sunni Islam who claim they are faithful to the teachings of Muhammad. They often claim that the only basis in the Qur'an for Muslims to address non-Muslims is to struggle until the non-believers are converted, expelled, or destroyed. If most Muslims accept this view, the final Clash of Civilizations is inevitable.

But the teachings of Muhammad are not so simple – they combine opposites: struggle and tolerance. They present several kinds of jihad. It all depends on what Muslims are led to read into Muhammad’s words and actions. Hopefully there are Muslims who want to avoid the death and destruction of the final Clash of Civilizations. If so, they must find ways to be faithful to the Prophet Muhammad and the Qur'an while they stress inner jihad for themselves and practice compassion, mercy, and tolerance toward non-Muslims. However, this is certainly a long shot. Yet we must convince any such Muslims that they are our allies – that all Muslims are not our enemies.

Initially Muhammad spoke to the pagans who worshiped the meteorite now enclosed by the Kaba at Mecca. Islam was then expanded into a reform movement – in part to replace Judaism and Christianity that had, according to the Prophet Muhammad, gone astray and were no longer the proper legacy of Abraham, Moses, David, and Solomon. The Qur’an clearly states that the Bible is false, and rejects Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God.

Islam from the very start was a religion of struggle, both inner and against non-believers. It sought to eliminate temptations that the devil might use to erode commitment to Allah. It sought to get all people to submit to Allah. Islam does not give a high priority to economic wealth, prosperity, freedom, self worth, or comfort. Islam seeks purity. Thus in many ways Muslim true believers are less concerned about non-Islamic religions or Western armed forces being in their lands than they are about non-Islamic ways, i.e. movies, pop culture, dress and behavior. The challenge we all face is to show that Islamic purity is compatible with Western Culture—a very difficult challenge.

Obstacles
Islam is hostile to pluralistic, representative, secular government, since true believers consider Qur’an law and its sharia derivatives the only basis for governance. It is true that Christianity, Shinto, and other religions also do not have stellar records in this regard. However, dhimmi status (subordinate, disfranchised residents subject to discriminatory taxation and limits on freedom) is unique to Islam. Only when Islam controls a country and all non-Muslims have accepted dhimmi status can evildoers (Hirabahists) accept diversity.

Neither Islamic fundamentalism nor Western postmodernism can tolerate the coexistence of religion and reason. Neither will accept the suggestions in the lecture of Pope Benedict XVI at Regensburg on 12 September 2006. The Pope called for the rejection of dogmatic faith, cultural relativism, and forced conversion. But these seeds of hope fell on the unwelcoming ground of Islamic fundamentalism and Western postmodernism. Even some fundamentalist Christians did not welcome the Pope’s comments.

Islamic extremists see nonbelievers as too weak, too easily tempted, too confused to govern themselves; therefore, they must be shown the way, and protected, by scholar-jurists that know the way of Allah. With the same reasoning, postmodernists think people must be shown the way, and protected, by secular authority.

The evildoers (Hirabahists) see the Third Jihad as a way to seek their Utopian vision of restoring Islamic rule to all lands ever ruled by Muslims but now governed by Christians, Jews, and apostate Muslims. The secular transnational postmodernists of the West are equality rigid in their convictions as they seek their Utopian vision of a worldwide postmodern culture that is nonjudgmental, nondiscriminatory, and in which disagreements are resolved by law, debate and compromise – but never by the use of force.

It is true that Islamic extremists want to expel Western influences from all territory formerly under Muslim control. They want their politico-economic and philosophical views to be dominant. While most insurgents in the past were motivated by a Utopian view of a better world with economic equality and social fraternity, Islamic extremists seek spiritual purity in the eyes of Allah. They seek to protect people from worldly temptations; therefore they attempt to remove anything that will prevent people from submitting to Allah. Postmodernists solve the same problem by giving in to all temptations, thereby making the very idea of “temptations” moot.

Continued in Part II, "Strategy of the Third Jihad" ... "It is a mistake to focus only on terror. The strategy of the Third Jihad is far more complex. It is to be expected that the media, politicians, and those trained for conventional War will focus on the violence of Al-Qaeda, Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Taliban ..."

Copyright © 2008 Armiger Cromwell Center, Atlanta, GA 30319-1322. 404-201-7374. Permission is granted to forward this article by e-mail to friends or colleagues on a fair use basis. For reprint permission, contact Armiger Cromwell Center at armigercc@comcast.net

More by Dr Sam Holliday filed in "The Armiger Cromwell Center"

Related:

- "Reforming Islam: Beware of the Fifth Column"
- "Effectively Communicating Jihad: a spade is a spade"




- Filed on Articles in "The Unholy Alliance" -

Reforming Islam: Beware of the Fifth Column!

