... I would argue that we in the West, and indeed most who were not born and raised within the Islamic world, have struggled to meet the test of the second part of that adage. As a veteran of Special Operations and Counter-Terrorism activities against Violent Extremism, this weakness in our comprehension has been a source of constant worry for myself and my colleagues. Too often, it has hindered my own efforts to plan operations, anticipate events, predict outcomes, or evaluate risks. While I would certainly argue that we have achieved some important successes over the years, honesty requires me to acknowledge that I have never been able to achieve all that I had hoped for.
Why? Is it an absence of skill? A lack of coordination or resources? A failure of imagination (as the 9/11 Commission famously reported after the events of 2001)? Those that know me might argue that I am guilty of all of them in some measure. Yet I have watched comrades and colleagues from across the Military, Diplomatic, Civilian, and Intelligence domains, from many different countries, have the same difficulties.
I believe that we do not yet fully comprehend that which we are contesting. And, in the case of the Islamic State (or al-Dawlah al-Islamīyah fī al-ʻIrāq wa-al-Shām; which creates the Arabic Acronym- DA'ISH), we have a Violent Extremist foe that I believe is unlike any other we have contested. Whatever strengths al-Qaeda has been able to demonstrate, in all its various forms from North Africa to Pakistan, in its contest with the International Community, DA'ISH is the most effective, most inspirational, and most powerful manifestation of Violent Extremism we have ever seen.
Download the report here. (h/t Frank)
"I believe that we do not yet fully comprehend that which we are contesting."
Perhaps. But I think it is more likely everyone who matters is fully cognizant of the peril, but cover their eyes and ears like children in the vain hope that when they remove their hands the boggans will be gone.
"the Islamic State ... is the most effective, most inspirational, and most powerful manifestation of Violent Extremism we have ever seen."
Really? What about that theocratic, totalitarian, millenarian, blood-thirsty Islamic regime to the East? You know, it's the one your commander-in-chief has decided will become the hegemon in the Middle East; the regime that, with your help, is on its way to defeating ISIS, whose proxies now run Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen; the regime which is ISIS's main competition to head the Caliphate, which has declared its mission to wipe Israel off the map, and which your President is enabling to acquire The Bomb.
"before one can solve a problem, one must first seek to understand it"
True. But add this: one must also have the gumption to solve it.
The Islamic State has trampled on every pillar of modern western civilization and we respond like wet noodles.
What attracts people to any warlord? Think of all the major gangs in the U.S. What attracts people to them?
I suggest it is the promise of identity, of power, of wealth, of loyalty, and of conquering.
To defeat them, we have to be just as clear about our identity, we have to be more powerful, we have to be more secure in our wealth, we need to be more loyal to each other, and, ultimately, we have to conquer them and be willing and driven to do so.
That's precisely how the Allies defeated the Axis powers in World War II.
"before one can solve a problem," one first has to admit that there is a problem.
A small sample of what most of the leadership in the West is unwilling to acknowledge.
Unholy War: The March of ISIS
http://video.foxnews.com/v/4110600942001/
Oh, and "Violent Extremism" is now a thing, is it? So declares the metaphysician-in-chief.
This seems like a bit of special pleading. I think we understand ISIS just fine. They represent the barbarians of history, for whom no atrocity is too evil because their religion forgives all acts done in its name.
The real problem is that military men of the West have failed to identify the actual enemy. Which is not ISIS. They are a side show. The true enemy of civilization is the Left and all its creatures in the civil service, the courts, the legislature, the media. They are the ones keeping The West from doing what needs to be done. They are the ones feeding arms and assistance to the barbarians though the back door. They are the ones importing these barbarians to North America and Europe, and PAYING THEM TO STAY. For votes.
The true war is the Culture War. Win that, and this whole thing goes away in five years. ISIS gets to be lord and master over a hill of skulls in the middle of a desert, at best.
Bill Warner takes 45 minutes of your time to explain why it is we are afraid, and have needed to be for 14 centuries:
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=25a_1368388148
I'm thinking we are wilfully ignorant of this writing: "for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places ". (Ephesians 6:12).
