Knowing the Enemy: Jihadist Ideology and the War on Terror 
asked by siriusfanboy on November 3, 2006 3:48 AM
After September 11, Americans agonized over why nineteen men hated the United States enough to kill three thousand civilians in an unprovoked assault. Analysts have offered a wide variety of explanations for the attack, but the one voice missing is that of the terrorists themselves. This penetrating book is the first to present the inner logic of al-Qa’ida and like-minded extremist groups by which they justify September 11 and other terrorist attacks.
Mary Habeck explains that these extremist groups belong to a new movement—known as jihadism—with a specific ideology based on the thought of Muhammad ibn Abd al- Wahhab, Hasan al-Banna, and Sayyid Qutb. Jihadist ideology contains new definitions of the unity of God and of jihad, which allow members to call for the destruction of democracy and the United States and to murder innocent men, women, and children. Habeck also suggests how the United States might defeat the jihadis, using their own ideology against them.
Mary Habeck explains that these extremist groups belong to a new movement—known as jihadism—with a specific ideology based on the thought of Muhammad ibn Abd al- Wahhab, Hasan al-Banna, and Sayyid Qutb. Jihadist ideology contains new definitions of the unity of God and of jihad, which allow members to call for the destruction of democracy and the United States and to murder innocent men, women, and children. Habeck also suggests how the United States might defeat the jihadis, using their own ideology against them.
Reviews
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In the 1930's an unemployed artist and former Army corporal wrote Mein Kamf which pretty much told everybody what he was going to do. Few people listened.
Today lot of analysis of the Jihadi's is based on mirror imaging. That is to say thinking that they process information the same way we do. The Jihadi's worldview is well explained in this book.
One group of people who should have taken note of this are the International Humanitarian Agencies. The bombings of the Red Cross and the United Nations in Baghdad should have come as no surprise. The problem is while the International Humanitarian agencies think they are seen by everyone as handing out food and bandages the Jihadi's see them as tools of Zionist's and Christian Crusaders who are out to humiliate Islam.
One little known fact that is detailed in "The New Jackals: Ramzi Yousef, Osama bin Laden, and the Future of Terrorism"
by Simon Reeve is that UN Headquarters in New York was intended as the original target of the 1997 bombing in New York but they switched to the World Trade Center because of there was too much security.
Time to start listening.
Today lot of analysis of the Jihadi's is based on mirror imaging. That is to say thinking that they process information the same way we do. The Jihadi's worldview is well explained in this book.
One group of people who should have taken note of this are the International Humanitarian Agencies. The bombings of the Red Cross and the United Nations in Baghdad should have come as no surprise. The problem is while the International Humanitarian agencies think they are seen by everyone as handing out food and bandages the Jihadi's see them as tools of Zionist's and Christian Crusaders who are out to humiliate Islam.
One little known fact that is detailed in "The New Jackals: Ramzi Yousef, Osama bin Laden, and the Future of Terrorism"
by Simon Reeve is that UN Headquarters in New York was intended as the original target of the 1997 bombing in New York but they switched to the World Trade Center because of there was too much security.
Time to start listening.
reviewed by ragtop on November 7, 2006 10:13 AM
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Mary Habeck's insight into the nature of the enemy is a valuable asset in the attempt to preserve Western Civilization. Mark Steyn's demographic analysis in America Alone is a valuable companion. The enemy is not like us. We are overmatched in dealing with the enemy if we do not understand the basis and the threat of deviant Islam and Western multiculturalism. Jihadist ideology, Western relativism and nihilism are threats to our way of life. These two books help demonstrate why. Mary Habeck tells us who the enemy is from the enemy's own words and actions without imposing western rationalization on the Jihadist's own actions and thoughts. To listen to our leaders and the media is to appreciate how few of them have spent any time with the Koran or the books above. Jihadist ideology and demographics are the issue. It is time to know what they are. Next, we have to figure out just what it is that we believe.
reviewed by nat on November 13, 2006 5:53 AM
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A dispassonate analysis of the subject by an author who, unlike most media pundits and politicians, has obviously read the Koran and relevant writings and speeches on which the terrorist organizations base their philosophy, and that they use to explain and justify their actions. Unlike much that is written on the subject, thisbook does not appear to be is written to serve a partisan political point of view. In my view, anyone who has not read this book (and Bernard Lewis' recent works) cannot claim to have an informed and intelligent opinion about appropriate U.S. policy with respect to the MIddle East, terrorism, or Islamic organizations and their supporters. My only criticism (which may reflect my personal judgment on the foregoing matters) is that some of the author's conclusions regarding how the conflict between the Jihadists and the West will play out seem to reflect what I consider a subjective emotional hope that all can and will work out peacefully, which seems inconsistent with much of the information and analysis in the book.
reviewed by goonball on November 26, 2006 12:59 AM
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Mary Habek avoids polemics and sticks to pedagogy in this precise account of the nature and history of radical Islam's ideology. The title is somewhat sensational, but the text is not inflammatory. This is expository writing at its best. Habek knows just how much detail to include to explain her subject without fatiguing her readers.
