As we stop to consider the anniversary of 9-11, I’ve been wondering, do we remember the lessons of what happened that day? I’m becoming increasingly concerned about some of the things happening in the world and I wanted to share with you some of the things I have seen recently.
I) What the West Needs to Know About Islam (the movie)
I saw a documentary recently entitled What the West Needs to Know About Islam. Powerful movie! It’s so controversial that it doesn’t appear in any one city for very long because of the opposition it generates from radical Islamic groups, among others.
As the documentary points out, there are a number of verses in the Koran, which you seldom hear discussed in public, that put much of what we see happening in the world into perspective. For example:
1. The Rule of Abrogation
Islam is often described as a “religion of peace” and proponents of this position quote verses from the Koran in support of their position. However, there are also verses in the Koran that require Muslims to fight against unbelievers (us) until the entire world says, “There is no God but Allah.” How do Muslims reconcile these verses? The earlier, more peaceable verses were written by the prophet Muhammad in the city of Mecca when he faced stronger opposition and the militant verses were written later in Medina . The Koran tells its followers that if there is a conflict between two verses in the Koran, the later verses govern. This is the rule of abrogation. Hence, by definition, Islam is NOT a religion of peace.
2. The Two Houses
According to the Koran, the entire world is divided into two houses, the “House of Islam” and the “House of War.” If your country is not Muslim, you are in the House of War. Muslims have a Koranic obligation to turn the House of War into the House of Muslim and their primary means of spreading hegemony is through Jihad or “Holy War.” If a “Holy Warrior” is killed during Jihad, he is assured, according to the Koran, of going to Heaven. In fact, the only guarantee a Muslim has of going to Heaven is if he (or she) is killed during Jihad. Furthermore, if Muslims lose control of a country they have once conquered, they have a heightened obligation to retake that territory. So areas once under Muslim rule such as India, Spain and especially Jerusalem will never be safe from Muslim attack. In other words, just as the Bible says, there will never be peace in the mideast. The Arab descendants of Ishmael (Abraham’s son by Hagar) will always have their “hand against everyone.” Peace is an interlude in Jihad and no peace treaty should last more than ten years before it is broken. Islam will always have bloody borders.
3. War is Deceit
In certain situations, Muslims are not only permitted but encouraged to lie. As the Koran says, war is deceit. Furthermore, there is a long tradition in Muslim society of using propaganda to foster a more favorable view of Islam in other countries. This past weekend (September 8-10) the former President of Iran was in the U.S. on a “good will tour.” His message? The U.S.shouldn't be so concerned about Iran’s nuclear ambitions because Iran is “peaceful” and willing to “negotiate” over the proposed U.N. sanctions. In fact, according to former President Khatami, the U.S. is “Islamophobic.” Tell me, does anyone truly believe that Iran is willing to give up its quest for nuclear weapons unless forced to do so? In the documentary, Walid, a former PLO terrorist (who became a Christian) tells of how he and other Islamic militants would be talking and planning in small groups whenever they would gather here in America but, whenever anyone not part of their group would approach them, they would quickly change the conversation. Walid also tells of the various defenders of Islamic Jihad who appear as talking heads on various television shows to tell the American people of how Islam is a “peaceful” religion. Walid even gives names and tells of how these people he used to work with coordinate their message in order to maximize their deception. Please keep Walid’s message in mind next time you see one of these talking heads trying to convince you of the “peaceful” nature of Islam.
4. Miscellaneous
In addition to the Koranic verses, the “West” documentary raised several other points that have stuck with me. At one point, you see a map of the world with all the countries that have been subject to an attack by Islamic militants highlighted. As you scan the map, the realization slowly dawns upon you that that these attacks go from east to west and north to south across the entire world. There are more countries in the world that have been attacked by Islamic militants than countries that have not been attacked. QUESTION: Is this not the definition of a “world war”?
