CAN IT BE TRUE: THE PENTAGON IS DISCOVERING ISLAM?

It is hard to decide whether to laugh or cry about the notion that the Department of Defense (DoD) is “discovering” the nature of Islam, also phrased as “breaking the Islam taboo.”

Hoover Institute scholar Paul Sperry, author of INFILTRATION: How Muslim Spies and Subversives Have Penetrated Washington (reviewed here), published a fascinating paper on 14 December 2005 in Front Page Magazine, entitled “The Pentagon Breaks the Islam Taboo.” Sperry addresses DoD’s efforts to awaken to reality:

“… [F]or the first time, a key Pentagon intelligence agency involved in homeland security is delving into Islam’s holy texts to answer whether Islam radicalized by the terrorists or is already radical. Military brass want a better understanding of what’s motivating the insurgents in Iraq and the terrorists around the globe, including those inside America who may be preparing to strike domestic military bases. The enemy appears indefatigable.

“Are the terrorists really driven by self-serving politics and personal demons? Or are they driven by religion? And if it’s religion, are they following a manual of war contained in their scripture.”

Presumably, when Sperry writes, “Answers are hard to come by,” he is speaking for DoD--Mr. Sperry's book suggests that he know that answers are NOT hard to come by. He then adds, “Four years into the war on terror, U.S. intelligence officials tell me there are no baseline studies of the Muslim prophet Muhammad or his ideological or military doctrine found at either the CIA or Defense Intelligence Agency, or even the war colleges. " (Emphasis added)

Answers hard to come by? No baseline studies? These are astonishing statements. Have these people never heard of initiative or of reading? They lack studies? How about reading some of the outstanding books which tell the truth about Islam—all of which are readily available? After all, how did the rest of us learn the truth about Islam, from whom, and from whom did the sources learn it?

Mr. Sperry further cites the Pentagon report:

“Yet political Islam wages an ideological battle against the non-Islamic world at the tactical, operational and strategic level. The West’s response is focused at the tactical and operation level, leaving the strategic level—Islam—unaddressed.” (Emphasis added)

This recognition is encouraging, but it is something so many of us have been trying to tell them for years. Get this, however:

“So far the conclusions of intelligence analysts assigned to the project, who include both private contractors and career military officials, contradict the commonly held notion that Islam is a peaceful religion hijacked or distorted by terrorists. They’ve found that the terrorists for the most part are following a war-fighting doctrine articulated through Muhammad in the Quran, elaborated on in the hadiths, codified in Islamic or sharia law, and reinforced by recent interpretations or fatwahs.”

Why the painfully slow awakening by DoD?

“One major reason, the briefing states, is government-wide ‘indecision [over] whether Islam is radical or being radicalized.’”

There is yet another reason. Read on.

Mr. Sperry repeats the theme throughout that those within DoD chronically complain that no one has told them about the nature of Islam: “Right now political leaders don’t understand the true nature of the threat, it [the report] says, because the intelligence community has yet to educate them…Even many intelligence analysts and investigators working in the field with the Joint Terrorism Task Forces have a shallow understanding of Islam.” Says one Northern Command intelligence official, “However, all of these organizations [our intelligence services] have made only limited progress adjusting to the current threat or the sharing of information. All suffer heavily from political correctness.” (Emphasis added)

No wonder we are not winning the larger war—the one against Islam!

I suspect that my education about Islam is typical of very many, except in DoD. On 11 September 2001, I knew a few isolated facts about Islam. Starting 12 September 2001, I cranked up some initiative and spent a few bucks, starting by reading a Koran. My mind was opened to the extreme virulence of Islam, and I could not stop learning the whole story. A few great books later, I had given myself a basic education about Islam. Many books followed, to say nothing of endless contributions from numerous, outstanding web sites. Persistence and initiative moved me from basic to advanced education. No one did it for me. No one could have done it for me. And, I had absolutely no temper tantrums about no one handing me studies or educating me.

Do these people in DoD not read? Do they not have curiosity? Are they so full of themselves that they use “p.c.” as an excuse for being too lazy to pick up books? Four and ¼ years after 11 September 2001 and just now DoD has BEGUN asking about the nature of Islam?! Even at that, it is asking questions so gingerly that no one can tell when—or if—they will ever recognize or accept the truth about Islam. Perhaps in this Christmas season, it is charitable to pat DoD on the shoulder and tell them “Better late than never.”

Yet, there is some evidence in Mr. Sperry’s article for more than just faint encouragement and hope:

“The hardest part of formulating a strategic response to the threat is defining Islam as a political and military enemy. Once that psychological barrier has been crossed, defense sources tell me, the development of countermeasures—such as educating the public about the militant nature of Islam and exploiting ‘critical vulnerabilities’ or rifts with the Muslim faith and community—can begin.”

To the best of my awareness, this the first time anyone in DoD—or anywhere else in our government at high levels—has identified this, the biggest hang-up. Coming to terms properly with Islam will end the tyranny of “p.c.” and allow release of the self-imprisoned minds at DoD with regard to Islam. From there, victory can be strategized. Then, the Pentagon will truly have broken the “Islam taboo.” Right now, it is just scratching at it. Let us encourage them to achieve a complete, total breakthrough.

This is a war of ideas. Islamists know it. Our people do not. We must use ideas as weapons. Instead of these anti-American complaints, leading incredibly to investigations about our military planting stories in Iraqi newspapers, we need to flood Iraq with newspaper stories, printed materials, and an endless barrage of radio and television broadcasting. All should be geared to promoting our interests, Enlightenment values, and to destroying every vestige of Islam. No Islamic country should be exempt from this philosophical war. It is on the outcome of this war on which our future depends.