Posted on 12/14/2005 10:03:44 AM PST by elizabethr
The Pentagon Breaks the Islam Taboo By Paul Sperry FrontPageMagazine.com | December 14, 2005
Washington's policy-makers have been careful in the war on terror to distinguish between Islam and the terrorists. The distinction has rankled conservatives who see scarce difference.
A little-noticed speech by President Bush in October gave them some hope. In a major rhetorical shift, he described the enemy as "Islamic radicals" and not just "terrorists," although he still denies that radicalism has anything to do with their religion.
Now for the first time, a key Pentagon intelligence agency involved in homeland security is delving into Islam's holy texts to answer whether Islam is being radicalized by the terrorists or is already radical. Military brass want a better understanding of what's motivating the insurgents in Iraq and the terrorists around the globe, including those inside America who may be preparing to strike domestic military bases. The enemy appears indefatigable, even more active now than before 9/11.
Are the terrorists really driven by self-serving politics and personal demons? Or are they driven by religion? And if it's religion, are they following a manual of war contained in their scripture?
Answers are hard to come by. Four years into the war on terror, U.S. intelligence officials tell me there are no baseline studies of the Muslim prophet Muhammad or his ideological or military doctrine found at either the CIA or Defense Intelligence Agency, or even the war colleges.
But that is slowly starting to change as the Pentagon develops a new strategy to deal with the threat from Islamic terrorists through its little-known intelligence agency called the Counterintelligence Field Activity or CIFA, which staffs hundreds of investigators and analysts to help coordinate Pentagon security efforts at home and abroad. CIFA also supports Northern Command in Colorado, which was established after 9/11 to help military forces react to terrorist threats in the continental United States.
Dealing with the threat on a tactical and operational level through counterstrikes and capture has proven only marginally successful. Now military leaders want to combat it from a strategic standpoint, using informational warfare, among other things. A critical part of that strategy involves studying Islam, including the Quran and the hadiths, or traditions of Muhammad.
"Today we are confronted with a stateless threat that does not have at the strategic level targetable entities: no capitals, no economic base, no military formations or installations," states a new Pentagon briefing paper I've obtained. "Yet political Islam wages an ideological battle against the non-Islamic world at the tactical, operational and strategic level. The West's response is focused at the tactical and operation level, leaving the strategic level -- Islam -- unaddressed."
So far the conclusions of intelligence analysts assigned to the project, who include both private contractors and career military officials, contradict the commonly held notion that Islam is a peaceful religion hijacked or distorted by terrorists. They've found that the terrorists for the most part are following a war-fighting doctrine articulated through Muhammad in the Quran, elaborated on in the hadiths, codified in Islamic or sharia law, and reinforced by recent interpretations or fatwahs.
"Islam is an ideological engine of war (Jihad)," concludes the sensitive Pentagon briefing paper. And "no one is looking for its off switch."
Why? One major reason, the briefing states, is government-wide "indecision [over] whether Islam is radical or being radicalized."
So, which is it? "Strategic themes suggest Islam is radical by nature," according to the briefing, which goes on to cite the 26 chapters of the Quran dealing with violent jihad and the examples of the Muslim prophet, who it says sponsored "terror and slaughter" against unbelievers.
"Muhammad's behaviors today would be defined as radical," the defense document says, and Muslims today are commanded by their "militant" holy book to follow his example. It adds: Western leaders can no longer afford to overlook the "cult characteristics of Islam."
It also ties Muslim charity to war. Zakat, the alms-giving pillar of Islam, is described in the briefing as "an asymmetrical war-fighting funding mechanism." Which in English translates to: combat support under the guise of tithing. Of the eight obligatory categories of disbursement of Muslim charitable donations, it notes that two are for funding jihad, or holy war. Indeed, authorities have traced millions of dollars received by major jihadi terror groups like Hamas and al-Qaida back to Saudi and other foreign Isamic charities and also U.S. Muslim charities, such as the Holy Land Foundation.
According to the Quran, jihad is not something a Muslim can opt out of. It demands able-bodied believers join the fight. Those unable -- women and the elderly -- are not exempt; they must give "asylum and aid" (Surah 8:74) to those who do fight the unbelievers in the cause of Allah.
In analyzing the threat on the domestic front, the Pentagon briefing draws perhaps its most disturbing conclusions. It argues the U.S. has not suffered from scattered insurgent attacks -- as opposed to the concentrated and catastrophic attack by al-Qaida on 9-11 -- in large part because it has a relatively small Muslim population. But that could change as the Muslim minority grows and gains more influence.
