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The Three Types of Jihadists
Al-Qaeda may be the least of our worries.
Perhaps the greatest mistake the West makes is equating the war on terror with the war on al-Qaeda, as if someone trying to help Sharia law replace democratic freedom must follow the standard set by bin Laden in order to be defined as an “extremist.” When extremists condemn bin Laden and 9/11, there will always be some voice in the West eager to embrace them as the moderate counter to Islamic extremism, whether that be the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamic Courts Union of Somalia, or governments like Saudi Arabia and Iran.
A recent analysis by the Middle East Media Research Institute of the harsh criticism of Ayman al-Zawahiri by Dr. al-Fadl, his former spiritual mentor, shows that there are three types of jihadists, differing on strategy and details, but sharing the same end goal. The failure of the West to see these distinctions will lead to erred policy and strategy, forcing our grandchildren to fight a war that should be won on our watch.
I call the first group the “total jihadists.” These are the terrorists that pose the most imminent threat, which it seems our strategy focuses solely on. Their mindset is to attack now and attack everywhere, striking Muslims, Arab regimes, or civilians in Europe and the U.S. without any clear methodology to achieve their objectives besides instilling fear. Their actions are aimed at striking fear into the U.S., causing a withdrawal of support for overseas allies, allowing Arab regimes to fall and the beginnings of a puritan Islam that will eventually overtake the entire world.
Al-Qaeda is the shining example of this type of jihadist. Without a clear, comprehensive, long-range strategy to achieve this, they are reckless by nature, inadvertently shooting themselves in the foot by causing Muslim populations to turn against their brutality. They manage to grab the headlines with their beheadings and spark up a sweat with their suicide bombings, but al-Qaeda and the rest of the “total jihadists” are the smallest piece of the terrorist pie, and over the long term probably the least threatening.
The second group is the “near enemy jihadists.” This group acts like a parasite, infiltrating and attaching themselves to regional conflicts, enlisting them in the global radical Islamic offensive. Posing as forces fighting occupation or oppression, this enables them to parade as nationalists in an attempt to gain some level of legitimacy, not only on the battleground but in the West as well. Michael Moore’s praise of the Iraqi insurgents as “freedom fighters” liberating Arab land from foreign occupiers serves as a textbook example of this manipulation.
Their goal is to first remove Western military might from Muslim lands and then begin the process of cleansing these lands of Western influence. Their strategy is a long-term one, seeking to first establish a foothold in the Islamic world that can be expanded until a superpower can be created. Hamas, the Taliban, Hezbollah, and the other groups that mostly focus on their own theaters (while building infrastructure in other places) are examples of these types of jihadists. This does not mean they don’t have larger, more long-term objectives, but rather they are the grand prize to be pursued at the end.
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Ryan Mauro is the founder of WorldThreats.com and the director of intelligence at the Asymmetrical Warfare and Intelligence Center (AWIC). He’s also the national security researcher for the Christian Action Network and a published author. He can be contacted at TDCAnalyst@aol.com.
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31 Comments
1. DaveinPhoenix:And then there’s the 4th type: They’re very popular, thin skinned, they despise Americans. They get elected to office and do everything possible to destroy the very things which made America the greatest nation on Earth.
May 7, 2009 - 6:00 am 2. Laura:The worst thing a non-Moslem can do it back down from any Moslem. Shout them down if need be, refute their lies and subtle attempts to proselytize and impose their beliefs on us. They thrive on fear and intimidation. They hide behind women and children. They are bullies and cowards in the truest form. The average person is ignorant of Islam and it’s tenants. Arm yourselves with knowledge so that you can expose them to others.
May 7, 2009 - 6:42 am 3. sheesh:And then there’s the Idaho militiaman.
May 7, 2009 - 8:00 am 4. whyaminotsurprised:They work through “hate” crime bills. They pass legislation for “protected classes” as if they are not citizens and our laws don’t apply to them. They penetrate the Pentagon and every other institution that makes this country run and keeps us safe. We can thank “The One” for opening the flood gates. Thank you to the Teachers unions who have made our society stupid enough to believe in fairy tales.