Dr Sam C. Holliday, director of the Armiger Cromwell Center - a valued and regular guest author in these pages - is commenting on, and seriously cautioning for some taqiyyah related efforts in reforming Islam.

The review ('The Limits of Liberal Islam' in Wilson Quarterly, Winter 2008 ) of "The Politics of God" by Lilla (NYT Magazine, 19 Aug 07) highlights several important issues. The analysis is right on target and the solution suggested should be our goal; but the Muslim "renovators" mentioned are part of a fifth column.

Lilla accurately notes how Islam differs from other religions, and even from the other monotheistic religion with universal claims (Christianity). For Islam the way to salvation is obedience to Muhammad and the Koran; for Christianity salvation is the acceptance of Jesus' death as the removal of sin.

He correctly identifies Hobbes' argument that "humans must surrender to absolute rulers (secular authority) in order to achieve peace" as the foundation of the separation of church and state as well as of postmodern thought. He accurately notes the influence of the counter argument by Rousseau that "human beings need religion (sacred authority) both as an expression of their natural goodness and as a moral compass". However, he fails to note that the siren's call of progress toward some utopia is a fundamental belief of postmodern thought.

He concludes with the observation that when any belief is "trimmed to fit the demands of the moment, the fewer reasons it gives believers for holding on to that faith ..." It is true that achieving the "Great Separation" of politics and religion, which the West takes from granted, will be very difficult to achieve among Muslims.

The same is true for his conclusion that a "self-confident, modernized Islam that is able simply to coexist with the West ought to be enough". Nevertheless, this is the solution we should seek. The alternative of killing or converting all Muslims is not a very attractive solution.

The West should do whatever is necessary to neutralized hirabahists (unholy warriors, the correct term for those often called jihadists or holy warriors) and this includes supporting Muslim reformers working to renew Islam from within.

The goal should be furthering modern Islamic counties with which the West can live in peace. Everyone should encourage and support Muslims within Islamic countries attempting to change their countries or Muslims in the West assisting in the fight against the Third Jihad.

However, the "moderates" mentioned are neither. They are intellectuals living in the West that are attempting to get us to "understand Islam". They attack those that point out the true nature of Islam, or describe how Muslims treat those that do not submit to "the way of the Prophet". Also these intellectuals attempt to undermine any actions against the aggressive actions of the Third Jihad.

The "moderates" sited are Tariq Ramadan, a Swiss-born cleric, and El Fadl, a UCLA law professor. It is wise to consider both members of a fifth column in the West attempting to weaken our resolve; such "moderates" facilitate success of the Third Jihad. These "moderate" Muslims and their naive supporters are a major threat.

They are the led elements of a global Islamic movement that seeks the destruction of the West. They can be found in our prisons, both as inmates and as Muslim clerics. They can be found in our colleges and universities. They can be found among anti-war activists. They can be found among the translators in the military.

They can be found at the very top of the US Defense Department (See: "Coughlin Sacked" by Bill Gertz, Washington Times, 11 Jan 08, pg. 6; "The Fifth Column: the Enemy Within" on Politeia Articles). The top counterterrorism analyst (Stephen Coughlin) of the JCS was recently fired after his confrontation with a "moderate" Muslim (Hasham Islam) who is a special assistant to Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England. The "moderate" Muslims wanted Coughlin removed because they opposed his hard-to-refute views on the relationship between Islamic law and Islamic Jihad doctrine and his challenging of the politically correct view of Islam as a religion of peace hijacked by extremists.

In the name of religious freedom we should welcome those Muslims that limit their belief to the personal, inner, nonviolent Jihad al Akbar in struggles to improve their own lives. Yet we must be on guard against those Muslims who believe that authentic Jihad, in accordance with the words of the Prophet, requires a struggle against all non believers and agree with the 1998 declaration that killing “the Americans and their allies, civilians and military, is an individual obligation for every Muslim".

We must remember that according to Islamic teaching it is morally acceptable to deceive non believers (taqiya). This is especially true regarding intellectuals living in Europe and America that know Western ideals, values, attitudes and weaknesses.

Copyright © 2008 Armiger Cromwell Center, 3750 Peachtree Road, NE, Suite 374, Atlanta, GA 30319-1322 armigercc@comcast.net. Permission is granted to forward this essay to friends or colleagues, on a fair use basis. For reprint permission contact Armiger Cromwell Center.

Sam C. Holliday is a graduate of the U. S. Military Academy at West Point, a former director of Stability Studies at the Army War College, and a retired Army Colonel. He earned a Master's in Public Affairs from the University of Pittsburgh and a doctorate in InternationalRelations from the University of South Carolina. Currently he is Director of The Armiger Cromwell Center, a small nonprofit Internet clearinghouse for thinking "outside of the box of conventional wisdom." By means of its online essays, the ACC seeks more effective foreign policies to achieve stability through equilibrium.

