Jihad The Book

Published in 2004, Samuel Katz's book is a clear, simple, brief description of what Jihad is, where it comes from, and how it evolved to be what it is today. The book clarifies the situation in a way larger books really cannot. The brevity itself helps make things clearer.

This is not to say that larger books aren't also helpful to read, but to begin your exploration of this important topic, or to help clarify and put in perspective the information you've read so far, Jihad: Islamic Fundamentalist Terrorism is my first choice. It will give you the big picture.

I have often enjoyed books written for young people, and this book has a young audience in mind. Books aimed at teens tend to avoid getting lost in detail and present the important and interesting points in starker relief.
Jihad starts out with the history of Islam itself, and then the history of the fundamentalist movement — where it began and why. Then there are specific histories of the Jihad warriors of Egypt, the Hezbollah of Lebanon, the major terrorist group in Algeria, and finally Al-Qaeda's international network.

Samuel M. Katz is an expert in the field of international terrorism and counterterrorism, and serves as the editor in chief of Special Ops.

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Terrorism War

WESTERN CIVILIZATION believes in freedom and tolerance. So why is there such a thing as a terrorism war? Doesn't war take away freedom? Isn't war a powerful demonstration of intolerance? It would seem so at a glance, but a glance can often misread the whole story.

The terrorism war the free world is engaged in is primarily a war against Islamic fundamentalists, otherwise known as Islamists (to distinguish them from Muslims who would like more freedom and tolerance). The Islamists have taken exception to the freedoms and tolerance of the free world, and seek to destroy it. We should take their threat seriously.

The purpose of the terrorism war is to defeat the Islamists. Because of the nature of terrorism, limiting oneself to defensive action is too dangerous. Yes, starting a war (as in Iraq) is an extreme form of intolerance, but to protect and defend tolerance and freedom, it is not at all irrational to be intolerant of the intolerant, and to take away the freedoms of those who would destroy the freedoms of others. This is a fundamental principle of a free society and always has been.

Many people in the West have spent their whole lives in freedom and don't understand the need for a terrorism war. A thorough reading of history, however, can easily clarify the need for military action. Wherever freedom and tolerance have existed, it has required armed defense. Although most people want to simply enjoy freedom and live out their lives in peace, a few will always try to take advantage of the peace and remove the freedoms of others, and those few must be curtailed.

The goal of the Islamists is to make the whole world submit to Islam. This is not guesswork. The Islamists are out in the open about their purpose. Clearly their goal is in conflict with the goals of the free world. A terrorism war was inevitable unless one side was willing to give up their goal. One group wants to enjoy freedom of speech, human rights, freedom of religion, and women's rights. The other group wants the whole world to submit to Islam. These two goals are in complete opposition.

The terrorism war cannot be a partial or halfhearted defense because the Islamists are so committed. They must be overwhelmed. People who want to live in freedom must be in power and they must continually marginalize and defeat the Islamists. The alternative is the Islamists will win. There is no third alternative. Should we try negotiating? They don't want anything from us, they simply want us to cease to exist (or become Muslims). What is there to negotiate? With some people in this world, the normal ways of working things out will never work.

With this enemy, no amount of appeasement could work. The complaints and demands they make are an attempt to 1) give a veneer of public legitimacy to their actions, and 2) ultimately increase the Islamists' power. The fulfillment of their demands would not bring peace or prosperity or happiness to the majority of Muslims — and that is not the Islamists' intention.

If the West pulled all troops out of Arabian lands and out of Iraq, and removed all its support for Israel, the Islamists would not put their weapons away and live their lives in peace. They would use these Western appeasements to consolidate their power. They would take over Muslim countries by force and continue their war against the West. They want the West either completely destroyed or else converted to Islam. Again, this is not just guesswork. Their long term goal and their war strategy (jihad) is written and available to the public (read more about that here).

Any appeasements the West could make would not make people in the free world any safer. We would become most definitely less safe. It wouldn't even be good for the majority of Muslims either (the majority of Muslims want freedom and democracy, but they are being suppressed by the Islamists). All we would accomplish by appeasing their demands is to strengthen the military might of the ruthless extremists. There would be less political freedom for the average citizen of a Muslim country. Any rights women have struggled to gain would be quickly abolished. The Islamists don't keep this a secret either. They count on the apathy and tolerance and wishful thinking of the peace-loving Western population.


religious freedom in a free world

The West believes in religious freedom, in religious tolerance. Here is a difficult question: If people are free to practice their religion, what do we do if part of a person's religious practice is the imposition of their religion on others against their will? This is what happens in "Islamic countries" around the world. In the Koran, the use of force and the threat of death are considered legitimate ways to convert non-Muslims to the faith. Mohammed did it many times, and Islamists follow his example.

If you have one group aggressively promoting its agenda, and another group that doesn't, eventually the aggressive group will dominate. An attitude of live and let live will lose. Especially if the aggressive group is willing to use force. Therefore, to fight the Islamists effectively, the free world must aggressively promote an agenda that is better than theirs. What agenda would that be? What agenda, what goal, should the free world aggressively promote? How about human rights? How about women's rights? How about freedom of the press and freedom of religion? In other words: Freedom.

