Posted on Sep 24, 2015
Do you know the origins of the doctrine used by radical groups?
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"Know thy enemy" Understanding your enemy can only aid in knowing how to deal with and ultimately defeat them. This is why it is important that we understand what the forces are that gave rise to radicals within the Arab community.
The doctrine of groups such as al-Qaeda is Salafism, a movement that began in Egypt and spread to Saudi Arabia where it merged with Saudi Arabia's official religion, Wahhabi.
Salafism and Wahhabism began as movements, intended to reform society. They were distinctly different from each other as Salafism promoted the use of technology while Wahhabism shirked all modernization. A cross-pollination occurred between the two resulting in more radical teaching and followers picked what they wanted to follow from each.
Wahhabism became more prominent and the followers of it began to issue threats against traditional believers, decreeing that the traditional believers would be counted among the nonbelievers (Justification for killing muslims even though it is forbidden in the Quaran). Those who resist were and are being killed or pushed out.
Wahhabi mentality asserts that Islam can be "saved" by the use of the sword. This mentality is what brought about the weaponization of it's followers and this ideology is flourishing among some groups in the Middle East.
Now we have an armed movement using religion as it's justification for enforcing rule, domination, murder, rape, enslavement, theft, "social reform", participation in the creation and selling of drugs.... They do not tolerate any one who opposes them or does not follow their brand of religion. They reject any form of compromise. They use religion in this case, Islam to justify their actions. They abuse the word Islam. They issue proclamations (Fatwa), legitimizing their illegal actions by claiming these actions help further the movement (spread of their brand of religion). They believe they have a duty and message to deliver. If the government or society of an area is weak they forcefully impose their message on the population.
In addition to their armed approach they also use a scholarly approach, infiltrating organizations, places of theological learning, and mosques, where they begin establishing themselves as leaders and indoctrinating religiously minded people with their beliefs.
To understand this movement we must understand how these ideological movements became armed and entered the psychology of muslims through the scope of Islam. To summarize this happened through force and indoctrination.
How do we counter this? Containment.
The doctrine of groups such as al-Qaeda is Salafism, a movement that began in Egypt and spread to Saudi Arabia where it merged with Saudi Arabia's official religion, Wahhabi.
Salafism and Wahhabism began as movements, intended to reform society. They were distinctly different from each other as Salafism promoted the use of technology while Wahhabism shirked all modernization. A cross-pollination occurred between the two resulting in more radical teaching and followers picked what they wanted to follow from each.
Wahhabism became more prominent and the followers of it began to issue threats against traditional believers, decreeing that the traditional believers would be counted among the nonbelievers (Justification for killing muslims even though it is forbidden in the Quaran). Those who resist were and are being killed or pushed out.
Wahhabi mentality asserts that Islam can be "saved" by the use of the sword. This mentality is what brought about the weaponization of it's followers and this ideology is flourishing among some groups in the Middle East.
Now we have an armed movement using religion as it's justification for enforcing rule, domination, murder, rape, enslavement, theft, "social reform", participation in the creation and selling of drugs.... They do not tolerate any one who opposes them or does not follow their brand of religion. They reject any form of compromise. They use religion in this case, Islam to justify their actions. They abuse the word Islam. They issue proclamations (Fatwa), legitimizing their illegal actions by claiming these actions help further the movement (spread of their brand of religion). They believe they have a duty and message to deliver. If the government or society of an area is weak they forcefully impose their message on the population.
In addition to their armed approach they also use a scholarly approach, infiltrating organizations, places of theological learning, and mosques, where they begin establishing themselves as leaders and indoctrinating religiously minded people with their beliefs.
To understand this movement we must understand how these ideological movements became armed and entered the psychology of muslims through the scope of Islam. To summarize this happened through force and indoctrination.
How do we counter this? Containment.