"DA'ISH is the most effective, most inspirational, and most powerful manifestation of Muhammadism we have ever seen."
Fixed it.
Michael Nagata, like all the others who are part of the problem, claims be seeking to understand the problem, after first dogmatically ruling out the very identity of the problem. We're looking looking looking everywhere except... we aren't allowed to look directly at it and identify it. The name of the problem has been forbidden, purely due to political concerns, to be spoken.
The problem is that ISIS is following their prophet Muhammad, to the letter.
As long as there is Islam and people are true to it's teachings in the Koran and Hadith, we are going to have groups and individuals who are inspired by Muhammad's teachings and life example.
These ISIS people, and Boko Haram, and the Taliban, are just emulating their prophet Muhammad.
"Why? Is it an absence of skill? A lack of coordination or resources? A failure of imagination (as the 9/11 Commission famously reported after the events of 2001)? Those that know me might argue that I am guilty of all of them in some measure. Yet I have watched comrades and colleagues from across the Military, Diplomatic, Civilian, and Intelligence domains, from many different countries, have the same difficulties."
Here's a suggestion:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/bill-c-51-day-of-action-protests-denounce-new-policing-powers-1.2994226
And, this helpful advice from a commenter:
"(I)f harper can change laws for the RICH then after the next election the new leader of Canada should have warrants for the arrest for 260+ conservative criminals that tried to destroy Canada by force. Start with the puppet-master harper." You forgot Herr Harper and police state.
My only criticism of Mr Harper is he is apparently the reason Elizabeth May went into politics.
Don't worry, they'll lose on this one and turn the upcoming federal election into a race for second place.
From the CBC link:
30 "leading digital rights, pro-democracy and civil liberties organizations" are backing the movement, including OpenMedia, LeadNow, Amnesty International Canada, the BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association, Canadian Journalists for Free Expression, the Council for Canadians, Tunnelbear and Women Against Stephen Harper.
"Women against Stephen Harper" is portrayed as a Pro-democracy organization? A satirist couldn't compete with the national propagandist on this. Maude Barlow and the Council For Canadians spent months trying for a makeover of the 2011 federal election. Some pro-democracy group.
Phantom, exactly. It is difficult for the left to recognize the threat of militant Islam when its long range aims are the same as those of ISIS, Iran, and the MB, which is the destruction of liberal democracy.
Although, not considering the fact that Stephen Harper and the Conservatives was elected as first a minority government and finally a majority government, the left has won the war. I am not sure how this happened as virtually every organization in Canada is controlled by the left, and many of them by the radical left as is evidenced by the partial listing that Martin enumerates. All of this comes from the communists that were in our pedagogical schools in the late 1950s. They and their fellows at the time have accomplished their work well.
Shamrock, let us not kid ourselves for one moment. There are many of the left here in Canada that would just love the opportunity and power to have trials for the "enemies of the people".
Oz, "The problem is that ISIS is following their prophet Muhammad, to the letter." Exactly, and if I might add so is Iran under the Ayatollahs. Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood are just more covert about their long range objectives.
"I believe that we do not yet fully comprehend that which we are contesting" - well, putting together a bunch of s**t-brained bureaucrats is not going to give you anything but a s**t-brained result. "It should work - it should work - they whir."
Well, they won't choke ISIS on their alphabet soup.
There's not much to understanding ISIS, really - teenaged girls can do it. Read the Qu'ran; read the Old Testament. That will take you most of the way. Read the history of early Islam, read the "Seven Pillars of Wisdom", read about the US Marines and the Barbary Pirates, read about Marechal Lyautey. Don't follow the talk-show hosts as they attempt to convert the ferocious Lord God of Hosts into a marriage councillor. Learn how to spell "Allahu Akhbar" - "God is Greatest". And look around for your Grant, your Sherman - men who will understand these things almost intuitively, and who know how to fight. Indeed, this happened before, during the US Civil War; nearly all of the Union generals wouldn't fight - didn't want to leave Washington, were perhaps scared of their military brethren now leading the Confederate armies, whatever - but Abraham Lincoln intended to win, and found among the discarded and unfashionable military men attracted to Washington, his implacable champions.