Really the only possible way to end the terrorism war in the long run is to create a free world. This goal is the perfect counterpart to the Islamists' goal (to force the world to submit to Islam). The free world needs an equally compelling goal, a goal we feel just as strongly about, and we need to be equally committed to it. When all countries on earth are democracies, the Islamists will have very little foothold. The battle against them will probably always exist, but it can be reduced to occasional skirmishes. The terrorism WAR will be over.

This is the best way to ensure the successful defense of our freedom. It is a positive, forward-looking goal. It is not a negative, against-something goal. A free world. The best goal we could choose is to work to make the whole world free — to bring freedom and democracy to every country on earth. Not only is the goal itself worthwhile, but as the goal gets accomplished, terrorism will have a smaller and smaller foothold.

This is a purpose that could potentially unite liberals and conservatives. Conservatives want free trade. Liberals want free speech and women's rights. The two sides can work together and help this world become nothing but democracies. There is a task for everyone and plenty to do.

But hold on. Isn't this a blatant imposition of Western values on other cultures? Not really. Think about this for a minute. To try to create a free world would be to impose more tolerant laws in countries with less tolerant laws. Keep in mind that the laws of politically free countries are manifestations of more universal values than the less free countries. If a country has a repressive, nonrepresentative government, that means the small group that forms their government is imposing its values on the larger population. If it is not a democratic country, those people have not chosen the legal and political values being imposed on them. To "impose" democracy is to allow them to choose their own values — this is not imposing; it is un-imposing. It is de-imposing.

Students around the free world protest against the use of America's military might, even when it is used to help form a democratic country where a brutal dictatorship existed. Why is this? I believe it is somewhat similar to a kid with rich parents who disdains money and thinks its pursuit is beneath him. In other words, the students who are protesting American military action have the luxury and freedom to protest or say what they want largely because of American might, just as the rich kid has the luxury to disdain money because his parents have money — because he doesn't have to worry about money. Put him alone in the world to make his own way with no support and no possibility of support, and his attitude toward money will change completely.

Put our protesting student into a country with a repressive government and his attitude will change completely too (if he lives).

We have all grown up in a free, rich country. Most of our young people have not had to fight in any wars. The United States has been a dominant political and military force our entire lives, and because the people in the free world have been sheltered by the military and political might of the U.S. and its allies, many of us see no need to go and kill other people. Can't we just figure something out? Can't we all just get along? Within the safe cocoon of a free democracy, that is often a legitimate possibility. But in the harsh reality international terrorism creates, that attitude will be crushed underfoot by the ruthless without a second glance. It's too bad it is that way, but wishing for peace won't change it. Those who just want to live their lives in peace will be the victims of Islamists hell-bent on world domination. Those willing to fight and who can fight effectively will help direct the unfolding of history.

"There are some peaces that are worse than war," said Peter Beinart, "There are some things worth fighting for. There are some wars that you need to fight to have a just peace in the end."

Or, as Lee Harris put it, "In a world where others are willing to risk death to get their way, you must be willing to risk death to keep them from getting their way." It's an unfortunate fact of life.


the paradox of war and peace

"In a world full of bluffers," wrote Harris, "the ruthless will rule." It cannot be any other way, unfortunately.

In the terrorism war, the free world cannot rely on bluffing. At some point, someone will call our bluff. Then violence is going to be the only thing that will work. To use violence to attain peace isn't as paradoxical as it seems on the surface. A good example is what happened on Flight 93. It had been hijacked by ruthless men. They intended to fly the plane into a target such as the U.S. capital building. The hijackers killed a passenger to make the rest of the passengers cower. No amount of negotiating would have stopped the terrorists. Appeasement would have done nothing. They didn't care about anything except their mission. They didn't need money or approval or favors. Violence was the only answer. The only way to stop the hijackers was to use force. So they stormed the cockpit and stopped the terrorists.

When you have an enemy who is literally dead-set on killing you, you have very few options. To stop them, you must resort to violence. As the author of Why We Fight: Moral Clarity and the War on Terrorism wrote, "Even some of the most principled advocates of religious pacifism have come to grips with the irreducible facts of human evil and the need to oppose it by force."

Children in the free world have been indoctrinated with the idea that violence is bad and civilized people handle their conflicts with peaceful dialog. We use conflict resolution strategies and anger management, and that's all great as long as both sides of a conflict agree to this. But the Islamists have nothing to negotiate. They only want an end to our free society. Freedom itself is evil as far as they are concerned. It is against Allah's will, they say, and must be done away with. They will stop at nothing, and therefore are outside the reach of peaceful dialog. They must be stopped by force or they will not stop.

The pacifist youth of the free world are following in a tradition of long standing. George Orwell, talking about the pacifists who protested World War II, said, "Those who 'abjure' violence can only do so because others are committing violence on their behalf." Put those same people in an Islamist state such as Saudi Arabia, Syria, or Iran, and they will be executed summarily. And why would they be so easily killed? Only because they weren't willing to commit violence to protect themselves, or didn't have anyone else (like the military or police) willing to commit violence to protect them.

But what about Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.? They worked for their goals nonviolently, didn't they? So we know it works. Yes, it works, but unfortunately it only works within an already-existing democracy that protects the right to protest. In a non-democracy, dissent can be suppressed by force at any time, even peaceful dissent.

The desire for peace is not new. But, as John Stuart Mill wrote:

War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of a moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight — nothing he cares about more than his own safety — is a miserable creature who has no chance of being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.


the crime of dictatorship

Britons abolished slavery in their own country, and in the 19th century they declared slavery an international crime and punished slave traders wherever they found them.

