[Mb-civic] (no subject) Hawaii Polo

[Alexander Harper]

That's excellent, Mike - thanks for posting it. Good briefing.

Sandy

  ----- Original Message -----
  From: Hawaiipolo at cs.com
  To: becca at hawaii.rr.com
  Subject: [Mb-civic] (no subject)
  Date: Wed, 3 Aug 2005 18:23:26 EDT

  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.

    -------

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