As for the types you outline, I have recognized them but they are all part and parcel of the same group who seeks to destroy Israel, America and dominate the world with their own hate. For Europe, it is already too late, i.e. German conquest of Europe before US has to enter the war to free world from tyranny. The difference is that this war is being brought to our doorstep. We won’t have to cross the big pond because they are already here. Here at home, Obama taking office was the opening salvo and now the Hun stands at the gates ready to assert his dominance. With all the problems in the world, I’ve never seen a happier man in the white house. It’s showtime! Pass the ammo!
May 7, 2009 - 8:48 am 5. Joe Bison:As I’ve said before the goal is the same, only
the preferred method differs. We on the other
hand don’t have a coherent realistic philosophy
guiding us.
We want to end the present violent aspect and
to promote tolerance. So we promote tolerance
of the intolerant in our societies and practice
multiculturalism to make sure they stay that
way.
Those who promote multicultural tolerance are
May 7, 2009 - 9:14 am 6. anton:those least likely to sacrifice for it.
Meanwhile they have their eye on the ball
with the endgame in mind and it is called
Dar al-Islam.
@3. sheesh,
I am not aware of any Muslim Militia in Idaho….that would be the ultimate religious-right-wing-gun-toting-wacko. Perhaps that is what our desperately confused DHS director was talking about.
They probably got into Idaho from Canada, to boot!
May 7, 2009 - 9:20 am 7. dan:these distinctions are interesting but they ultimately seem academic. if the islamic world is littered with personalities vulnerable to the more virulent, but there exist competing less virulent party lines in which they can repose, who is to say this retreat into moderation would be sincere, not merely tactical, not the result of fatigue, to be thrown off when the batteries are recharged? it strikes me that the most prudent thing to do – if we do believe this islamism is sincere and as it appears to be – would be to turn the Kaaba into crater. seriously. oh sure everyone would lose their mind, but islam appears to be highly brittle and ultimately governed by a sort of cosmic Mandate of Heaven. well, if you kill the king, they lose the Mandate. it may just be that simple. otherwise, the spectrum of views doesn’t necessarily mean the danger is reduced; it may mean the opposite.
May 7, 2009 - 9:32 am 8. JHM dba 'C. Iulius Cæsar':Now here is a fun game, Mr. Bones, and one that we can play too!
_Gallia est omnis divisa in_ …. I beg your pardon, sir: _jihád_ careerism as a whole is divided into three parts, of which the Total-Terrorians inhabit the first. The T-T’s are those neocomrades whose knees jerk so readily that pretty well everythin’ that is not nailed down looks like bein’ “an ‘existential’ threat” to them. [1]
“Their actions are aimed at …” — well, no, one cannot accurately accuse their actions of bein’ ‘aimed’.
(( What are *your* toes aiming to kick, Mr. Bones, when the philosophical hammer of Dr. Nietzsche idolly makes contact with your pastern [2] at twilight? ))
The second group contains “nearly learned _jihád_ careerists.” It is a group which — sure ’nuff and just exactly like the neocomrade(ss) says! — “acts like a parasite,” in the sense that somebody else, call him “Mine Host” [3], had to produce the translations on the basis of which they career and careen.
Last and perhaps most alarmin’ come “really learnèd _jihád_ careerists.”
At this point my own gleesome threesome differs significantly from that of Neocomrade(ss) R. Mauro, because genuine erudition of the pertinent sort tends not to be what (s)he would call ‘practical’. For instance I betcha can’t say for sure, Mr. Bones, whether Neocomrade Herr Prof. Dr. B. Lewis of Princeton [4] and Wingnut City [5] can or cannot park his bicycle straight. Not that this point of detail matters a great deal apart from our immediate and somewhat improbable purposes.
That’s the theory. Now for some quick application:
What-Went-Wrong? Bernie [6] adorns Class Three, as noted.