From this distance in history, Britain's position seems completely right. Even their blatant disregard for the soverenty of other nations seems absolutely justifyable. Slavery is wrong, and it wouldn't have been right to respect borders when it came to stopping it. We can see now that Britain was ahead of its time.

In the same way, at some point governments that haven't been voted in (non-representational governments) should be and probably will be eventually abolished internationally. Dictatorships should be internationally outlawed. And non-representational governments should not have a vote in the U.N. From a little distance in history, that will also seem completely right.

Freedom is right — freedom of the press, freedom of religion, free economies, free trade, etc. — and slavery is wrong. And the repression of freedom by a non-representational government is just as wrong. A population ruled by a non-representational government is itself a form of slavery.

What we're witnessing, what we've named "the terrorism war" is an ongoing battle between the forces of freedom and the forces of repression. The Islamists are repressive. They hate freedom and democracy. Why? Part of the answer is that Islam is a political religion. Most religions are not political — they are about personal action, personal discipline, and personal redemption.

Islam is about personal redemption also, but according to the Koran, one's redemption is achieved through political discipline. Rather than relying on individuals to restrain themselves from committing adultery, for example, Sharia law states that a woman must always be accompanied by a husband or relative outside her home. The religion is practiced by living in a society that practices that religion. Strict Islam can't really work in a democracy — there will be half-naked women running around all by themselves. In a democracy, morality won't be imposed from the outside, and that's how Islam is supposed to work.

That's why there are "Muslim countries" and not "Buddhist countries" or "Christian countries" — because to practice the religion fully the whole country has to submit to Islam. That's why Islam seems repressive. Because it is repressive by necessity. And in just that way, it is against freedom.

So you can see why the Islamists have only one recourse: They must destroy democracies. TTo the Islamist, freedom and democracy are obscene and intolerable.

The Islamists' memeplex (collection of memes) is virulent, vital, and well-defended. It is vigorous and aggressive. It has a top-notch immune system. The Koran contains memes that protect the memeplex of Islam (such as the rule: the penalty for leaving Islam is death). And strict Islam is an invading memeplex. It not only protects itself, but it imposes itself on others, by force if necessary. Mohammed himself gave many of his victims this choice: Either convert to Islam or be killed. No third option. His most fanatical followers today want to do the same to the whole world. Mohammed himself said that is the goal of Islam — the world must submit to Islam. Voluntarily is fine. By force is fine too.

What this means is that for the free world, the only way to attain peace is through war.

Sometimes something that is counterintuitive is nevertheless true. Although it's true, it doesn't seem that it could be true. For example, it seems if you drop a cannonball and a feather, even in a vacuum, the cannonball would hit the ground first. It is counterintuitive that they will fall at the same speed, but it is nevertheless true.

It is also true that the preparation for war, the willingness to fight wars, and the actual fighting of wars is the only way to maintain peace and freedom against an enemy who will stop at nothing to destroy you. You could probably have peace without war, but you couldn't have peace and freedom both.

If no ruthless power-hungry people ever strove to gain political power by the repression of others, war would be unnecessary. But history says and all the information we can gain from psychology and genetics says no matter what you do, ruthless power-hungry people will always exist and seek opportunities to gain power. And they will use whatever cultural myths they can find. Right now some of them are using the cultural myth that Islam's destiny is to become the world's religion. Hitler used the myth that it was the destiny of the Aryan race to rule the world. Mussolini used the myth that is was the destiny of Italy to revive the glory of the Roman Empire.


the new weapon

Memetics is the ultimate weapon in the terrorism war. Terrorists who study memetics will weaken their own fanaticism. The rest of us will be strengthened by studying memetics. And an understanding of how memes work will make it clear what must be done to win the war on terror.

The war on terror is partly a war of memes. In this war, you don't have to be against Islam. In fact, it would be better if you weren't. Being against Islam is a negative goal and would cause more strife than necessary. It would be much better to have a positive goal. Actively work for freedom. Do your part to help create and support democracy around the world. Aim for a free world.

We might be able to go one better and create an even more specific goal — women's rights. If women all over the world attained basic human rights, the Islamists would lose their political force. Wherever women have rights, Islamists will go out of business because if women are voting, you have a democracy rather than a country ruled by Islamists. (Islamists follow the Koran, and the Koran says democracies are man-made governments and should be abolished and replaced by Allah-made governments — following Sharia law.)

If all women in every country were allowed to vote, and their vote was equal to men's, so many positive changes would come about that Islamic terrorism would be chipped down to nothing. There would be very little support for terrorists. Most of the terrorists get their money from rich Islamic dictatorships. An entire country that sits on top of an ocean of oil has an astonishing amount of money at its disposal. In a free world, that source of money would dry up because in a democracy the money would be directed by the votes of the population rather than the fanatical group ruling the country. Islamists would have to find some other way of making a living.

But here we are again at that same moral question. To fight for women's rights around the world, are we imposing "our" values on "them?" Can you even "impose" freedom? If you impose freedom on a person, she is free to remain shackled if she so desires. And if she wants to live in an environment that does not expose her to the temptations of a free society, she can form a group with her fellow believers, as the Amish have done, and do what she wishes, restricting her own freedom voluntarily.

