Call on Muslims to support the Insurgency failing

By Dan Hare • Apr 22nd, 2008 • Category: Blogroll, In The News, Lead Story
Al Qaeda’s propaganda war is loosing at the moment within Islam.How do I get this sense? Simply by reading their “#2” leader Ayman al-Zawahiri ranting speech. Check out who his comments are directed to….MUSLIMS!The call to support the ‘insurgency in Iraq’, has been REJECTED. The nihilistic nature of Osama Bin Laden’s version of Islam, shot itself in the foot, or perhaps thru the heart as its true colors showed. Victor Davis Hanson, Professor and scholar at Stanford, speaks of how the Sunni’s in Al Anbar had to learn the tough lesson that Al Qaeda was not their friend nor did their version of Islam match their own. After seeing their sons and daughters raped, their fingers cut off for smoking, their cars and gas stolen, and a myriad of other mobster like behaviors, they literally rebelled against them and ran them out of town while switching over to the American side. They had to learn the lesson of life under ‘Islam’ as promoted by Al Qaeda and Ayman al-Zawahiri.I have a friend in intelligence currently serving in Iraq, who recently share with me:
“The war has changed completely. It truly is a mopping up operation now. The Iraqi population has finally turned against these scum. they are fighting them also and giving us the information to fight them. We ran them out of Al Anbar province and we are kicking butt here in Baghdad. Mosul is a hot battleground. But, that might be their last organized stand. We will always have ones and twos but the Iraqis can handle them. The days of Al Qaeda organizing hundreds of fighters is over from what I can tell. Outside the walls of Camp Victory it is quiet. Amazing, huh? I am glad my project sent me here one last time. So much was in doubt when I left in November 06. Not now! It is about the clean up and getting Iraq going in the right direction. And the Iraqi’s are doing it!” (Feb. 08)
I believe Islamic extremism in one sense is their own worst enemy.Recently, I read, (In Sadr City, Basic Services are Failing), on April 22 NYT’s writer Michael Gordon, about how the people of Sadr City covertly slipped a message to the American troops, mostly backing up the Iraqi troops efforts to weed out the ‘insurgents’ or the Mahdi Army of Cleric Al Sadr’s in that broken down part of the city. The message was simple, if the current Iraqi government doesn’t get essential services to their town, they will turn against the government. This as they face poor, if any sewer systems, water, electric supplies etc. They are far less about being an ‘Islamic Jihadist’ than they are about not walking in ‘shit and piss’ thru their streets. In fact that was Sadr’s appeal in the earlier days in bringing medical service and neighborhood protection thru those same ‘Mahdi Army’ workers/ ‘soldiers’ during the chaotic previous few years.I find it interesting how many American’s can’t seem to see beyond this in Iraq when they have similar demarcations between politics and religion here. Take former US President Jimmy Carter, who is known for his strong ‘Christian’ belief and Baptist tradition, yet he is reviled by other ‘Christians’ who abhor his politics.Whether it is the Shia in Baghdad or south, or the Sunni in the Al Anbar region, it is showing that very basic ‘essential needs’ of a civil society are their first requirement for continued loyalty. In fact that comes before ‘democracy’. They just want the system to work for them. This has been and continues to be a big challenge for the new Iraqi government, to get these essential services in order to serve the basic needs of the Iraqi people.So at a much more basic level, nation building is the most effective key to winning the hearts and minds away from an ideology that is pitched and taught in varying shades from black to white and all shades in between.The other point that Ayman al-Zawahiri, Al Qaeda’s #2, is to leverage the long standing notion of the ‘invading crusaders’ which has, in large part, been a successful media tool that Islamic extremist have used to keep the hearts and mind from this new form of freedom called democracy. I have come to better understand the need for the USA to co-opt other emerging powers, specifically India and China. While the Al Qaeda’s of the world do a good job at framing the debate of the ‘Christian Crusaders’ AGAINST the ‘World of Islam’, this would be much more difficult if you had large contingents of Indian and Chinese troops. This kind of ‘world face’ on it makes increasing sense to me.The reality is that to much of the world, the middle east is not about their ‘security’ in the same way as it was and is perceived to many in the USA. The moral issues of genocide and human rights don’t resound in the same way that it does here in the USA. However, the dependence on middle eastern oil and natural gas is critical for India, and China far more than it does to us in the USA. We import less than 14% of our oil from the middle east. China, Japan and India have a much greater dependency. Although it is a world commodity, it functionally is directed to fueling the rising economies of India and China and to sustain much of the Japanese economy.The idea that China should have 50,000 troops in Iraq and India a significant number is something we in the USA need to learn from. In fact, India was ready to send some 17,000 Indian troops to post war/take down of Saddam Hussein, but they did think the USA troop level was sufficient and that their soldiers would have been at to high of a risk. China acknowledged that in a perfect world, they should have strong troop presence in Iraq but that the old view of China (which still lurks today) excludes them from partnering in this way. This was according to Dr. Tom Barnett when I interviewed him. It is interesting that SecDEF Bob Gates, is now expanding joint exercises with China and other emerging countries that were not on our ‘A’ ally list a generation ago.The simple reality to me is that we in the USA need to move beyond the language of ‘war’ and ‘anti-war’ to expanding global supply chains in the most secure way possible.Because it is the supply chains that build nations and elevates people out of poverty and away from disease more than any other factor.That is my take on globalization. It is the UPS/FEDEX/VISA ‘ifvication’ of the world. It is the elevation of humanity in such a way that the playing field is leveled to a greater degree each new generation. The reality is that no one is going to stop this, it is really a matter of guiding it in the wisest fashion both in terms of economics and technology and environmental concerns.In order for this to happen the continual challenge is to minimize and marginalize bad actors like Saddam Hussein or ‘rehabilitate’ those that can change directions of having a narrow band, oppressive type of regime that inhibits its people by disconnecting them from the global economy.