What was perhaps the most riveting part of the documentary for me, however, was the story of Walid Shoebat (see paragraph #3 above). Before he became a Christian, Walid grew up in the mideast as a Muslim. As there was no work, little money and no hope, he joined PLO’s Fatah (terrorist) movement and started climbing the hierarchical ladder. In the documentary, Walid says that he had to compete with other candidates for the “privilege” of becoming a suicide bomber. It was chilling to hear him that the only reason that there weren’t more suicide bombings was that there weren’t enough bombs to go around. (FYI: That’s one of the reasons Israel targets the bomb makers as a top priority.) As Walid was carrying his suicide bomb in a loaf of bread nearing his target, a group of Muslim children ran up and started playing near him. Not wanting to kill innocent Muslims, Walid threw his bomb up on the roof of the building and people inside were killed. When Walid Shoebat says that Islamic terrorists are trying to deceive us and that they intend to attack us, believe him. He was there. Check out www.Jihadwatch.org.
II) The Al Qaeda Handbook
Did you know that Al Qaeda had a bureaucracy that, in some respects, rivaled the federal government? For example, according to CNN Terrorism consultant Peter Bergen, Al Qaeda members used to have paid vacation days but they had to apply for their vacation at least two and one-half months in advance. I suspect things may be different now and that some members may have been called in to work “overtime.” A captured copy of the Al Qaeda Handbook, a training manual for terrorists, was translated into English to submit to a jury as evidence in a recent trial and the Justice Department released a copy of it to the public. If you’re interested, you can see it at www.WTOP.com where you can click on the recent stories. Some of you travel overseas and the Handbook has some interesting information for those of you who do. It also has some interesting insights for landlords and for those of you who live in relatively new subdivisions but don’t know your neighbors. The Handbook is a fairly quick read.
III) Obsession (the movie)
There is another movie that was released recently entitled Obsession. I’ve only seen clips so far, but it looks even more powerful than the “West” documentary and it has some high-profile supporters. Check out the trailer, where it’s showing, etc. at www.obsessionthemovie.com.
One of the things that caught my attention on the website was the timeline of attacks by Islamic terrorists over the last 5 or 6 decades. The timeline lists each attack chronologically along with a brief description of what happened. Again, the sheer numbers are astounding and the scope of the attacks are worldwide. What is perhaps most eye opening is that the number of attacks has been increasing almost exponentially most recently. To put matters into context, however, this should come as no surprise as for the last 14 centuries Islam has been on a march to conquer the world interrupted only occasionally by overwhelming force opposing it. For example, Muslims were threatening to conquer virtually all of the civilized world until they were defeated by the King of Poland and his armies at Vienna on GET THIS September 11, 1683. QUESTION: Considering that the last true Islamic world war true war ended then, do you think it a coincidence that bin Laden chose September 11, 2001 to start the new world war? I intend to order a copy of the movie from the web site when it’s released later this month. I’ll let you know when we’re going to show it.
IV) Dr. Patrick Sookhdeo
I was invited recently to attend a private lecture by Dr. Patrick Sookhdeo. Dr. Sookhdeo grew up as a Muslim but converted to Christianity and is now a consultant to both the British and U.S. military on Islamic affairs. Dr.S. has done extensive study in the areas of Islamic history and Islamic terrorism and now runs an organization called the Barnabas Fund, an organization designed to help Christians in Muslim countries. One of the points Dr. S. impressed upon me was that Islam is not designed to be just a religion, but a code to govern every aspect of life. One of the primary components of Islam is Shariah law which governs private life in ruthless fashion. For example, under Shariah law, women have virtually no rights and can be stoned to death for a variety of reasons. Shariah law dictates that the guilty women be buried up to her shoulders and then stoned to death. Even the SIZE of the stones are specified: not too small because they want to make sure they kill the person but not too big because they don’t want the person to die too soon. Some might wonder if such a thing could happen in today’s modern world. Such stonings happened on several occasions as recently as 2004 in Iran including one victim who was a 16 year-old girl.