So the answer is, "No. By working for women's rights, you are not imposing your values on other cultures." By working and even fighting for freedom and democracy, you are not imposing your values on others. You are giving people the power to overthrow their repressive government officials who have not attained their position with the consent of the people, and you are allowing the people to choose to live in their own country as free people. The goal is a free world. The whole world should be free. And to work toward that goal is the most effective way we can ultimately defeat terrorism.

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Essay On Terrorism

I'VE BEEN IMMERSED in reading about Islamic terrorism since September 11th. Up until then I was happily promoting my book (which doesn't have anything to do with terrorism), and speaking to organizations about what happens when you make certain mistakes in the way you think — it can make you feel helpless in situations where you are not actually helpless. And that reduces your ability to succeed at whatever you're trying to do.

Shortly after September 11th, I saw a lot of people feeling helpless about terrorism. So I've been studying the subject and building this web site, and I have finally decided to take my understanding and put the gist of it into one essay on terrorism. Here it is.

Let's begin at the beginning. The man who started the Islamic religion was Mohammad. He received revelations from Allah. The revelations were eventually bound into a book called the Koran (or Qur'an). This is now considered by Muslims everywhere to be the single most important book in their religion.
but isn't Islam about peace?

I have been reading the Koran, and reading a lot of books, both pro and con about the Koran, and my conclusion is: we have been misled. Islam is not exactly a religion of peace like everyone keeps saying it is. But apparently it is twisted and reinterpreted into a religion of peace by most of its followers. Luckily, most human beings are basically good, regardless of what religion they grew up with. I guess I should tell you up front I am not a Jew, a Christian, or a Muslim — I'm not a member of any religion or group — and I don't have any vested interest in bashing any of these religions or making them look good. This is an essay on terrorism, and I'm only bringing up religion because the Koran is being used as a manual by the most dangerous terrorist organizations in the world.

But you might be wondering — how can so many people say Islam is a peaceful religion? That is a good question, and it has an interesting answer.

Mohammad received his revelations over a period of twenty-three years. His earliest writings preached compassion, tolerance, and forgiveness. As Mohammad grew in power, his revelations changed. They contained more hatred, intolerance, and violence. So the Koran contains conflicting commands. According to Mark Gabriel in his book, Islam And Terrorism, Muslim scholars have figured out a way to handle the contradictions in the Koran. They've decided if two passages contradict each other, the later one is the correct one. I have since confirmed this from other sources.

Muslim scholars explain the many contradictory passages in the Koran by saying that Allah corrected errors as He went along, so of course the later ones should be followed when they contradict earlier passages. Unfortunately, the later passages are the most violent and intolerant.

According to Serge Trifkovic, PhD, the Koran says a Muslim must fight for Islam until the whole world submits to Allah. That is their wording: Submit. Voluntarily or by force. One of the meanings of Islam is peace. Another meaning is submission. If you submit to the will of Allah, you will have peace in your heart; if you get the whole world to submit to the will of Allah, you have peace in the world, according to the Koran.

The only reason we don't all know this already is that there are two groups who are actively promoting a positive impression of Islam. One group is made of genuinely good people who follow the commands to be tolerant and forgiving and peaceful. They want others to know the good things about Islam. They try to ignore or explain away the perfectly clear commands to "kill unbelievers wherever you find them." (Read more about the Koran here.)

According to Mark Gabriel, who was an Islamic scholar at the most respected Muslim University in Egypt, the other group who promotes a peaceful image of Islam is doing it for an entirely different reason. They are actively following the plan laid down in the Koran.

Here's the plan: First, where Muslims are a minority, they should build their numbers within the country by converting people (by preaching peace and tolerance) and having lots of babies. Then, as their numbers increase, they should start to prepare for an eventual overthrow of the government. And when the time is right, it is their duty as Muslims to rise up and establish an Islamic state.

Also included in the Koran are instructions for deceiving the unbelievers. So you will hear people who say "Islam is a religion of peace" who themselves are actively working toward the eventual violent takeover of a country.

According to Gabriel, deceiving the enemy is recommended in the Koran. An enemy is defined as a non-Muslim.

This information is not very nice. I hesitate to even share it. But if this is all true, it is enormously important. One thing that seems to lend credence to all this is that as soon as I read this stuff, many things I saw going on in the world started to make some sense for the first time. For example, it becomes clear why some people in Iraq are rebelling against the democratic activities there. Most people in Iraq want a democracy, they want freedom of speech, they want the power to create their own laws, and they want women to have human rights. Of course. They are human beings and want rights and liberties. But this is all incompatible with Islamic Law. So the "true believers" are doing everything they can to prevent a democracy from forming. And they are being supported by other true believers in Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Iran. Those countries are sending soldiers, weapons, and money. Something similar has happened in many countries that tried to create a democracy.

In other words, the majority of Muslims want democracy and are willing to modify or update their holy book, or at least take it all with a grain of salt. A very intense and dedicated minority want to follow the Koran to the letter and these fundamentalists consider the more moderate Muslims to be traitors. Being a traitors are even worse than nonbelievers.

So the Islamists (as the fundamentalists are now being called) are at war with non-Muslims and with moderate Muslims.

For more information about this, I have selected some books and DVDs I recommend. But I'd like to add another recommendation: Read the Koran. It is not really difficult reading. The version I recommend is An Abridged Koran. Very informative. You can also read the Koran online.
what to do with this information

So now you know: The Koran is very explicit in its instructions to the faithful. Most Muslims try to ignore or explain away the violent and intolerant parts. But a sizable minority wants to fulfill the mission the Koran has given them: Make everyone on earth submit to Sharia law.