Theology
ISIS
War on Terror
Terrorism
Posted 9 y ago
Responses: 12
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CPT (Join to see) -- It is very important to learn everything you can about your enemy.
“Know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be in peril” Sun Tzu
“Know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be in peril” Sun Tzu
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I think the real intel nugget is understanding that extremists always cherry pick the parts they like and mold religious beliefs to benefits their own agenda. Education is the only way to fight religious extremism. Kim Davis, that goofy clerk in Kentucky, is every bit as radical as any of those long beards -- she's just of a different flavor. Our greatest enemy is we, the American people not working to understand other cultures. We learn to fear them by watching the media who sell advertising space to keep you afraid. We suffer from national xenophobia. When we interact with other people -- chatting casually or sharing a meal or experience, we do the lowest and best form of diplomacy. I was walking across the Hippodrome plaza in Istanbul a few days ago and a street vendor called to me. I smiled and waved him off and he said "Hey! Are you Canadian?" and I said I was and asked him how he knew. He said "You smiled, Americans never smile." I shared this with the two other couples we were with. They were surprised. I came downstairs the next morning for breakfast and my wife told me another tourist had told her there was some kind of anti-American protest" and we needed to be careful. I checked it and it was in fact a pro-West anti-PKK rally in Eastern Turkey, so the tourist got it all wrong because he didn't understand what he was watching. He saw the red flags of Turkey, heard the word American, but not Europe, not United. That just told me we all need to push ourselves to increase understanding. While certainly important to understand the mindset of an enemy, it is vital to work to reduce the influence of that mindset. Everywhere I went in Turkey, every person I talked to all said pretty much the same thing: "Welcome." and "We don't like Daesh (ISIS) they are not Islam." This has also been my constant observation since 9-11. I've been all over that region repeatedly. I talk to everybody, bakers, fruit sellers, pizza delivery guy, rich folks, professors, diplomats and this is the constant message. "They ain't us!" We forget that Muslims are doing most of the dying so far. We need to understand that these criminals represent a tiny, tiny fraction of the population. We don't understand that. We can't imagine that because every single day we are told the lie that "they all hate us and want to kill us." All of us need to get out of our comfort zone and really start to think about how to meet and get to know strangers. We have to work past our national xenophobia and work to co-opt and assimilate as many new arrivals as fast as we can. Once they are in the USA the media does a great job of getting them started on assimilation. I saw some people yesterday in the airport in Boise. Mom and Dad were clearly recent arrivals, speaking mainly in Spanish. Their older teenagers were bilingual without discernible accents and the little kids were straight up American kids. It does not take long. People who come here want the American dream. I've known and served with many immigrants who became staunch defenders of America. We will get refugees from Syria. I saw bunches of them in Istanbul, trying to get to Germany. I spoke with some. They are educated, sophisticated people who were living normal, middle class lives until their world exploded through no fault of their own. Think about how you'd feel if Texas went batsh*t crazy and started a civil war and you had to go to Mexico and people threw tear gas ass you or hosed you down. These refugees are coming, that's a done deal. WE have to look for the intelligent solution. Since most speak passable English already, we can easily assimilate them. If we make them feel welcome and safe and help them transition into our society, I know we'll be doing a lot more to destroy ISIS than any use of force.
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SPC Glen "G. Warren" Johnson
I understand taking in people who need our help, but we should take care of our own BEFORE we help others. The ones who are coming in are getting EVERYTHING our own Americans are being DENIED. How is this going to HELP America? Just leaves us more wide open to be overtaken.
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The issue with the religion are those who practice the religion are not practicing in the right format. This was a good read. Knowing thy enemy is very important, can be used with peaceful negotiations, and "aggressive" negotiations.
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SPC Glen "G. Warren" Johnson
What gets me is that they teach that "their god" and the God that Jews and Christians worship....ARE THE SAME GOD. Now, I don't ever remember anything about Jews "killing in the name of God", I have with the Christians and now under "Mohammed".
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