Class Two is, obviously, the pigeon hole for J. C. fowl like Bob Cardinal Spencer and St. Hugh the Simple of Castle Fitzgerald. But not for them alone: don’t forget the PowerPoint subdivision of _jihád_ careerism, Mr. Bones, all those good folks who know lots of alien and bewilderin’ languages that happen to be rather of the Microsoftic family than of the S*m*t*c or Indo-Terrific. (Perhaps I may give _alma mater_ a back-handed plug, sir, by singling out ¡MESH! [7] in particular at this juncture?)
I believe it would be more decorous and what Princess Neoterica Herself condescended to call ‘seemly’ the other day [8] not to mention any names of individuals in conjunction with Class One _jihád_ careerism. Still, if you hang around just above the e-gutter of Front Page Magazine [9], . . . well, _verb. sap._, sir, _verb. sap._
Happy days.
(( P.S. I’m tempted, Mr. Bones, to shred Neocomrade(ss) R. Mauro’s third category a little — as manifestly proceedin’ along methodologically unsound _lucus a non lucendo_ or “Invisible Cat of the Philosophers” lines, don’t you know? But we’ve piled up ten endnotes already. Rather than seem importunate or even tiresome to the Pajamastánís, let us leave that self-indulgence for some other e-day that may or may not ever actually e-dawn.
(( The pet google seems to invite me to guess that the R. Mauro person is male, by the way:
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Media/Homepage/analyst2.gif
But God knows best of whom that URL is a picture. ))
__
[1] Everythin’ except Heideggerian _Geworfenheit_ and possibly the heartbreak of psoriasis, that is.
[2] O.K., sure, right: _patella_, not ‘pastern’. Big deal.
[3] Either _unpolitische Morgenlandskündige_ or learnèd _jihád_ careerists produce such translations. The former predominate by two or three orders of magnitude, it seems to me, except in the immediate vicinity of the MEM®I brand stinkfruit collectors. [99]
[4] http://www.princeton.edu/~nes/faculty_lewis.html
[5] http://asmeascholars.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4&Itemid=6
[6] http://www.amazon.com/What-Went-Wrong-Western-Response/dp/0195144201#reader
[7] http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/mesh/
[8] http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/rubin/64761
[9] http://frontpagemag.com/
(…)
[99] http://www.memri.org/german/
May 7, 2009 - 10:04 am 9. bubblehead:@3 sheesh
I missed the news last night, so I might be a little out of date. Could you please fill us all in on the episode where a militiaman (from any state) blew himself up in a shopping center because he believed the more people he murdered, the better his chances of getting into heaven? How about the militiaman who entered a school and murdered all the girls because god told him that girls should not be educated?
Still blank?
How about the militiaman who collected a bunch of his good-ol’ boys and entered a high-class hotel, murdering everyone he thought was a member of (fill in your own ethinc group)? Don’t have one of those either?
Well, surely you must have an example of a militiaman who blew up a school bus. No, how about a commuter bus? None of those either? Help me, I’m struggling here. You see, you equated Muslim murderers with American patriots. You didn’t even cringe! Surely you have some example of a militiaman who kidnapped someone and then beheaded them with a dull knife; while video recording it no less!!!
None of that either???!
Then how, exactly do you justify your statement? Don’t hide! No mealy-mouthed nonsense! No ad-hominem attacks allowed! JUSTIFY YOURSELF! Or shut the %&%*& up!