Mission
Powerful forces -- from technological change to demographic shifts, from economic globalization to the rise of new global powers -- are remaking America. Now, more than ever, our nation needs a robust public debate that does justice to the complex challenges and opportunities of this era. Instead, there is too often a dearth of new thinking on both sides of the political divide, and a lack of investment in developing the creative young minds most capable of crafting new public policy solutions.
The purpose of New America Foundation is to bring exceptionally promising new voices and new ideas to the fore of our nation’s public discourse. Relying on a venture capital approach, the Foundation invests in outstanding individuals and policy ideas that transcend the conventional political spectrum. Through its fellowships and issue-specific programs, the Foundation sponsors a wide range of research, writing, conferences and public outreach on the most important global and domestic issues of our time.
The New America Foundation is a nonprofit public policy institute that was established through the collaborative work of a diverse group of public intellectuals, civic leaders and business executives. Launched in 1999, the Foundation is guided by President and CEO Steve Coll, and an outstanding Board of Directors. New America is headquartered in our nation’s capital and also has a significant presence in California, the nation’s largest laboratory of democracy.

Al Qaeda chief slams Muslims for lack of support

Apr 22 06:06 AM US/Eastern

Al-Qaeda number two Ayman al-Zawahiri criticised Muslims for failing to support Islamist insurgencies in Iraq and elsewhere in a new audiotape posted Tuesday on the Internet.
Osama bin Laden's top lieutenant also blasted Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas over their reported readiness to consider a peace deal with Israel.

"I call upon the Muslim nation to fear Allah's question (at judgement day) about its failure to support its brothers of the Mujahedeen (holy Warriors), and (urge it) not to withhold men and money, which is the mainstay of a war," he said.

He also used the two-and-a-half hour message to urge Muslims to join militant groups, mainly in Iraq, where he claimed that the insurgency against the Iraqi government and the US-led coalition forces is bearing fruit.

"I urge all Muslims to hurry to the battlefields of Jihad (holy war), especially in Iraq," Zawahiri said in the message, the second in a two-part series to answer about 100 questions put to him via online militant forums.

"The situation in Iraq heralds an imminent victory of Islam and the defeat of the crusaders and those who stand under their flag," he said.

Turning his ire on Hamas, he said the Palestinian group's reported willingness to hold a referendum on any peace deal with Israel flew in the face of Sharia, or Islamic, law.

"How can they put a matter that violates Sharia to a referendum?" he added.

Former US president Jimmy Carter said on Monday that Hamas told him it would recognise Israel's right to live in peace if a deal is reached and approved by a Palestinian vote.

