The Redhunter

We are fighting an ideology, not a tactic. Yet a large segment of our political elites are intent on ignoring this. Fortunately, not all of us have our heads in the sand. The very brave Michelle Malkin recently introduced her "John Doe Manifesto" in response to lawsuits by CAIR in the incident of the "flying Imams". Go read it.

Otherwise, Phares has a number of recommendations. He is favorably disposed to the Patriot Act, and any legislation that "islolate(s) jihadism in the same way as it singles out racism and Nazism." Non-jihadist Muslims need not worry about harassment, as Islam is not targeted, but jihadism.

The establishment of the Department of Homeland Security was a good start, he says. But it should not just react to attacks, but should try to anticipate them and head them off. One way it can combat jihad is to identify the radical sources in the United States and send the equivalent of "social workers" to redirect "at risk" young Muslims.

As for foreign policy, we must adopt a strategy of identifying and supporting "Muslim humanists". Rather than support the Saudis or Mubarak's regime, we should lend our aid to nongovernmental organizations such as human rights groups, educational institutions, and intellectuals in the Muslim world who themselves want to combat jihadism.

Pressure groups in the West seek to confuse the public by screaming about "Islamophobia" at every turn. They use our laudable values of tolerance and sensitivity towards minority groups and religous differences against us. Their goal is to divert attention from the jihad. We must combat them.

What If We Get Bin Laden?

Let's just cut to the chase. We've all heard the taunt from liberals "why hasn't Bush gotten bin Laden?" Phares says that eliminating jihadist leaders won't make much difference, and I agree. While getting bin Laden is certainly desirable, I fear that if we do the liberal elites will declare the war over and won - and that we need to get back to the business of putting us all under the rule of the EPA.

If this series summarizing Future Jihad has done anything, it should have disabused you of the notion that our enemy is any one organization. Jihad is an ideology with may subsections. Further, many jihadists hate each other as much (or almost as much) as they hate infidels. Sometimes it almost reminds me of the scene in Life of Brian where some can't figure out whether the're part of the People's Front of Judea or the Judean People's Front. Or the Popular People's Front.

Conclusion

Phares says that the war will be won when "democracy and human rights improve in the Arab world".

Me: I agree. We can disagree over how to achive this goal, but whatever we do let's not fall into the twin traps of a quasi-racist cynicism ("democracy will never work for those people") or the pursuit of stability uber alles

Fortunately, many of us in the West have come to recognize the danger posed by jihadism. Me: Michelle Malkin's "John Doe Manifesto" linked to above is one of the things we are doing right. It may be that the radicals have overplayed their hand.

Although bombs and bullets are quite necessary at times, Phares reminds us that it is primarily a war of ideas

The war on terrorism ois winnable if the war of ideas is won. In layman's terms, a necessary condition of victory is to see clearly in the war on terror. But the sufficient condition is to be clear in the war of ideas. For if you want to reach out to the iuture generations of jihad, they must hear you, read you, and see an alternative to the jihadi teachings, madrassas, and vision. It boils down to simple propositions. The clearer the campaign, the more it will reachy future youth. The truth will set you free, it has been said, and the truth will set these captive minds free, too.

Ditto that.

Up Next:
Review of Phil Kiver's memoir 182 Days In Iraq

Previous

In Part 1 I introduced Walid Phares' book Future Jihad and explained the logic of jihad.
In Part 2 I mapped out the three branches of the jihad as identified by Phares.
In Part 3 we discussed methods of the jihad as told by Phares.
In Part 4 we covered how the Saudi Wahabists Undermine the West
Part 5 was about the success the Muslim Brotherhood has had in penetrating the government of Egypt, and it's success in establishing an Islamist government in Sudan
Part 6 addressed the history of al Qaeda, why Osama bin Laden attacked America and what he though would happen after September 11