[Mb-civic] (no subject)

[Hawaiipolo at cs.com]

Worth the read..good background info...MD> 
> Special Briefing | Jihad: Who's Joining, and Why? 
> By Dan Murphy and Howard LaFranchi 
> The Christian Science Monitor 
> 
> Wednesday 03 August 2005 
> 
> In Tuesday's edition, a report in this space looked at the origins and goals 
> of Islamist militancy, and of Al Qaeda in particular. This briefing explores 
> how the movement is evolving at a time of concern about terror cells in 
> Western cities such as London. Is the global jihad spreading to Europe? 
> 
> It seems clear that this is happening. Events like the London bombings, as 
> well as online postings by Islamist extremists calling Muslim brethren in 
> Western countries to action, suggest to many counterterrorism experts that the 
> global jihad has entered a new phase. All of the members of the London terror 
> cells were longtime residents of Britain, and some were born there, confirming 
> the view that Islamist extremism has taken root. While attacks appear to 
> have ebbed in places such as Indonesia, they have spread to what experts 
> consider the fertile ground of the "ummah" or Islamic community of Europe. 
> 
> Who is joining the jihad? 
> 
> Experts don't foresee jihadism becoming a mass movement. Still, if the Al 
> Qaeda ideology hooks a few hundred followers in countries with many Muslim 
> immigrants, that is enough to wreak havoc. Recruitment in Europe is fueled by the 
> sense of isolation and disappointment in Western culture. 
> 
> Another factor may be freedom of speech. Hate-filled rhetoric and extremist 
> ideals have been spread in European mosques and over the airwaves, some 
> experts point out, even as the governments of these countries have pressed Muslim 
> nations to curb the freedom and teachings of radical clerics. 
> 
> Is the same thing happening in America? 
> 
> Perhaps not, or at least not as fast. Mainstream Muslim organizations in 
> America note that US Muslims differ from their counterparts in Europe - they are 
> generally more prosperous (often from more prosperous backgrounds in their 
> home countries) and less confined to Muslim ghettos. Still, experts point out 
> that the British Islamist bombers were not living in poverty. The key problem 
> appears to be alienation that opens minds to radical thinking. And in that 
> sense, America may have a problem. Recent cases in Virginia and California 
> involving clerics allegedly recruiting young Muslims for jihad suggest the 
> dissemination of extremist ideals exists in isolated cases. 
> 
> Are new groups emerging as Al Qaeda franchises, such as in Egypt? 
> 
> The word "franchise" can be useful, hinting at how Al Qaeda might inspire or 
> indirectly fund an attack without organizing it. But the word is misleading 
> if it implies that terrorists are organized into neat, understandable groups. 
> For instance, if the "Abdallah Azzam Brigades" were in fact behind last 
> month's resort bombing at Sharm el-Sheik, its surviving members are now on the 
> run. If they manage to evade capture, they may well emerge to strike again, but 
> could do so under a different name. Conversely, the brigades' claim of 
> responsibility could have come from an uninvolved sympathizer. The key question is 
> the overlapping personal relationships of those involved. 
> 
> It's useful, therefore, to think of Al Qaeda as an ideological force that 
> reaches beyond its organizational structure. While groups like Southeast Asia's 
> Jemaah Islamiyah (Islamic Group) and the pan-Islamic Hizb ut-Tahrir (Party 
> of Liberation) have some doctrinal differences with Al Qaeda, they have 
> overlapping interests. 
> 
> Are the goals of jihadists changing? 
> 
> Not much, experts say. The targets and tactics may be influenced by current 
> circumstances - such as the US presence in Iraq - but an unchanging worldview 
> underlies it all: The jihadists see Muslims as locked in a life-or-death 
> struggle with a West that hates Islam. While the goal of an Islamic superstate 
> remains central, the impetus for jihad can shift. Ideologues motivate 
> adherents by citing specific cases of perceived injustice. The Southeast Asian 
> militants behind a deadly October 2002 attack in Bali wanted to undermine the 
> Indonesian state in order to create an Islamic caliphate there. They also 
> subscribed to the broader vision of an eventual caliphate running the whole globe. 
> 
> What's Al Qaeda's view of democracy movements in muslim countries? 
> 
> Al Qaeda is against democracy as most in the West would understand it. What 
> it wants is the replacement of existing authoritarian regimes with religious 
> states. These would impose a rigid view of the Koran on citizens. In Al 
> Qaeda's view, Western democratic ideas stand in the way of God's will on earth. Al 
> Qaeda ideologue Ayman al-Zawahiri and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi - the 
> self-proclaimed mastermind of Al Qaeda in Iraq - have attacked democracy as a "trick" to 
