Washington Finally Gets It on Radical IslamThe ideology front...

theOneRepublic Journal ^ | 4/27/05 | Daniel Pipes

[ParsifalCA]

Does the Bush administration really believe, as its leadership has kept repeating since right after 9/11, that Islam is a "religion of peace" not connected to the problem of terrorism? Plenty of indications suggested that it knew better, but year after year the official line remained the same. From the outside, it seemed that officialdom was engaged in active self-delusion.

In fact, things were better than they seemed, as David E. Kaplan establishes in an important investigation in U.S. News & World Report, based on over 100 interviews and the review of a dozen internal documents. Earlier arguments over the nature of the enemy - terrorism vs. radical Islam - have been resolved: America's highest officials widely agree that the country's "greatest ideological foe is a highly politicized form of radical Islam and that Washington and its allies cannot afford to stand by" as it gains in strength. To fight this ideology, the U.S. government now promotes a non-radical interpretation of Islam...[more]

[GarySpFc]

Important article.

[aculeus]

BTTT

[aculeus]

Related thread:


http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1390055/posts

[karnage]

America's next cultural export to sweep the world: McIslam!

[expatpat]

Duh. Of course, the government had to make reassuring noises to Islam, whatever it really believed. To go after Muslims in general would be hugely stupid and counter-productive.

[Noachian]

I can't see how this could possibly work. Changing the religious outlook of millions of muslims would take generations if it was possible at all. Islam was born out of force, and is maintained by use of force. Any passive means to try and change it will be futile.

Let's not forget that there are people who have been trying to change Christianity for thousands of years, and it's still a strong and viable institution. What's more likely is that the dollars used to counter radical Islam will be used against the West, and the institutions built with those dollars will be converted to anti-American pro-Islamic sites.

To promote Islam contravenes the First Amendment ("Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion") and one constitutional expert, Herman Schwartz, deems the sponsorship of Islamic institutions to be "probably unconstitutional."

This phrase is what will draw anti-religious organizations into the fray, especially the anti-American ACLU. Although this section of the Constitution refers to the US no doubt ACLU lawyers will ask (and probably get) the High Court to broaden its reach to include the Middle East as well. Religion is religion and fighting religion is what the ACLU, among other anti-religious groups, does - even if it's part of a war effort. That the myopia of these groups may lead to suicide for them, and death for others, seems to be irrelevant.

American dollars would be better spent containing the disease we call "radical Islam" to the Middle East, and finding a way to abandon reliance on the Saudi's oil. What's needed is an "ideological fence" around the Middle East that will contain radical Islamics, and permit only a small amount of muslims to pass through that "fence" on a guarded and limited basis.

[Nicholas Conradin]

The David Kaplan article is at http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/050425/25roots.htm

A must-read piece.

[jan in Colorado]

ROP ping!

[swordfish71]

JAN!!!!!!

Good to see ya :-)

I'm a bit behind on my pings so will read the whole article later-though from what I've read it a dilly.

[jan in Colorado]

Welcome back stranger!

[Bennett46]

*

In Pakistan, U.S. funds go discreetly to third parties to train madrassah teachers to add practical subjects (math, science, and health) to their curriculum, as well as civics classes. A "model madrassah" program that may eventually include more than a thousand schools is also now underway.
*

In the Horn of Africa (defined by the Pentagon as Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen), the U.S. military finds out where Islamists plan to start a madrassah, then builds a public school in direct competition with it.
*

In Uganda, the U.S. embassy has signed three grant awards to fund the construction of three elementary-level madrassahs.

Kaplan quotes one American terrorism analyst saying, "We're in the madrassah business."



Jan, I had to step away from this article and think about it for a bit; and to catch my breath.

So, now we are in the 'madrassah business'.

Educatation of the islamic youth with American tax dollars......and who exactly is overseeing what is being taught in these madrassahs on a daily basis?

Billions of dollars going to this taqiyya spewing mass of pure hatred toward us....and yet we only have enough money to send an extra 200 men and women to patrol our border?

The quotes in the article sounded boastful, which I personally found a bit insulting...think of the reaction on the muslim street...don't these State Dept. fops think any Middle Eastern educators read this stuff?

Islam will use our money to spread more hate throughout the world against us.

No, Washington still does not 'get it'.

[USF]

Thanks for the ping Jan! Good article, and great comments at the end by Pipes.

...individual CIA stations overseas are making some gutsy and innovative moves. Among them: pouring money into neutralizing militant, anti-U.S. preachers and recruiters.

I hope they are "neutralizing" them in the most extreme ways. :o)

But I guess the CIA officers themselves may not involved in "neutralizing" the enemy, but it would be easy enough to pull some strings and arrange some unfortunate event to have these jihadis taken out of circulation.

"If you found out that Mullah Omar is on one street corner doing this, you set up Mullah Bradley on the other street corner to counter it," explains one recently retired official.

Mullah Bradley? :

Bradley Fighting Vehicle

.

My idea of "Mullah Bradley" about to "deliver a sermon" to "counter" jihadis:

Hey, I can wish, can't I... ;oP