Earlier by Dr Sam Holliday in Politeia:

- "Civil Right vs Human Rights"
- "The Corruption of Patriotism"
- "The Fable of the Water Buffalo and the Sparrow"
- "The Fable of the Knife"
- "Effectively Communicating Jihad: a spade is a spade"

- Filed on Articles in "The Fifth Column: the Enemy Within" -

Euro Police Convention Duped by Balkan Terror Threat

The 11th European Police Congress, to be held in Berlin on 29-30th January is the target of a Balkan Al Qaeda franchise.

The convention will be inaugurated by Franco Frattini, Vice President of the European Commission, Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security. The second item on the agenda is "Global, European and National threats by Terrorists: National Concepts to face the Challenge."

In a programme note (bottom Programme section) it is advised that one of the speakers, Dr Darko Trifunovic - a maverick young investigator from the University of Belgrade, Faculty of Security Studies - will not be able to attend due to "pressure and death threats" made against him by radical groups that are under his investigation. He has decided not to "expose himself and the congress to further danger."

Dr Darko Trifunovic has been conducting research into the origins, ambitions and operating methods of what he calls "white Al Qaeda", the home grown branch of the terrorist franchise organization in the various areas of the Balkans.

It first took foothold in Bosnia-Herzegovina after the Western powers in the 90's saw the influx of Afghan war veterans into the territory as an easy way to support the Bosnian Muslims. Since the Dayton Peace Accord Iranians as well as Saudi Wahhabis have flooded the statelet with funds, over-sized mosques and subversive organizations, one of which has members throughout the Bosniak diaspora in Europe, Canada and the US. CNAB appears to be the center of gravity of the present threats against Trifunovic.

Trifunovic has also found new links between Bosnia and the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and the London and Madrid train bombings. Specifically mentioned are Mohammed Atta, who coordinated the 9/11 outrage, and Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Bosnian citizenship holder and war veteran, former Al Qaeda 'Operations Chief', who - according to Dr Darko Trifunovic - took over the leadership of the Al Qaeda media campaign ('the Committee') during the planning of the 9/11. Atta's place of residence was a Bosnian hamlet before launching off to Hamburg and the US for his fatal mission.

With the knowledge of the UN interim governors in Kosovo, Albanian-American radicals were actively recruiting terrorists for 'the war against America' prior to the 9/11 attack, of which they had foreknowledge. The UN however, did nothing.

The Foreign Area Officer Association FAOA posits that the Sarajevo based organization, AIO's (Aktivna Islamska Omladina)[1] "(...) Islamic weekly magazine SAFF [2] and organization's website have been fronts of radical Islamic preaching, gaining notoriety for publishing interviews with terrorists who have fought against US forces in Iraq and expressing solidarity with the jihadists and suicide bombers in Israel." FAOA also links the AIO with members throughout the Bosniak diaspora in Europe and the US, one of which is CNAB..

CNAB claims to represent some 350.000 Bosniak refugees in the US and Canada. Trifunovic qualifies them as a new jihadi organization. He specifies four members in particular, who are one way or another involved in Islamist activities. In Terror Finance Blog in "Bosnjaci.net Attacks on Darko Trifunovic" Trifunovic specifies as follows:

"Here is why Bosnjaci.net, an Islamist web site from Bosnia is attacking me.

One of Bosnjaci.net's favorite and honored members is Sakib Mahmuljin, who is a high-ranking Bosnian White Al Qaeda member, accused of war crimes. See this: "War crimes: "Vozuca case", six years later".

Izet Nanic is a former commander of the 505th Buzim Brigade with the Fifth Corps of the Bosnian Army which was an integral part was the "Hamze" unit. See here and here.

Another prominent individual on Bosnjaci.net is Nezim Halilovic-Muderis. He is imam at the Wal-Mart-sized, Wahhabi King Fahd mosque, which opened in 2000 on the outskirts of Sarajevo, built with Saudi money and named after the Saudi monarch. Nezim Halilovic-Muderis, a Bosnian extremist agitator whose antics I have been following since 1999. Muderis's Friday sermons, available on Bosnian websites, are replete with incitement to violence in Israel, Kashmir, Chechnya, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and the Philippines. He preaches the same line on the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq, as is heard among the acolytes of the late terrorist leader of 'Al Qaeda in Iraq', Abu Musab al Zarqawi.

It is, to say the least, bizarre: "In Falluja, according to statements from the U.S. command, spirits have appeared in the form of enormous spiders, weighing about a kilogram, that only attack U.S. soldiers, and the person who is bitten dies within seconds." More information about this prominent Wahhabist is here.