May 7, 2009 - 10:10 am 10. Libertythip46:When it comes to radical Muslim jihadists, you must be kidding me if you think there are any “moderates” in any of the three groups listed above. The only thing these animals understand is force. If you fight back hard enough, they will stay in their own troubled, failed, states and continue slaughtering their own, just like they have been for centuries. The wars between Sunni and Shia and Persians and Arabs goes back over 1,000 years and no amount of “diplomacy,” “dialogue,” or “reaching out to moderate Muslims” is going to get you anywhere with these fanatics. After 9/11, the United States should have gone into Afghanistan with massive force and eliminated (yes eliminate, or kill, not capture and send to Guantanamo) every Taliban and al Qaeda fighter we could locate. If we had killed them then we would not be worrying about those same people now. And please, don’t say anything foolish like, “Well, if we did that, then we would only have encouraged more Muslims to fight us.” Bunk. If the Muslims and the world saw just how cruel and how terrifying our retribution could be after Muslim jihadists killed 3,000 Americans in cold blood, trust me, they would think twice about attacking the United States again. Force is the only thing these people fear, which is why al Qaeda is losing so badly in Iraq now. Once the Iraqi people saw that we would use massive force against al Qaeda, they began to turn on them. It is a simple object lesson in power politics that has served major powers well for about 2,000 years now. You just don’t win against fanatics like this by trying to be civil to them.
May 7, 2009 - 10:29 am 11. Spindok:Islam is actually much closer to Judaism than it is to Christianity in structure. Both emerge from a history in which religion, law, and politics are comingled. Like Islam, Judaism has no central heirachy or authority other than the almighty, whom is not always explicit.
The major difference is that Islam has mostly developed in its own lands and population. A true believer is confidant that all peoples will eventually be Muslims. Jews do not generally think this way, although you could find other examples in history. For the most part Jews never thought that everyone needs to be a Jew. The terms “salvation” or “jihad” have no resonance in the Jewish world.
I remember talking to a good friend who became an evangelical Christian (I am Jewish) who looked at me wide-eyed and asked after she had asked me some questions which I tried to answer, “will then, who will forgive you for your sins?”. I had no idea what she was talking about. We are still friends.
Talking to a devout Muslim we would have similar differences in which we each understood basic core concepts that the other had no idea about.
The concept of divorcing government from religion is one such core concept. There is a fine edge between ‘tolerance’ of the other vs. accepted partner in a joint-venture such as the USA.
Jews and Christians were both there for the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, the founding of modern states with equal protection for minorities, and both contributed to that. Muslims were mostly somewhere else. There is some catching up to do.
Most Americans today dont care if you worship Ba’al or Buddha. Just cut your grass when it needs it, pay your taxes, and show up on neighborhood cleanup day. Bring a rake and a shovel if you have one.
Always there is the olive branch and the sword. I am personally very hawkish on such issues. Yet I still know that at the end there must be a peace.
Spindok
May 7, 2009 - 11:30 am 12. Steve:3. sheesh:
And then there’s the Idaho militiaman.
You sir (or madam) have nothing to add here. All you are trying to do is rile people up with idiotic banter that has nothing to do with the topic of the article.
Do the world a favor……leave and don’t come back.
May 7, 2009 - 12:42 pm 13. Anonymous:@3 sheesh
I missed the news last night, so I might be a little out of date.
.. Timothy McVeigh?
Forgot?
May 7, 2009 - 1:53 pm 14. bubblehead:OK, you got me! Yes, I forgot about McVeigh. I guess you’re right; those Idaho militiamen ARE every bit as dangerous as Muslim fanatics with AK-47’s, C-4 & RPG’s!
Oh WOE is us! How will we ever survive this onslaught?
May 7, 2009 - 2:31 pm 15. McBRIDE:The days were good when the ROE were: face is covered.Check. Carrying a weapon.Check.No civilians in the line of fire.Check.TANGO DOWN!! and TOES UP!!!
May 7, 2009 - 3:36 pm 16. John Moore:Hmmm… sounds just like the modern left in the United States.
May 7, 2009 - 4:31 pm 17. Fantom:Actually sheesh is the worst jihaddi. He hates his people so much he aids islam.
May 7, 2009 - 5:34 pm 18. JED:Richard Fernandez of the Belmont Club years ago wrote about the three aims of the Jihadists.
May 7, 2009 - 6:24 pm 19. kabud:1.Purify the religion.
