Muslims Against Sharia Blog

Showing posts with label Ideology. Show all posts

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Obama's Withdrawal from the War with the Jihadists, Is Dangerous

Dr. Walid Phares
August 14, 2009

This commentary is in response and conjunction to a report by Anthony Kimery titled, "Rejection of ‘Jihadist,’ ‘War on Terrorism’ Terms Draws Fire, Debate," as published in HSToday, Homeland Security Insight & Analysis.

Commenting on the Administration's report on dropping the use of words such as War on Terror and Jihad, the director of the Future of Terrorism Project at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, and the author of, Future Jihad: Terrorist Strategies against the West, and The War of Ideas: Jihadism against Democracy, told HS Today: “as we read [Brennan’s speech], we realize that the administration is going backward in understanding the threat and explaining it to the public.

Going Backward

“They say the doctrine is ‘to safeguard the American people from the transnational challenge that poses one of the greatest threats to our national security -- the scourge of violent extremists who would use terrorism to slaughter Americans abroad and at home.’ What does that mean?

Nothing. It is as if they speak in abstract. Which ‘transnational challenge is posing the greatest threat to US national security?’ It is the global jihadist threat, with its two networks, the Salafists and the Khomeinists, not the Nazis, the Soviet Communists or militaristic regimes. Why is the Obama administration regressing into a level way below what most educated Americans understand?”

Wishful Thinking Can't Change Ideologies

Phares said “the administration criticizes the narrative of its predecessor and we do as well, but instead they propose something weaker and in some aspects dangerous to US national security. After eight years of confrontation with a world web of jihadists, both Salafists and Khomeinists, on two major battlefields in Iraq and in Afghanistan, and in various regions of the world such as Pakistan, Somalia, Indonesia, the Levant, the Maghreb, and as the threat penetrates the West with homegrown cells, the administration's doctrine on the threat understanding is entirely disconnected from reality.

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Ignorance about the Enemy's Ideology is the Problem

By Jeffrey Imm

In fighting Jihad, America's greatest challenge remains understanding and confronting the ideology that provides the basis for Jihadist terrorism. Efforts to clearly define this enemy ideology recently have been undermined by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), and the State Department in promoting a "terror lexicon" that recommends federal government employees avoid terms such as "jihad," "jihadist," "Islamist," "mujahideen," and "caliphate" when addressing issues involving terrorism. The argument made by the DHS, NCTC, and others is that the use of such terms will aid in the "recruitment" of Muslims to join terrorist organizations, or will alternatively provide "legitimacy" to religious aspects of terrorist efforts.

However, this tactical approach to create a "terror lexicon" to ban such terms used in federal government terrorism reports and the 9/11 Commission report undermines the strategic efforts to identify, understand, and confront the ideology that is the root challenge in a war of ideas against Jihad. And, as Bill West points out, it can also open the door to some unintended consequences for law enforcement.

Congressmen Peter Hoekstra (R-MI) has been an outspoken critic of such "terror lexicon" efforts, and was the leader of an amendment to the House of Representatives' 2009 Intelligence funding bill to prevent government funding from supporting such activities. On July 16, 2008, the House passed (by voice vote) House Resolution 5959 "Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009," which included Congressman Hoekstra's amendment (Section 507 'Jihadists'). Read more ...

Source: IPT News

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Ideological Standards Needed to Confront Militant Islam: What Are They?

Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser
American Islamic Forum for Democracy

Virginia Governor Timothy Kaine (D) is to be commended for accepting the resignation of Dr. Esam Omeish from the Virginia Commission on Immigration. It is unfortunate that the Governor did not more thoroughly vet Dr. Omeish prior to his appointment to the commission on immigration.

This embarrassment could have been avoided altogether had Governor Kaine's office applied basic vetting criteria before appointing Dr. Omeish to such an important position.

Dr. Omeish has repeatedly represented an Islamist agenda (political Islam) in his activism. The ideology of Islamism runs against the interests of a strong national immigration policy and American security. In Dr. Omeish's press conference of September 28, 2007, he stated that efforts to question his appointment "undermine a whole community of faith in a relentless campaign of 'Islamophobia' intimidation".

Read more ...