What good does it do to know this? The first thing you'll notice is that from now on, you'll hear terrorism news differently. It won't be as confusing as it used to be. It won't be as upsetting. This information allows you to make sense of what you see. And when you understand what you're looking at, you can make better decisions. That's true of your friends and family, too (if they knew this information). So the first thing you can do with this information is share it with others. Explore the links and resources on this blog and share it with others.

That is the most important thing you can do: Learn more and share it with your friends and family. The war against terrorism is a war of ideas and information as much as anything. The terrorists are very effectively manipulating the information we receive, so misleading information is already cluttering our minds.

How do terrorists manipulate the information we receive? In the book, The Two Faces of Islam: Saudi Fundamentalism and Its Role in Terrorism, Stephen Schwartz outlines what Saudi Arabia has done to control politics and the media in the United States. The Wahhabis (a sect of Islam that takes the Koran's teachings literally) is an amazingly wealthy group in Saudi Arabia, and they have opened hundreds of mosques in the United States.

They have also formed The Council On American-Islamic Relations, the American Muslim Council, the American Muslim Alliance, the Islamic Society of North America, and they have infiltrated and are exerting control over the Islamic Circle of North America, the Islamic Association for Palestine, and the Muslim Students Association. These are powerful lobbying and public relations organizations, providing speakers at rallies, providing "expert commentary" for the media, distributing literature, holding rallies, and influencing American politics.

These organizations influence what information makes it to the airwaves in the United States because they have established themselves with the media as "the voice of Islam in America." They are extremely well-funded by rich Wahhabis in Saudi Arabia. And they are well-organized, fully maximizing the freedom of speech and religion we enjoy in the free world. And they are taking advantage of the fact that most Westerners know almost nothing about Islam.

They are infiltrating and influencing everywhere they can. They have the money and manpower and they are effective as long as we don't know what's going on. Up until now, they've been making headway.

These propaganda groups, according to Schwartz, deliberately give us a false impression of Islam. Certain actions by Western governments are vigorously criticized, like deposing the Taliban in Afghanistan. The criticisms are coming from legitimate organizations as far as newspapers and television stations know — organizations that represent the Muslims in America, or so it seems. And their public relations campaign has helped to form a negative public opinion in Western countries of military actions in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Obviously, it was not in the best interests of Islamic terrorism for the Taliban to be taken from power. It was a major setback for those who seek increasing Islamic domination. And the overthrow of Saddam is a prize opportunity to Islamic fundamentalists. Many Muslims with lots of money are focusing their attention on that country, trying to disrupt the forming of a democracy and they will continue to do so for as long as they can.

According to Trifkovic and Gabriel, any Muslim who tries to create a democratic country is a traitor to Islam and deserves to die. I am not exaggerating at all. According to the Koran, any man-made government (a democracy, for example) is not following the laws of Allah. Its laws are not divine — the laws are made by men, so it is sinful and must be destroyed, and any Muslim who tries to create a democracy must be punished by death (for betraying the goals of Allah). So the liberations of Afghanistan and Iraq have been hampered and criticized all along. Did you ever wonder why the Western media seemed so against the invasions when they were happening while public opinion polls showed so many voters were for it? Part of the problem is an already-existing media bias, but the other part is all the Muslim organizations in the U.S. and other democratic countries covertly trying to prevent democracies from forming in the Middle East.

The chapter on this (called Religious Colonialism) in Schwartz's book is well worth reading. Schwartz tells you exactly how the Wahhabis operate within the United States. .
can you really do anything?

What difference will it make to spread the word about the Koran? I think you'll be surprised. First notice what it does for you. You will feel more upset at first to discover such a large and horrible goal in the minds of a lot of fundamentalist Muslims — a goal that seeks to take away human rights and freedoms.

But then you'll start to feel less upset. And you'll be less confused by what seem to be conflicting messages. You will be able to listen with more understanding. When a large number of us are clear about what's going on, our collective decisions will be more appropriate — more fitting with the reality of our situation. When the difficult national decisions need to be made, we will make better decisions. We won't unwittingly support self-defeating policies.

A much broader benefit will result from this. Right now all the genuinely peace-loving Muslims have been promoting peace but also sticking to the idea — publicly — the the Koran is infallible, that it is the absolute word of Allah. That is the heart of the problem. Kids grow up in an atmosphere that gives the Koran absolute authority, and when some of those young men read the whole book, they think, "Hey, we're not following all the commands, and we should," and they go join Osama to fight the unbelievers (as it is commanded in no uncertain terms by Allah). Read more about the incredible power of authority here.

As this information becomes more widely known, more and more Muslims will have the courage to say, "The Koran is not perfect." That will weaken the holy war idea. The same thing happened with Christianity. During the dark ages, the Christian Bible was considered infallible. This made the Crusades and the Inquisition possible. You have to be certain about something before you're willing to torture and kill people. Then came the Reformation. When the general population started looking at the Bible as a collection of stories — some of it good and some of it out of date or whatever — the number of people willing to kill in its name diminished. Now it is a very small minority of Christians.

That needs to happen to Muslims too, and it is ripe to happen. Moderate Muslims are tired of living under the suppression of religious governments and dictators.