Hamas exiled chief Khaled Meshaal later told a press conference in Damascus that Hamas would not recognise the Jewish state and would insist on the right of some 4.5 million Palestinian refugees to return to Israel.

Meshaal ruled out any direct talks with Israel but said Hamas was ready to hold discussions with US officials.

He said Hamas would recognise a peace deal negotiated by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on condition that it was subject to a referendum.

In his message, Zawahiri also called on the various jihadist groups operating in the country to unite behind the "more advanced" Al-Qaeda-backed "Islamic State of Iraq".

In the first part of the message released last Friday, Zawahiri commemorated the fifth anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq with a call to Muslims to make Iraq a "fortress of Islam".

Rice says Carter was warned against meeting with Hamas

Apr 22,



KUWAIT CITY (AP) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Tuesday the Bush administration explicitly warned former President Jimmy Carter against meeting with members of Hamas, the Palestinian faction that controls the Gaza Strip and which is regarded by the U.S. as a terror group.
Rice, attending a regional meeting on Iraq's security and future, contradicted Carter's assertions that he never got a clear signal from the State Department. Rice told reporters that the U.S. thought the visit could confuse the message that the U.S. will not deal with Hamas.
"I just don't want there to be any confusion," Rice said. "The United States is not going to deal with Hamas and we had certainly told President Carter that we did not think meeting with Hamas was going to help" further a political settlement between Israel and the Palestinians.
Carter said top Hamas leaders told him during seven hours of talks in Damascus over the weekend that they are willing to live next to Israel, but a top Hamas official said the group would never outright recognize the Jewish state.
Separately Tuesday, a Hamas official said the militant group has softened its demands for a cease-fire with Israel.
Spokesman Ghazi Hamad said Hamas is now prepared for a partial truce that would only include the Gaza Strip.
The group previously has demanded the West Bank be included in any deal. Still, it hopes a Gaza truce will eventually spread to the West Bank as well.
In return, Hamas wants Israel and Egypt to open their trade and passenger crossings with Gaza. The border has been sealed since Hamas violently seized control of Gaza last June.
Israel also considers Hamas a terrorist group.
Carter won no specific concessions from Hamas. He defended his trip during remarks Monday in Jerusalem. He said he failed to convince the top Hamas boss, Khaled Mashaal, that he could gain international goodwill if he stopped rocket fire on Israel for one month.
"I did the best I could," Carter said. "They turned me down, and I think they're wrong."
In an interview with NPR, Carter said the State Department did not warn him off the trip. A State Department spokesman in Washington took issue with that on Monday, and Rice was more blunt in her account Tuesday.
Rice had heard questions about Carter's meetings several times during two days of Iraq-themed meetings in the Mideast, with some diplomats wondering whether the Bush administration was talking to Hamas through the back door or contemplating a different policy in the future.
Rice said U.S. policy remains that it will deal only with the elected Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, and his West Bank-based government as it tried to help Israel and the Palestinians broker terms for an independent Palestinian state.

JOURNAL: The Ghost of Boyd Invoked

Secretary of Defense Gates invoked the late John Boyd in his recent battles with the Air Force brass over future funding. That's a good thing if he actually means it. More creativity across all the services is needed to meet future threats without bankrupting the treasury, especially within the Air Force (where I earned my wings). Time Magazine:

To the horror of some in the Air Force, Gates cited the late John Boyd, who attained the rank of Air Force colonel, as an example young officers should emulate. Gates called him "a brilliant, eccentric and stubborn character" who had to bulldoze his way through the Air Force hierarchy to launch the F-16 fighter, now regarded as perhaps the best value in the skies. Gates lionized Boyd for telling colleagues they could think in traditional Air Force ways that "will get you promoted and get good assignments," or do the right thing "and do something for your country, and for your Air Force, and for yourself." The Defense Secretary added that "an unconventional era of warfare requires unconventional thinkers." Gates made clear change won't be easy for the Air Force, whose key victories, he suggested, happened long ago. "The last time a U.S. ground force was attacked from the sky was more than half a century ago," he noted, "and the last Air Force jet lost to aerial combat was in Vietnam."
Personally, I think that with a deep rethink of the future threat environment, the Air Force could become a decisive player in 21st Century conflicts.