2.Drive the infidels out of the holy lands.
3.Expand.
I get it without the details of sects, tactics, and smooth talking.
this article is very naive
the so called `islamists` of any kind are just puppets for the only real force out there which is russian-china alliance
the fact that millions of Americans bought into the fictional story of Al-Qaeda
is a sign of the Western civilization reaching the level of stupidity that signifies point of no return
May 7, 2009 - 6:28 pm 20. Lucious:It’s up to our brave soldiers of God the Almighty to purge the Earth of the unholy believers in the false prophet. God bless the soldiers of the U.S.A. in their spiritual war, their crusade, to destroy the false believers. May they crush and slaughter all those who refuse to accept the love and mercy of Jesus Christ! Jesus definitely wants us to kill ‘em all! Jesus definitely wants us to torture the heck out of anyone who might be involved with nonbelievers.
Oh, wait…I sound like a jihadist don’t I? And yet, our boys really do believe (are indoctrinated to believe) that they are in a “spiritual war” with another faith. Nightmare!
Instead of killing all the religious extremists we should concentrate on killing Allah! Kill him with money, sex, cars, clean water, fun, beauty, music, and more sex. Kill him with drugs, sitcoms, and jelly beans. Kill him with good food and ample parking. And while we’re at it, let’s kill God too!
May 7, 2009 - 7:21 pm 21. Eric:It is the refusal of the PC, moral relativist Left to recognize the enemy that will guarantee that we will one day be engaged in a civilizational battle for Western culture rather than a simple exercise today of our cultural and military superiority.
Read about the Islamization of paralyzed, cowardly, politically correct, multi-culti Europe every day at Gates Of Vienna: http://gatesofvienna.blogspot.com/
May 7, 2009 - 7:48 pm 22. BPT (Australia):I’d also like a special category for liberal college students who refuse to wear deodorant on the subway. This is an act of terrorism too, in my view.
May 7, 2009 - 8:16 pm 23. Frank:Sounds like Ryan Mauro finally started listening to Robert Spencer.
May 7, 2009 - 10:12 pm 24. PatriotUSA:#21 Eric:
Good suggestion for thoe who do not know about the islamization of the free world. Beside gates of Vienna, those are interested in the real islam can check these other sites out:
Bare Naked Islam, Radarsite, SIOE or Stop
islamization of Europe, The Brussel’s Journal, China Confidential, Jihad watch, Atlas Shrugs,Call of the Patriot, and Bird brain. Be prepared to read and watch some articles and videos that are very violent and shocking. Jihad is jihad and cannot be removed from islam.
The west and the rest of the free world are at risk and the POTUS is the biggest, most
ignorant, arrogant dhimmi tool of islam this country has ever suffered under.
We are already at risk more than we ever were
May 7, 2009 - 10:38 pm 25. gordo:during the last 8 years and one thing you can count on: Obuma will make it worse, much worse. He will make the weak Carter days look like Glory days when all is said and done.
The fourth group, and the most important group, is the patient muslim group that emigrates to western countries and has lots of offspring. Europe, in 2050 or so, will be about 40$ Muslim when you account for the low birth rate by europeans (1.6 or so – 2.1 is minimum needed for replacement) and the high birth rate for muslims (well above 2.1) In southern France, for example, there are more mosques than churches, and this section of France was once considered one of the more religious regions in europe. Quadaffi of Libya stated that this non-violent approach will be the most effective in expanding Islamic control over the west.
May 7, 2009 - 11:55 pm 26. Jaladhi:All Muslims are jihadis, whether they explicitely display this behavior or not. All of them have the same end game, taking over the world and eliminating all non-Muslims and other religions in the world. Surprised???
Once our leaders understand and openly declare this, perhaps we can tackle this “war on terror”, otherwise we and our grand children will be fighting this war forever with no end in sight!!! However it will be politically incorrect to do call all of them as jihadis, so what are the chances we can win this war???