It will take courage for Muslims to publicly declare the Koran is not perfect. The Koran provided itself with its own protection, as any good memeplex does. The Koran commands its believers to kill anyone who criticizes the Koran.

As it is now, if the Koran is perfect and it says, "you must follow these teachings to the letter" and it says "make war on all unbelievers until they submit to Islam," can you see how that might be a problem?

Remember I told you that when I first started this web site I was mainly interested in reducing the helplessness people feel in the face of terrorism. That was one of my only areas of expertise. What about you? Do you feel helpless about terrorism? Do you feel you have any influence over world events? Over terrorism? Or do you think you are not important enough to make any difference? Do you think something you do could help reduce terrorism?

If you feel helpless to alter events, you need to have your head examined. By yourself. You need to examine your own head. It isn't very hard to do, and it will not only help you feel empowered to do something about terrorism, it will give you real power and greater effectiveness in the rest of your life too. Start here.

Read what an ex-Muslim wanted the West to know.

Read a review of a DVD called Islam: What The West Needs To Know.

Editor's Note: If you are a peace-loving Muslim and feel offended by the information above and want to enlighten us about the "true" (and entirely peaceful) nature of Islam, please read this: A Message to Peaceful Muslims.

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Terrorism Book

Below is a detailed review of a terrorism book entitled Islam And Terrorism by Mark A. Gabriel. If I could recommend only one terrorism book, this is the one I would choose. It has more authentic authority on this subject than any other book I've found.

Islam and Terrorism

Mark A. Gabriel, was born and raised in Egypt. He had memorized and could recite the entire Koran word-for-word by the time he was 12 years old. At the most respected university in the Islamic world, Al-Azhar, he earned his bachelor's, master's, and doctorate degrees there studying Islamic history. If you want an author with enough knowledge to write an authoritative Islamic terrorism book, this is the man.

After his education, he was a teaching professor at Al-Azhar and he was also the imam of a mosque in Giza, Egypt. He knew the Koran very well, and the contradictions in it began to bother him. Some passages of the Koran preach peace and tolerance. Some passages preach violence and discrimination. That isn't necessarily a problem except for the fact that in a Muslim society like Egypt, everybody treats the Koran as if it is perfect in every way and the absolute word of Allah.

Gabriel was told to preach only the nice passages. But even when only the compassionate verses are voiced in public, some people will read the whole book and because the society gives the book so much authority, some young men will feel compelled to follow all of Allah's commands. That's where Islamic terrorism has its roots. As far as these young idealists are concerned, their holy book is a terrorism book. It is a manual to follow.

Islam and Terrorism is very clear and easy to read. It is full of excellent, authoritative information. For a terrorism book, the only drawback for someone with no religious affiliation (like me for example), is that the author is a born-again Christian. I think he still presents the Muslim world fairly, based on my reading of other works. But he is justifiably merciless with the Koran and the way the extremists use Islam for destruction. Gabriel himself was brutally tortured by his own government for suggesting to a student that the Koran may not be perfect.

I'm reading the Koran now and it is a book like no other religious book I've ever read. One of its 114 chapters is titled: The Spoils of War. It definitely has a strong element of war and killing. In the Islamic faith you have "no guarantee of Paradise even if you do good works all your life," wrote Gabriel, "It all depends on what Allah decides." There is only one way a Muslim man can guarantee he will enter Paradise: Die fighting for Islam. "If you die in jihad," wrote Gabriel, "you don't even have to go to the grave and wait for judgment; you go directly to Paradise...This is why you see Muslims leaving their own nations to fight jihad in other countries." Gabriel's terrorism book answered all the questions I had. For example:
What is Islam's ultimate goal?
Do all Muslims believe in jihad?
If the Koran has so much violence and hatred in it, why do you hear it described as a religion of peace? What about those great quotes from the Koran?
Is Islam compatible with democracy?
Why is there so much resistance and revolt in the Islamic world?
Does the Koran justify the killing of civilians?
Why are terrorists targeting Europe and the United States?

And a question I've formed since I've started reading terrorism books is: What do devout Muslims do with the Koran's contradictions? For example, in some passages, women don't have to cover themselves, and in some passages they must. How does a good Muslim know which command to follow? Islamic scholars have made their decision: When two passages contradict each other, the later revelation overrides the earlier one. The earlier passage says women don't have to cover themselves, but a later passage says they do, so they must cover themselves. Case closed.

This explains why a Muslim can say, "The Koran teaches peace," and yet a terrorist can justify his actions by quoting violent passages from the Koran. Both kinds of passages are in there.

Why? Why are there both kinds? Because Mohammed started out writing very tolerant, compassionate verses. At that time Islam was a minority. They had no power. Mohammed was trying to gain converts without arousing too much opposition from the rulers of the city. Later, when he became the undisputed leader of a large group, his writings became more militant and intolerant. Here's one of the later verses from the Koran:
Fight and slay the pagans wherever you find them, and seize them, surround them, and lie in wait for them.

Of course, if they convert to Islam, Mohammed recommends you cease fighting and stop slaying them. According to Gabriel, sixty percent of the verses in the Koran are about jihad, and they are almost all passages written later in Mohammed's life.

"The focus of jihad," wrote Gabriel, "is to overcome people who do not accept Islam." This includes people who try to leave Islam. (Read more about that here.) Check out this passage from the Koran:
Those who reject Islam must be killed. If they turn back from Islam, take hold of them and kill them wherever you find them.