Even though Jihad is the primary means used to spread Islam, Islamic militants also use other methods to take control of countries. In a number of instances Islamic militants have taken advantage of freedoms afforded by the host country to gain a foot hold, solidify their base and then use their influence to ferment revolt. Dr. S. has identified a pattern used by such militants:
1. Create an Islamic consciousness
2. Create Islamic institutions
3. Engagement of political and social structures
4. Use violence, if necessary, to take over the country
Think of some of the countries that have been in the international news lately because of their problems with Islamic militants, such as France, Great Britain and Holland . Dr. S.’s pattern fits the circumstances like a glove. Libya’s President Qaddafi said that Islam would overtake Europe without firing a single shot. QUESTION: Might the Islamic academies in Fairfax and Alexandria fit into this pattern? Where is the U.S. in this progression? Check out the pictures and German editorial I have attached to this email.
V) Understanding Islamic Terrorism
Dr. Sookhdeo has also written a number of books including one I found to be exceedingly thoughtful entitled Understanding Islamic Terrorism. For more info, you can check out www.barnabasfund.org. Dr. Sookhdeo’s central premise is that Islam is not-nor has it ever been- a religion of peace that has been “hijacked” by extremists who pervert this so-called religion of peace and unless we recognize that it is the militant interpretation of Islam causing Islamic terrorism around the world there is no hope for a solution. Dr. S. sees the problem as being with an increasingly secular West who struggles to take religion seriously and finds it hard to believe that a modern day war could be fought over religion.
Of particular concern to Dr. S. is the matter of Iran . He believes that Iran will be the focal point of the next conflict and that the conflict is inevitable. According to Shia Islamic faith, the 12th Imam (or religious leader) went into hiding centuries ago and when he returns, it will be as the “Mahdi” (or the equivalent of an Islamic messiah figure) to conquer the world. In Iraq, al Sadr (who is controlled by Iran ) heads the “Mahdi Army” which is preparing for return of the “Hidden Imam.” In Iran , President Ahmadinajad and the Mullahs (who are the ones who REALLY control things behind the scenes) are actively preparing for-and believe in-the imminent return of the Mahdi. The problem is that when the Mahdi returns it will be to a world that is at war and Islam is at risk of being destroyed. The bottom line is that the nut jobs currently leading Iran want to hasten the return of the Mahdi and are just looking to pick a fight with us because they see it as inevitable. Remember, to die in this Jihad is the only real “guarantee” they have of going to heaven. QUESTION: How do you negotiate with people like this? This is not like the concept of “Mutual Assured Destruction” we had whenever we were negotiating with the Soviet Union during the cold war. The Soviets wanted to live. These guys look forward to dying.
VI) So What?
But, you might ask, so what? Why would I take the time to ramble on for four pages and, more importantly, why would you take your precious time to read it? As we take the time to commemorate the anniversary of September 11, 2001 I wonder, do we remember what happened? Do we understand? What lessons have we learned? Do we remember what it must have felt like for those in a 400 degree World Trade Center room who, when they realized they had no hope of being rescued, chose to jump rather than cook to death? I know that description is graphic and if I have offended you I am sorry but, without it, do we remember? I’m not sure that I remember well enough. Those who forget the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them.
In The Art of War the Chinese General Sun Tsu set out a principle of war that is as valid today as it was 2,500 years ago: “Know your enemy.” Make no mistake about it; we are in a war. You may not realize it. You may not like it. You may not agree with it. It doesn’t matter. The facts say that we are in a war. And we need to understand those who fight against us. I believe that we are going to be facing a major confrontation soon. Furthermore, I believe that the will of the American people will be tested in a way that we have not been tested since WWII. We need to be informed and we need to be ready. I would encourage you to check out some of the resources to which I have referred you. In addition, I would encourage you to tell others about some of these things. Public opinion, the media and politics are going to be crucial factors in determining our response when the time of confrontation comes. Your elected officials will need to hear from you and, in some instances, you may be able to help educate them. If we lose our resolve at the crucial moment, withdraw from the mideast and Iraq becomes a training ground for terrorists what is to keep these suicide terrorists from crossing our borders in droves? Perhaps it is that I’m being overly dramatic and such things will not come to pass. I hope and pray that I am but, what if I’m not? Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom.
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