May 8, 2009 - 12:28 pm 27. K:I have an aunt who is a Catholic. She married a many from Turkey, a self-proclaimed Muslim. I do not know if he prays x number of times a day or what his true personal beliefs are – but as an uncle he has always been somewhat average and seemingly normal to me. My aunt still calls herself a Catholic, sends Christmas cards every year (Catholic cards) and has three children who are not practicing either religion.
May 8, 2009 - 3:46 pm 28. DonJoe:Islamophobia
Exposing the Islamophobes
“Nothing in our faith says it’s OK to kill anyone.”
(Ahmed Bedier of the Council on American-Islamic Relations)
“Slay the unbelievers wherever ye find them…”
(The ‘Holy’ Qur’an, Verse 9:5)
Islamophobe (is-slahm-o-fohb) – A non-Muslim who knows more than they are supposed to about Islam.
Islamophobia is a fear of losing life or liberty to Islamic rule merely because the laws, sacred texts, and modern practices of Islam demand the submission of culture, politics, religion and all social expression. It tends to afflict those most familiar with the religion, while sparing the more gullible.
In Muhammad’s day, Islamophobia was treated with a practice known as beheading. Since this is now impractical outside of the Muslim world, the condition is best addressed by means of prevention. Such preventive measures include willful ignorance – which is best assisted with a strong dose of taqiyya.
The fact is that when Islam checks in, a lot of folks wind up checking out… permanently. Therefore Islamophobes are a pretty broad group.
Islamophobes include:
Hindus, Christians, and Jews who don’t want to be forced into a political system in which they are treated as third-class citizens. (Islamic teaching)
Atheists who want the freedom to live openly as such and publicly challenge religious orthodoxy. (Islamic teaching)
Women who don’t want to be draped in black bags. (Islamic teaching)
Heterosexual males who don’t want to see women draped in black bags. (Islamic teaching)
Drinkers (this one’s important). (Islamic teaching)
Artists (not quite as important). (Islamic teaching)
Homosexuals who don’t want to be beaten to death. (Islamic teaching)
Anyone else who believes that consenting adults should not be killed or tortured over sexual practices. (Islamic teaching)
Liberals who don’t believe that cultural and moral values should be established by a state-sponsored religion. (Get past The Religion Barrier, for god’s sake)
Dog lovers. (Islamic teaching).
Mothers who don’t want their daughters killed over a man’s “honor.” (Islamic teaching)
Intellectuals who value freedom of conscience and public dissent. (Islamic teaching)
Feminists who believe that women should not be made subordinate to men by a religion which openly insists that females are the intellectual and legal inferior of males. (Islamic teaching)
Anyone else who objects to a religion in which a woman’s identity is defined by her relationship to a man. (Islamic teaching)
The left-handed (Islamic teaching).
Conservatives who believe in preserving the Western heritage responsible for the civil freedom, political liberty and economic success which has attracted the flood of immigrants from Muslim nations, where such values are conspicuously lacking. (Islamic teaching)
Muslims who would like the freedom to leave Islam. (Islamic teaching)
And many more…
http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/Pages/Islamophobia.htm
May 8, 2009 - 5:29 pm 29. D. Grant Chee:An inventor named, Mohammad, invented Islam too
May 8, 2009 - 8:37 pm 30. WhyamInotsurprised?:facilitate an anti Jewish cult and to create
7th century central control through theocracy.
Mohammad and his minions were thinkers who had
to have eternal foes, thus the term for everyone not islamic—” Unbeliever.” Today, it is the duty of the Islamic fanatics to bring back the 12th Imam, their messiah. The preferred method
to bring him up from the well in Iran is to ignite WWIII or total war. Pass the ammo; they
are here, and their followers are coming. All kafir dhimmi’s should fall to the rear of the formation and report for retraining.
“Hush sweet Sheesh, Hush,” oh, the sound of silence!
May 8, 2009 - 11:22 pm 31. cisco:Donjoe…perfect!!! Spot on!!!
May 9, 2009 - 7:55 am