Okay, so what? Lots of books recommend violence. Even religious books. What makes the Koran unique is its political aspirations. "Jihad is carried out," writes Gabriel, "in order to achieve the ultimate goal of Islam — to establish Islamic authority over the whole world. Islam is not just a religion; it is a government, too." That is what makes Islam seem incompatible with democracy. And that's also why such a large percentage of Middle Eastern countries are Muslim. At one time, those countries were conquered and the population was forced to convert to Islam. Islamic governments were created that enforced the practice of Islam. Everybody had to do it (pray five times a day, cover their women, etc.), except Christians and Jews. Sometimes they were allowed to practice their own religion if they paid a special tax.

Over time, rich Christians and Jews paid their taxes. The rest of them either converted to Islam or left the country. So now we have countries where the people are almost all Muslim and the government is run according to Islamic law. Unfortunately that includes legally sanctioned discrimination against women and non-Muslims, and a general lack of human rights and freedom of religion.

But wait a minute. Things aren't as bleak as they seem. People everywhere desire freedom. So the citizens of Algeria, Egypt, Syria, Turkey, Palestine, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, etc., have tried to create non-religious governments. But a non-Islamic government is an outrage to those who think the Koran is a book of direct commands from Allah. So there is a lot of revolt and fighting and killing. Jihad. Any Muslim who tries to create a non-Islamic government is a traitor to Islam according to these believers (and according to the Koran itself), so fighting their own governments is fighting for Islam in their minds.

influencing the media

Shooting people is not the only way to wage a holy war. Lots of oil money from the Middle East finds its way into the U.S. and Europe — building mosques, printing literature, funding organizations, paying staff to do nothing but contact the media and talk to groups. They get on television when they can, talking about how Islam is a religion of peace. And lobbying for Muslim rights. And arousing negative public opinion against anyone who says something negative about Islam.

And they keep gaining converts. The Muslim population is increasing — even in the free world.

Deceit is not a sin in Islam if it is in the service of jihad. After September 11th, mosques and Islamic institutes in America posted signs saying "God Bless America" and "United We Stand." "In all fairness," says Gabriel, some Muslims "really did support America at this time. But other Muslims were doing what was simply expedient at the moment. They are a good example of Islamic politics in non-Islamic lands. These Muslims will lie and say things they do not believe at any moment as long as doing so would help Islam. Their loyalty is to Islam, not to the nation where they are living."

In the philosophy of Islam, countries and boundaries don't really matter. "In Islamic law there are only two types of nations — a nation that is of the house of Islam or a nation that is of the house of war," writes Gabriel, "Any good Muslim who is living according to Allah's law and the Quran will never choose loyalty to their citizenship over loyalty to Islam." A true follower of Islam thinks his job as a believer is to make the whole world Muslim. Islam is his nation.

I recently watched a documentary made in 1993 showing Islamic organizations in the United States raising money for humanitarian causes like children, refugees, and hospitals, but the money was really paying for guns and plastic explosives. These humanitarian organizations were a front to fund terrorism. Kind-hearted American citizens gave money, thinking they were helping poor children, but actually they were paying for weapons to be used against American citizens. This lends evidence to what Gabriel says in his book — if someone is following the instructions in the Koran, fooling unbelievers and using trickery is perfectly legitimate. This is war.

human rights

Gabriel writes, "Islam does not acknowledge or respect human rights, women's rights or democracy. All these are Western ideas from infidels; therefore Muslims do not acknowledge them." This is probably an overstatement, but what do I know? I live in the United States. Gabriel was born and raised in Egypt as a Muslim and has a degree in Islamic history from a Muslim university.

Freedom of speech isn't well tolerated by Islamic states. That's an understatement. Places like Iran and Saudi Arabia, where they really try to follow the Koran to the letter, are extremely, unbelievably intolerant of free speech. The leader of Iran is the one who threatened Salman Rushdie with death when Rushdie's book, The Satanic Verses, was published. And Rushdie didn't even live in Iran.

Gabriel quotes the founder of Pakistan's fundamentalist movement, Mawdudi, who wrote,
Islam is not a normal religion like the other religions in the world, and Muslim nations are not like normal nations. Muslim nations are very special because they have a command from Allah to rule the entire world and to be over every nation in the world.
Islam is a revolutionary faith that comes to destroy any government made by man.

The goal of Islam is to rule the entire world and submit all of mankind to rule by Islamic law. Any nation or power in this world that tries to get in the way of that goal, Islam will fight and destroy.

One of the most interesting chapters of Gabriel's book is called The Three Stages of Jihad. These stages are spelled out in the Koran. In the first stage, when Muslims are a small minority in the country, they work to increase their numbers. So they preach love and compassion, hand out literature, try to convert others, have lots of babies, help their Muslim relatives immigrate from other countries — whatever increases the number of Muslims in the new country.

The second stage comes when they are still a minority but gaining some influence. At this stage, they make preparations for eventual conflict. They build up their money, their political clout, their connections, and their equipment, while trying not to let the unbelievers know what they're up to.

The third stage is open conflict. "This stage," wrote Gabriel, "is when Muslims are a minority with strength, influence and power. At this stage every Muslim's duty is to actively fight the enemy, overturning the system of the non-Muslim country and establishing Islamic authority."

That is the formula for the gradual takeover of a country. The plan is already in operation in most countries of the world.