> deny Muslims the full flowering of Islam. 
> 
> In his most recent videotaped statement on June 17, Zawahiri lashed out at 
> Egypt's democracy protestors for playing an American game. It was an attack on 
> the nation's secular democracy and reform movements such as Kifaya. Analysts 
> also saw it as a thrust at Islamist groups like Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, 
> which favors Islamic law and says it is committed to democratic institutions. 
> To Zawahiri, such groups can only thwart the utopian vision of a vast 
> Islamic state. 
> 
> If the US left the Middle East, would militants focus their attacks on 
> Shiites? 
> 
> The Islamist extremists whose rage the world is feeling today are primarily 
> Sunni Muslims. In Iraq, which was ruled and dominated by a Sunni minority 
> since the British created the country in the early 20th century, Sunni 
> extremists are already targeting the ruling Shiite majority. Those extremists see the 
> Shiites as impure and have no compunction about targeting Shiite civilians. 
> For some scholars of Islam, the US, in replacing a Sunni regime with a 
> Shiite-dominated one, faces unforeseen challenges as the shift in power is worked 
> out. Some see wider dangers as its neighbors jockey for influence: What happens 
> if turmoil in the new Iraq leads to an open confrontation between a 
> Shiite-dominated Iran and the Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia? 
> 
> Experts also see trouble for the US if its eventual withdrawal from Iraq 
> opens the door to a Shiite-led cleansing of Sunni Muslims - the much-discussed 
> "civil war" that some Iraqis, including former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, say 
> has already began. 
> 
> "It could be very dangerous if the US pulled out entirely," says Martha 
> Crenshaw, a terrorism expert at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. "The 
> jihadists would say that is what the US wanted all along, the extermination of the 
> Sunnis in Iraq.... It could mean huge new problems for the US." 
> 
> Is a backlash against jihadism building from within Islam? 
> 
> Contrary to the complaints of critics, mainstream Muslim clerics have taken 
> steps to combat terrorism. American Muslim leaders have quickly condemned 
> attacks, and have established programs, notably with the FBI, to assist in 
> rooting out extremism. 
> 
> Such commitments have been amplified since the London bombings. Last week, 
> Muslim scholars in the US and Canada issued a fatwa, or judicial ruling, 
> condemning terrorism and declaring violence against civilians - including suicide 
> bombings - impermissible in Islam. Islamic scholars in Britain have taken 
> similar steps. However, many experts worry that this focus on mainstream clerics 
> is missing the mark, since the radicalized young often do not listen to 
> religious leaders they see as Westernized. 
> 
> At the same time, debate grows about whether more needs to be done. Some 
> experts argue that jihadist violence can be ended only through opposition from 
> within Islam. So far, such opposition hasn't stopped attacks. 
> 
> The reason, some argue, is a chicken-and-egg scenario: The climate within 
> Islam might change if Western policy changes. The establishment of a 
> Palestinian state and the departure of US troops from Iraq could leave extremists with 
> fewer arguments that resonate with Muslims. 
> 
> Thus, both Islam and the West face pressure to change their ways. But both 
> sides confront risks of appearing weak in the process. An apparent retreat by 
> the US and its allies could embolden jihadists. Similarly, mainstream Islamic 
> clerics could lose credibility if a fatwa appears to have come in response 
> to Western demands. 
> 
> -------
> 
>  Jump to today's TO Features:                                                
>                                                                              
>            
> 
> (In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is 
> distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving 
> the included information for research and educational purposes. t r u t h o u t 
> has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is t r 
> u t h o u t endorsed or sponsored by the originator.) 
> 
> "Go to Original" links are provided as a convenience to our readers and 
> allow for verification of authenticity. However, as originating pages are often 
> updated by their originating host sites, the versions posted on TO may not 
> match the versions our readers view when clicking the "Go to Original" links. 
> 
> Print This Story E-mail This Story
> 
> 
> 
    
    
        
    
| t r u t h o u t | town meeting | issues | environment | labor | women | 
health | voter rights | multimedia | donate | contact | subscribe |

    


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://www.islandlists.com/pipermail/mb-civic/attachments/20050803/828e6b08/attachment.htm