The Roots of September 11th [Arab/Islamic expressions of hatred toward modern civilization]

Louis Rene Beres September 3, 2002 The roots of September 11th lie deeply embedded in civilizational hostility, in a partial but almost primal Arab/Islamic hatred for western modernity. This hatred extends as well to elements of other major religions, primarily Judaism, but also to certain parts and denominations of Christianity. Although it is probably true that the greatest portion of Arabs and Muslims strenuously reject terror violence as a means of fulfilling Islamic expectations, the remaining portion numbers - at the very least - in the tens of millions. And several millions are manifestly prepared to enter "paradise" at a moment's notice by becoming "martyrs." It follows that the current American-led "War on Terror" should not be based solely upon the presumably purposeful eradication of "extermists." Rather, it must be founded upon the understanding that, for the most part, Arab/Islamic terror is merely the most visible and painful expression of an entire civilization in desperation and distress.

The War on Terror must now confront a far-reaching Arab/Islamic effort to usher in a new Dark Ages, a civilization struggle in which resurgent medievalism seeks to bring fear, paralysis and death to legions of "unbelievers." Moreover, in the next several months, the preferred terrorism tactic in this war is likely to involve chemical, biological or nuclear weapons. This means that the stakes are now extremely high, and that the western imperative to achieve victory is altogether overwhelming.

Our truest war, therefore, is not against Osama Bin Laden or even the particular Arab/Islamic states that nurture and encourage his program for mass murder. Even if Bin Laden and every other identifiably major terrorist were apprehended and prosecuted in authoritative courts of justice, millions of others in the Arab/Islamic world would not cease their impassioned destruction of "infidels." Naturally these millions, like the zealots who destroyed the World Trade Center and attacked the Pentagon, would not intend to do evil. On the contrary, they would mete out death to innocents for the sake of an imagined divine expectation, prodding the innocents for the sake of an imagined divine expectation, prodding the killing of Israelis, Americans and Europeans with utter conviction and complete purity of heart. Sanctified killers, these millions would generate an incessant search for more "Godless" victims. Though mired in blood, their search would be tranquil and self-assured, born of the knowledge that its perpetrators were neither evil nor infamous, but heroic and "sacrificial."

For those millions engaged in the Arab/Islamic war against the West, violence and the sacred are always inseparable. To understand the rationale and operation of current and planned terrorism, including the September 11th attacks, it is first necessary to understand these conceptions of the sacred. Then, and only then, will it become clear that Arab/Islamic terror is, at its heart, a manifestation of religious worship known as "sacrifice."

This is the truest meaning of Arab/Islamic terrorism. It is a form of sacred violence oriented toward the scarifice of both enemices and "martyrs." It is through the glorious killing of Americans, Jews and certain others, including Christians, that the Holy Warrior embarked upon Jihad can buy himself free from the penalty of dying. It is only through such cowardly killing, and not through diplomacy, that "Allah's will may be done."

When we have understood that terrorism is only a tactic, and that it is a tactic related to patterns of Islamic sacrifice, we will be able to confront a particularly lethal enemy, one that already has within its capabilities the capacity (and inclination) to kill hundreds of thousands or even millions of men, women and children. Until now, this is an understanding that has lent itselfto insubstantial theorizing. Now, immediately, Arab/Islamic terrorism should be recognized, at least in part, as a bloody and sacred act of mediation between sacrificers and their deity.

America is now routinely characterized as a "cancer" in the Arab/Islamic world. A recent article from an Egyptian newspaper speaks of "the cancer, the malignant wound, in the body of Arabism, for which there is no cure but eradication." Such references are far more than a vile metaphor. They are profoundly theological descriptions of a despised enemy that must be excised, that is, "liquidated." Where this "liquidation" would be accomplished by self-sacrifice, possibly even terrorism involving weapons of mass destruction, it would be life-affirming for th killers. Naturally, some Arab/Islamic governments and movements would deny such end of the world thinking, but it operates nonetheless.

What is to be done? The truth of the terrorist threat to the United States and the West is vastly more serious than is commonly understood. We face suicidal mass killings with unconventional weapons in the future not because we are embroiled - however unwittingly - in an authentic class of civilizations. While we all wish it weren't so, wishing will get us nowhere. Our only hope is to acknowledge the true source of our now existential danger, and proceed to fight the real war from there.

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< "When we have understood that terrorism is only a tactic, and that it is a tactic related to patterns of Islamic sacrifice, we will be able to confront a particularly lethal enemy, one that already has within its capabilities the capacity (and inclination) to kill hundreds of thousands or even millions of men, women and children."

This war against Islam is the greatest threat to America not because the enemy is fierce or overpowering, but rather because the civilized world refuses to recognize the enemy as such.

you are correct. mis identification of reality is fatal.

"Mans' means of survival is his mind"
Ayn Rand

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