There are three ways for Muslims to seize control of a government. One is the gradual way above. The second way is for a powerful Islamic state to wage war on the non-Muslim country, defeat it and submit it to Islamic law. The third way is to do what Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Iran are now doing in Iraq — sending men, weapons, and money into an unstable country, and trying everything possible to make the new government an Islamic one.

Lying and deceit are acceptable in war, according to the Koran. This is something that perplexes Westerners and makes Islam difficult to understand because most people in the free world don't realize that in Islam, war is a religious activity. War is an act of worship. So lying to the enemy is not at all immoral. All is fair in war.

With their influence on the media, and their enthusiasm for deceiving, terrorists have successfully buffaloed and confused the majority of Europeans and Americans. That's why I urge you to help make this information widespread in the West. When a lot of people understand what the terrorists are doing, it reduces their effectiveness.

Gabriel writes, "Muslims are very good at presenting themselves as loving, caring and forgiving people. They compromise any conflict between the image they want to present and what they truly believe...They get along with Christians and Jews as if they were brothers. They present Islam to these countries as the answer to all humanity's problems. These Westernized Muslims present their religion as if it stands for mercy, freedom, fairness and reconciliation. They portray Islam as a religion that does not show prejudice to any race or culture."

Another thing that baffles Westerners is Muslims' use of mosques for storing weapons. But that's because we think a mosque is basically like a church or temple. It serves a different function in Islamic practice because jihad is one of the most important practices of Islam. Using a mosque to support jihad is perfectly acceptable to Muslim fundamentalists. It is not profane at all. In fact, it is a good and holy use of a mosque. It's an added bonus for the jihadists that Western soldiers are so reluctant to bomb a place of worship.

Islamic revolution

Islam is a revolutionary religion. The Koran commands its faithful to take over governments. In the Sudan, an Islamic extremist — Al Turabi — has succeeded in gaining power. The main resistance he got was from a Christian minority in south Sudan. "Al Turabi is getting rid of them," says Gabriel, "Al-Turabi is slaughtering the Christians, cutting off their hands and legs, injecting them with the HIV virus — just as Islam taught him. He is showing the world what Islam will to to Christians if it can."

No, it does not say in the Koran to inject infidels with HIV. Or at least I haven't gotten to that part yet. But it does say to cut off one arm and the opposite leg.

Algeria had an election in 1991 and by tricky maneuvering, the Islamic Salvation Front won the election. But everybody knew what would happen if they were allowed to take power. So the military shut down the election. The country erupted in violence and more than 150,000 people were killed to prevent Islamic fundamentalists from taking over the government. These are Muslims fighting to prevent the takeover. It is moderate Muslims who want to practice the peaceful parts of the Koran and ignore the violent and intolerant parts — it is those moderate Muslims fighting the extremist Muslims.

This is an insight into the true nature of the situation — not all Muslims want to follow the Koran to the letter. They were born and raised Muslim. They had no choice about that. Most Muslims want to live in peace, just like the rest of their fellow human beings. They want human rights, and they are willing to fight their fellow Muslims to earn it, so don't get too demoralized by these insights into Islam.

Gabriel said something has changed in Islamic movements. They used to think they should first take over their own government, then use it as a base to take over other governments. That is Iran's philosophy. But the extremists have encountered so much resistance in countries like Egypt that they have changed their strategy. They decided to go for a worldwide jihad. "They decided to go after the 'head' rather than the 'hands,'" writes Gabriel, "The head was identified by its political policies. America and Europe supported Egypt to destroy Islamic sects; America supported Iraq to fight the fundamentalists of the Iranian revolution; and America is still supporting Israel to fight Palestine."

America is the head, and that's who they're targeting now. And now you know why.

Read Islam and Terrorism and then loan it out to your friends. Send this article to them. Let's get the word out about what's going on. This is not a few nutcases we can simply arrest. This is a global movement, driven by the religious fervor of a well-established religion, supported by lots of oil money and many national governments (Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iran, etc.). The free world will not be able to deal effectively with it until a large percentage of our population knows what we're dealing with. One way you can help is to get the word out. Sooner is better than later.

If you feel you aren't an important enough person to make a difference, the first thing you need to do is correct your mistaken assumption. Start here.

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Why Can't We All Just Get Along?

Someone sent around photos the other day of a female tiger that was nursing a bunch of piglets that were dressed up as baby tigers. And at the end of the email, it said, "Why can't the rest of us get along?"

The email had been sent out to lots of people, and one woman replied, and I thought it was a great response. Here's what she said:

Well, since you asked, the rest of the world can't get along because there are people like the Islamists, who think God wants them to kill anyone who doesn't believe the way they do. As long as there are people (usually men) who are so damn sure they know the will of God that they are willing to create hell on earth to achieve heaven after death, well, there will never be any peace on Earth except when the good guys hold enough power to stop them.

In short, you can't get along with people who don't want to get along with you.

Happy Veterans Day... and I'm thankful for every damn one of them!

It is easy for almost everyone to get along with almost everyone. But all you need is a few who aren't interested in getting along, and you've got a situation to deal with. And it seems likely, given how many people are on the planet and how many kinds of people there are, that there will always be at least some people who will not get along. It's a bummer, but it would be hard to argue with the truth of it.

The best we can do is cooperate with the cooperators and limit the influence of the non-cooperators as much as we can.

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