Another Bosnian Muslim war criminal, protected and promoted by Bosnjaci.net is Rasim Delic. According to the indictment, Rasim Delic was aware that the jihadi members of the Bosnian army had a distinct tendency to commit crimes, especially against captured enemy combatants and civilians (...) Reportedly, however, he took no measures whatsoever to stop these acts taking place.

In an email Trifunovic has it that the web master of Bosnjaci.net, Afan Pasalic even openly confessed that he uses Trifunovic' name to manipulate and and false emails and post comments in his name. Trifunovic qualifies the impersonation quite accurately as "shocking!!!!"

A brief insight into some of the more flowery death threats against Trifunovic, posted at Bosnjaci.net:

"Help us God to erase Trifunovic and entire his family from Earth - We must teach our kids from age of 5 how to use pistols and guns, and that they hold in one hand (knjiga) Ku'ran and in another hand a gun ready for use - If Darko Trifunovci goes to the 11th Police Congress in Berlin, God help that all Muslims finish him - Such individuals as Darko Trifunovic, we need to harass him, and we need to continue to discredit him by all means and to very end, until others dare not show up to talk about terrorism"

The manicheic character of the site is illustrated by the shocking death threats in one section, while another is reserved for "Dobri Bosnjaci" (good Bosniaks). The latter consists of a list of special members of the portal: dangerous Islamic fundamentalists and war criminals. Trifunovic: "We are dealing with pure criminals (...) I am planning to inform all EU, US and other relevant authorities regarding this unfortunate incident in order to prevent such thing from happening again in the future." I don't share his optimism.

Earlier this week a colleague of Trifunovic, analyst Ioannis Michaletos, released this media message on his behalf.

Up to now Dr Trifunovic has been able to conduct his investigations from the ivory tower of the University of Belgrade in relative tranquility. When it transpired however he was invited to speak during the upcoming 11th Police Congress and - as a consequence, the results of his research would reach the professional domain - no methods have been shunned to intimidate him, discredit him as a person and as a scholar.

With false accusations of 'Srebrenica denial' and 'hate mongering' - references to laws prohibiting Holocaust denial and inciting racial hatred - attempts have been made to get him banned from the police convention; impersonations and cyber manipulation being but the least methods of choice to muzzle. But it is my understanding that, far from denying the deplorable events at Srebrenica, Trifunovic has been further investigating the matter.

Apart from the personal injury done here, the public damage of this terrorist saga is two-fold: researchers are being harassed to prevent them from doing their jobs, thus interfering with the right of enquiry. The consequences of such actions on the academic level could well be considerable. The second part is even worse: the intimidation of officials conducting criminal enquiries, subverting the rule of law, leading ultimately to mob rule.

Let me wrap this up with some thoughts of my own. In the past few decades one of the greater mysteries has been the question, how the Holocaust on six million Jews at the hands of the Nazis could have taken place without the entire continent raising up in protest. At present, a sizable majority of people in the West surprisingly seem to be sharing views with the people who have declared against us. However treacherous and hard to fathom this may be, it is kinder on the persons harbouring such views: it is after all easier to be a voluntary accomplice - silent or otherwise - than it is to be a coward.

Recent posts on this subject:
- "Progress Report on Operation Western Deconstruct" (summary of the series)
- "Progress Report (3): the Assault on the Rule of Law"

We thank the following participants in this blog burst:
- 1389 Blog: "Balkan Terrorists Target Euro Police Convention"
- All American Blogger: "Euro Police Convention Duped by Balkan Terror Threat"
- Stix: "Euro Police Convention Duped by Balkan Terror Threat"
- Europe News: "Euro Police Convention Duped by Balkan Terror Threat"
- Liberty Forum: "Euro Police Convention Duped by Balkan Terror Threat"
- Ironic Surrealism: "Balkan Terrorists Target Euro Police Convention"
- Noisy Room: "Euro Police Convention Duped by Balkan Terror Threat"
- Strategis Analysis & OSINT Management: "Euro Police Convention Duped by Balkan Terror Threat"

Updates:
- Islamanazi: "Euro Police Convention Duped by Balkan Terror Threat", with an update on:
- The Jawa Report: "Bosnian Islamist Website Posts Death Threats, Gets Hacked"
- Midnight Sun: "Rising Balkan Terror", with an unrelated (?) update of:
- Astute Bloggers: "Al Qaeda Has a 'White Terror Army' inside Britain"

- Filed on Articles in "Progress Report: Summary", cat. Balkans/E.Europe, GWOT, Moral Legislation, Neo Totalitarianism, Terrorism -