The internal document explains that Islam divides offensive jihad into a "three-phase attack strategy" for gaining control of lands for Allah. The first phase is the "Meccan," or weakened, period, whereby a small Muslim minority asserts itself through largely peaceful and political measures involving Islamic NGOs -- such as the Islamic Society of North America, which investigators say has its roots in the militant Muslim Brotherhood, and Muslim pressure groups, such as the Council on American-Islamic Relations, whose leaders are on record expressing their desire to Islamize America.
In the second "preparation" phase, a "reasonably influential" Muslim minority starts to turn more militant. The briefing uses Britain and the Netherlands as examples.
And in the final jihad period, or "Medina Stage," a large minority uses its strength of numbers and power to rise up against the majority, as Muslim youth recently demonstrated in terrorizing France, the Pentagon paper notes.
It also notes that unlike Judaism and Christianity, Islam advocates expansion by force. The final command of jihad, as revealed to Muhammad in the Quran, is to conquer the world in the name of Islam. The defense briefing adds that Islam is also unique in classifying unbelievers as "standing enemies against whom it is legitimate to wage war."
Right now political leaders don't understand the true nature of the threat,\ it says, because the intelligence community has yet to educate them. They still think Muslim terrorists, even suicide bombers, are mindless "criminals" motivated by "hatred of our freedoms," rather than religious zealots motivated by their faith. And as a result, we have no real strategic plan for winning a war against jihadists.
Even many intelligence analysts and investigators working in the field with the Joint Terrorism Task Forces have a shallow understanding of Islam.
"I don't like to criticize our intelligence services, because we did win the Cold War," says a Northern Command intelligence official. "However, all of these organizations have made only limited progress adjusting to the current threat or the sharing of information."
Why? "All suffer heavily from political correctness," he explains.
PC still infects the Pentagon, four years after jihadists hit the nation's military headquarters.
"A lot of folks here have a very pedestrian understanding of Islam and the Islamic threat," a Pentagon intelligence analyst working on the project told me. "We're getting Islam 101, and we need Islam 404."
The hardest part of formulating a strategic response to the threat is defining Islam as a political and military enemy. Once that psychological barrier has been crossed, defense sources tell me, the development of countermeasures -- such as educating the public about the militant nature of Islam and exploiting "critical vulnerabilities" or rifts within the Muslim faith and community -- can begin.
"Most Americans don't realize we are in a war of survival -- a war that is going to continue for decades," the Northcom official warns.
It remains to be seen, however, whether our PC-addled political leaders would ever adopt such controversial measures.
Love is stronger than hate. Christians worship the one true Almighty God while the Muslims worship Allah who doesn't exist. It's a spiritual war whose physical manifestations can be mis-interpreted.
I hoped they would put Crusader Patches on our soldiers.
Most disturbing. Better late then never, but very very disturbing news.
Allah is just the Arabic word for God. Middle-eastern Christians use it too.
That bound roll of toilet paper (the Koran) should've been studied by those fools shortly after 9/11.
Yeah, no kidding. First thing I did.
It'll be interesting to see if they come up with the same obvious conclusions.
In the meantime, a few excerpts from the Quran/Koran:
[2.193] And fight with them until there is no persecution, and religion should be only for Allah
[4.89] They desire that you should disbelieve as they have disbelieved, so that you might be (all) alike; therefore take not from among them friends until they fly (their homes) in Allah's way; but if they turn back, then seize them and kill them wherever you find them, and take not from among them a friend or a helper.
[4.95] The holders back from among the believers, not having any injury, and those who strive hard in Allah's way with their property and their persons are not equal
[4.144] O you who believe! do not take the unbelievers for friends rather than the believers; do you desire that you should give to Allah a manifest proof against yourselves?
[5.51] O you who believe! do not take the Jews and the Christians for friends; they are friends of each other; and whoever amongst you takes them for a friend, then surely he is one of them; surely Allah does not guide the unjust people.
[8.39] And fight with them until there is no more persecution and religion should be only for Allah; but if they desist, then surely Allah sees what they do.
[9.5] So when the sacred months have passed away, then slay the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them captives and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush, then if they repent and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate, leave their way free to them; surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.
[9.11] But if they repent and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate, they are your brethren in faith
So much for religious freedom, eh!!
[9.29] Fight those who do not believe in Allah, nor in the latter day, nor do they prohibit what Allah and His Apostle have prohibited, nor follow the religion of truth, out of those who have been given the Book, until they pay the tax in acknowledgment of superiority and they are in a state of subjection.
[9.30] And the Jews say: Uzair is the son of Allah; and the Christians say: The Messiah is the son of Allah; these are the words of their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved before; may Allah destroy them; how they are turned away!