In an early chapter Ms. Habek describes the thought and writing of the first major fundamentalist thinker, Muhammad ibn `Abd al-Wahhab. He eventually emerged as one of the most influential radical Islamic writers. However his ideas were marginalized for nearly two hundred years until the oil shocks of the seventies gave Wahhabi preachers millions of petrodollars to spread their version of Islam throughout the world.
Accounts of other important radicals such as Ibn Taymiyya, Al-Banna, Mawdudi, and Qutb are included, within their historical context. Habek is able to do this clearly and without overuse of mind-numbing Arabic nomenclature.
A characteristic that all the radical groups share is that their beliefs have little to do with external pressures from Europeans or others but from the internal strife and dynamics of Islam itself. She makes this point repeatedly. These people are first and foremost religious fanatics. It was not any encounter with the West that made them this way.
The jihadist Muslims don't see themselves as destroyers or murderers but as saviors of mankind from its many problems. They believe the Qur'an has appointed them as guardians over humanity and the right to dominion over the world. With this absolutist utopian ideology they reject "man made laws" such as takes place in a democracy. Only religious, or "shari'a law as derived from the Qu'ran can rule mankind, and it cannot be separated into "church and state." There is no secular order in Islam, all is religious.
Habek repeatedly states throughout the book that the jihadists are only a small fraction of the Islamic faith. According to her they don't represent the thinking of the vast majority of Islam. But one is left wondering, why aren't there numerous books explaining the point of view of this majority? Why are there no visible spokesmen from moderate Islam debating and excoriating the jihadists? Could it be that either (1) the vast majority of Islam agrees with the jihadists or (2) the vast majority have themselves been terrorized and are afraid to speak out?
Habek lists a few recommendations for solving the clash between the jihadists and the rest of the world. She states "the United States and other countries must...find reasonable strategies that will exploit the failures of the jihadis, stop the extremists from carrying out violent attacks, minimize the appeal of their beliefs and eventually end their war with the world." "The center of the jihadist movement is its ideology, which must be directly confronted, challenged and defeated."
In the end May Habek offers the neoconservative (although she doesn't call it that) approach as the best possible hope. "Only democratization...will directly attack the jihadist ideology while creating governments that are more responsive to their citizens." "If democracies can flourish in Islamic lands without disturbing the practices and beliefs of Islam, the entire jihadist argument will collapse."
In an early chapter Ms. Habek describes the thought and writing of the first major fundamentalist thinker, Muhammad ibn `Abd al-Wahhab. He eventually emerged as one of the most influential radical Islamic writers. However his ideas were marginalized for nearly two hundred years until the oil shocks of the seventies gave Wahhabi preachers millions of petrodollars to spread their version of Islam throughout the world.
Accounts of other important radicals such as Ibn Taymiyya, Al-Banna, Mawdudi, and Qutb are included, within their historical context. Habek is able to do this clearly and without overuse of mind-numbing Arabic nomenclature.
A characteristic that all the radical groups share is that their beliefs have little to do with external pressures from Europeans or others but from the internal strife and dynamics of Islam itself. She makes this point repeatedly. These people are first and foremost religious fanatics. It was not any encounter with the West that made them this way.
The jihadist Muslims don't see themselves as destroyers or murderers but as saviors of mankind from its many problems. They believe the Qur'an has appointed them as guardians over humanity and the right to dominion over the world. With this absolutist utopian ideology they reject "man made laws" such as takes place in a democracy. Only religious, or "shari'a law as derived from the Qu'ran can rule mankind, and it cannot be separated into "church and state." There is no secular order in Islam, all is religious.
Habek repeatedly states throughout the book that the jihadists are only a small fraction of the Islamic faith. According to her they don't represent the thinking of the vast majority of Islam. But one is left wondering, why aren't there numerous books explaining the point of view of this majority? Why are there no visible spokesmen from moderate Islam debating and excoriating the jihadists? Could it be that either (1) the vast majority of Islam agrees with the jihadists or (2) the vast majority have themselves been terrorized and are afraid to speak out?
Habek lists a few recommendations for solving the clash between the jihadists and the rest of the world. She states "the United States and other countries must...find reasonable strategies that will exploit the failures of the jihadis, stop the extremists from carrying out violent attacks, minimize the appeal of their beliefs and eventually end their war with the world." "The center of the jihadist movement is its ideology, which must be directly confronted, challenged and defeated."
In the end May Habek offers the neoconservative (although she doesn't call it that) approach as the best possible hope. "Only democratization...will directly attack the jihadist ideology while creating governments that are more responsive to their citizens." "If democracies can flourish in Islamic lands without disturbing the practices and beliefs of Islam, the entire jihadist argument will collapse."
reviewed by imtheboss on November 26, 2006 11:43 PM