What Are Terrorists Trying To Accomplish In Iraq By Blowing Up Random Cars?

Have you ever wondered? It takes time and trouble to blow up a car. It takes planning. It is dangerous. And if you're caught, you're in serious trouble. Why would anyone do it? They must have a very compelling reason.

And they do. They do it for a very specific and well-thought-out purpose.

The strategy is to keep creating chaos. They are trying to make it difficult for a peaceful democracy to take root. They're hoping to create enough negative headlines back in the U.S. to cause enough people to want to withdraw U.S. forces.

Why? What are they after? Their "own" government? Do they dislike the "occupation" and simply want the U.S. troops to leave so they can run their own democracy? No, of course not. They already have a democracy. Their government is already run by people they voted in. The ones who are blowing up cars aren't interested in a democracy because they haven't got a chance in hell of getting elected.

They don't want an election. They don't want a democracy. They want to make Iraq a Muslim country run by Sharia law. They want to bring back the old ways. They want to follow the laws laid down in the Koran. They want things to go back to the way they were when men were men and women had no rights. They want to bring back the good old days when "religious freedom" meant you could choose to be a Muslim or you could choose to separate your head from the rest of your body. When "freedom of speech" didn't exist, and when saying something critical of the Koran would be punished by death.

This is what they're after. This is what they talk about among themselves. This is what they say on their web sites in Arabic. In other words, we don't have to guess what they are after. We know.

So what? Who are these people to us? Why not let the terrorists take over the country and do whatever they want with it? It's not really our problem. Why is the U.S. "meddling" in other peoples' business? Why not let the majority of Iraqis (who earnestly want democracy) do the work themselves to get rid of the car-bombing fanatics?

Nice idea, but the terrorists are armed to the teeth and the general population is not. Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Syria have been sending guns, money, and jihadists into Iraq. The revolt of the disarmed majority would almost certainly fail.

And if they failed, the majority would be overruled. Iraq would be governed by Muslims who are committed to fulfilling the commands of Allah.

Unfortunately for the rest of the non-Muslim world, one of those commands is to make war on infidels until the whole world is Islamic.

So by avoiding this problem now, we get a bigger problem later. That's the way it works sometimes in this little thing we call "reality." You get the choice between something that sucks and something that sucks even worse.

When you hear people clamoring to pull out of Iraq, this is serious. The move would have major consequences. The only reason people would even think about doing it is because people like you and me have been fairly silent in everyday conversations, and people who are blindly against war (regardless of the consequences) have been very vocal. And as any advertiser can tell you, if you repeat something often enough, people will start to believe it.

It's time to stop being silent. Bring up the subject with people. Help them change their minds. If you don't feel you're very good at this, read the book, How to Win Friends & Influence People. If you've already got a copy, re-read the section entitled, How To Change People Without Giving Offense Or Arousing Resentment. Very helpful for our purposes.

Another great little book is called, How to Win an Argument: Surefire Strategies for Getting Your Point Across. It has some simple, practical principles you can start using right away. The book is not about becoming a sarcastic, arrogant, or annoying jerk. It is very hard to win an argument that way, and almost impossible to change someone's mind using those kinds of methods. This book has better ways.

If you aren't very good at starting and maintaining a conversation, Larry King's book, How to Talk to Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere: The Secrets of Good Communication is excellent. Becoming a good conversationalist, strangely enough, is one of the most important tasks a Citizen Warrior can master.

I can't reiterate enough: This is a war of memes, the stakes are extremely high, and you are on the front line.