[9.33] He it is Who sent His Apostle with guidance and the religion of truth, that He might cause it to prevail over all religions, though the polytheists may be averse.
[9.123] O you who believe! fight those of the unbelievers who are near to you and let them find in you hardness; and know that Allah is with those who guard (against evil). Quran 48:16: "Say to those of the dwellers of the desert who were left behind: You shall soon be invited (to fight) against a people possessing mighty prowess; you will fight against them until they submit
"
Quran 3:118: "O you who believe! do not take for intimate friends from among others than your own people; they do not fall short of inflicting loss upon you; they love what distresses you; We have made the communications clear to you, if you will understand."
Throughout their quest, as waging war against non-Muslims is protocol, so is lying for the sake of Islam:
Quran 16:106: "Any one who, after accepting faith in Allah, utters unbelief, except under compulsion, his heart remaining firm in faith, on them is wrath from Allah, and theirs will be a dreadful penalty.
HA! Someone of like mind! I've been saying for years, "I've read the last chapter. We win."
Merry Christmas!
Sura 9:5 of the Koran, Slay the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them captives and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush.
Which parts of these words of mohamhead-n-satanallah are you having trouble understanding?
Seem like they have no problems at allah about killing everyone else on earth!
PS They ARE SERIOUS!!!! Why aren't you????????
Aap aap ahh dap dap!!!!!
It's a religion of peace
It's a religion of peace
It aint Slim W, but this'll gitr done!
Kill A Commie For Mommie
You cannot win a war if you can't even name your foe. It is only because of the superb performance of our troops in the field, that the brass have had the luxury of hitting the Snooze button for the last 4 years. Maybe they are finally getting the fweep out of bed.
If a so-called Christian bombs an abortion clinic, that person has violated the clear statements and prescriptions of Scripture (Ephesians 6:12, Romans 12:19-21, etc.). But if a Muslim kills in the name of Allah, the most he can be called is an extremist -- but one who still holds to the Koran without twisting or misinterpreting it.
Therein lies the danger.
;*) Merry CHRISTmas to you and yours!!!
Paging Michael Graham. Mr. Graham, please pick up the white courtesy phone...
Indeed. The New Testament, in fact, commands the opposite. That we don't return evil for evil.
Matt. 5:43-48
Luke 6:27-36
1 Thes. 5:15
1 Pet. 3:9
among others.
What's more, when you research Islam and find out that its founder married (and consumated the marriage with) a 6-year old, and pretty much hated Christians and Jews, and even questioned whether the visions that led him to write the Koran were satanic or not, well, it kind of says a lot. There's much more, but for more in depth study.
Either way, Islam is clearly a religion based on a "made up" god and a very general one, that counters Christianity and Judaism. Why anyone would follow a religion like that is odd. I left the Catholic Church for less. Far less.
Most people don't follow religions as a result of a conscious, objective decision. They are indocrintated to a belief system and conform due to peer pressure or tribalism. They just go with the flow. Hence, John 3:3 "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. ".
How many that call themselves Christian really are true Christians? I'd say it's a relatively small percentage. How many Christians have actually read the entire Bible? Again I'd say it's a small percentage.
That to me is strange since most people dissociate themselves from religions in attempts to flee the "burden" side of things. I can understand taking on a burden in the interests of reality, but not Islam for example.
Obviously as does not need to be explained to you, Christianity is a freeing, a burden releasing, not a burden creating, faith. That faith is in a person, not a methodology or philosophy. Any changes that take place take place via the Holy Spirit that is controlled by God, not man, the pope, or anyone else.
As well, why more muslims, after actually finding out what their religion is all about, don't either denounce it or take on another.
It happens, but not in the numbers that one would think. Then again, as we've seen time and time again, it's dangerous to one's health to denounce Islam.
Right! We Win We Win We Win!
I've known Coptic Christians from the Middle East and what they told me 15 years ago is no different than what's in this document. The PC multiculturalists are the problem in the west for the lack of recognition of the threat of islam. If we do not recognize that Islam is at war with us, and I mean ALL of islam, then we should get burka's fitted for our grand-daughters. They are like the Borg. They will not stop until every non-muslim is converted or is dead. They will keep at it for decades and decades. I'm afraid that it will only end in violence.
The leftists in this country love islam because it is anti-American and anti-Christian, just like they are.
Including the Iraqi woman who recently said "Anybody who doesn't appreciate the Americans, doesn't appreciate Pres. Bush, Go to Hell!"?
Need to be just a bit more selective if'n ya ask me.
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