Islamism Series: Back to Afghanistan

For a land-locked nation that is basically a pile of rock and sand, Afghanistan holds some serious sway in the international community. The reasons are many, but they are sometimes difficult to graps until you look more closely.

Afghanistan is bordered on the west by an Islamic nuclear-power wannabe ruled by a mad President in Iran, and on the east by the already nuclear-powered and increasingly fractious Pakistan. There is even a small slice of northeastern Afghanistan that borders up against a Communist behemoth known as China. Along its northern borders lie a trio of former Soviet states in Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

Its land-locked status means that it has virtually no natural water supplies. There are no seas against which it borders, no rivers running through it, no lakes in which water has gathered. In short, there is very little of the life-sustaining, not to mention economy-sustaining water that is necessary for a country and people to survive, let alone thrive.

The median age is less than 18 years, which might make you wonder where are all the adults? Many of them are simply dead, as the average life expectancy is only a little over 44 years. Because of the poor economic conditions there is a high risk of infectious diseases and wide-scale problems with other illnesses such as malaria, typhoid fever, hepatitis A, and 'bird flu' influenza strains. So why does everyone care so much about a country that is so desolate and so inhospitable? Simply because of its strategic location as a 'buffer zone'.

Afghanistan was founded in 1747 when Ahmad Durrani was able to organized the native Pashtun tribes into one people. For a long time it served as a buffer between the Russian and the British empires before gaining independence from Britain in 1919.

In the 1970's, the Soviets propped up a Communist government there, and then directly invaded the country in 1979 to put down rebellions from various native Afghan tribes and groups. This led to a decade-long war in which the rebels emerged victorious thanks to aid from the international community, most notably the United States (see the film 'Charlie Wilson's War'.)

In the aftermath of the Soviet-Afghan war there was continual civil war in the country, with the Taliban finally emerging with control in the mid-1990's. The population is 99% Muslim, and the Taliban demanded observance of a strict interpretation of Islamic Sharia law. They also allowed the use of Afghan territories by Osama bin Laden and his radical Islamic followers, which al Qaeda used to operate terrorist training camps.

Following 9/11, the U.S.-led coalition invaded, destroyed the terrorist camps, and drove the Taliban from power. This began a process of attempting to install a democratic government and elected leadership, which ultimately led to the current democratically-elected government of Hamid Karzai (pictured). Many felt that the U.S. lost focus from this important rebuilding program when it switched gears and invaded Iraq.

With the Afghan situation appearing under control, President Bush redeployed many American forces to topple the regime of dictator Sadaam Hussein in Iraq. As noble as removing the evil Hussein from power may have been, it did allow the Taliban to begin slowly regrouping and regaining some influence in Afghanistan.

The new American President Barack Obama inherited both the Iraq and Afghanistan situations when he took office. It is his position that Iraqi defense forces and the Iraqi government are becoming strong enough that they will soon be able to stand on their own, and is planning to slowly draw down U.S. presence in that area. At the same time he plans to increase the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan.

There is an upcoming international conference on Afghanistan that will take place at The Hague and which will be attended by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton along with leaders from all of the world nations having a stake in Afghanistan's short and long term future.

With both the historical and current instability in that region of the world, and with their significant strategic locations, successful democracies in both Iraq and Afghanistan are worthy and important efforts. The Afghans absolutely need and deserve more U.S. support, not just military but also economic and in other areas. But the Iraqis cannot be abandoned to fend for themselves to the point where the loss of 4,000 American lives over a half decade ends up being for nothing.


President Obama is basically taking us back to Afghanistan, and that is a good and necessary thing. But at the same time we need to be very careful in the process of drawing down in Iraq. In the 'big tent' meeting at The Hague, two groups with a stake in Afghanistan's future which will not be represented are the Taliban and al Qaeda. But the groups who do meet should not forget their presence or their interest.

Radical Islamic forces are still fighting in both countries to undermine the American-led efforts, convinced that if they just wait us out we will eventually retreat to our own homeland and leave these Middle East countries with little defense against their continuing Jihad.

NOTE: This is a continuation of the Islam Series, all items of which can be read by clicking the below label of that name.

Islamism Series: Obsession

This past Sunday, the Philadelphia Inquirer's weekend advertising inserts included an item that you might have missed if you weren't looking carefully, or that you might have simply disregarded while moving through your shopping choices. The item was a heavy-paper card with a DVD attached, one that you absolutely need to view. The DVD is a one hour version of a documentary film previously shown on both Fox News and CNN titled "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West". There has perhaps been no better vehicle produced to this date that presents and explains the facts behind the problem of 'Radical Islam' and it's Jihadi adherents. The film includes interviews with some who lived through the indoctrinations that take place of youth in todays Middle East, including Nonie Darwish who is the daughter of a 'martyr'. Her father was recruited to be the head of Fedayeen operations against Israel back in the Egypt of the 1950's, and became a national hero when he was killed in Jihad operations against that country. Walid Shoebat is also interviewed in the film. A former PLO terrorist who spent time in jail for incitement and violence, Shoebat eventually emigrated to the U.S. where he continued to speak out against Israel. He eventually decided to study the Bible back in 1993, in order to obtain information to help convert his wife to Islam. After months of study, he began to realize that everything he had been taught in his Middle East upbringing was a lie. He began to speak out on behalf of his former enemy, and is now a leading speaker against radical Islam. There are many leading experts on the issue from here in America and around the world who also make presentations during the film. These include journalist Daniel Pipes, analyst and auther Steven Emerson, former Middle East news anchor Brigitte Gabrielle, Palestinian Media Watch director Itamar Marcus, and former U.S. Justice Department prosecutor John Loftus among many others. Headline News host Glenn Beck has said "Obsession is without exaggeration one of the most important films of our time", radio talk host and film critic Michael Medved says it is "powerful, expertly crafted, and undeniably important", and '24' producer Howard Gordon has said the film "is required viewing for everyone." Quite simply, Executive Producer Peter Maier has put together an extremely watchable, highly educational, and emotionally charged film that is of vital importance. The fact is, most of you reading this simply do not comprehend the extent of the danger that radical Islam poses to the world as a whole, and the United States in particular. If you have the insert from last week's Sunday Inquirer laying around in a pile of future recyclables, go dig for it in the advertising section. If you don't, click into the title of this article above and visit the website. There you can watch free snippets of the film, view the complete film online, or purchase the DVD at low cost. This is a film that is a true must-see, one that you should watch and then share with your friends and family. Much as Hitler and the Nazis in World War II, today's Jihadis want nothing less than world domination, and you are a part of the system that is standing in it's way, and that it will eliminate if given the chance. The film begins with a saying from noted Irish political philosopher Edmund Burke: "The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing." Don't be one of the good people who do nothing. Get and watch "Obsession", educate yourself, and make sure that you, your family, and your elected representatives are taking this issue as seriously as the Jihadis are taking it against you.

Islamism Series: Infiltration of America

Steven Emerson, one of the nation's leading terrorism experts, states it appropriately when he says that "only by knowing how the terrorists' networks operate...can we be vigilant in detecting any new activity." There are at least three significant foreign Islamic terror groups operating in America today: Hamas, al Qaeda, and PIJ (Palestinian Islamic Jihad.) These groups receive support from, and give it to, countries such as Sudan, Egypt, and Afghanistan. They are here for the sole purpose of attacking America and Americans right here in our homeland, and they were getting more successful at it until the increased efforts of the Bush administration in the post-9/11 world slowed them. But they have not stopped, they continue to plot and plan and make attempts, and without continued strong security and intelligence on our part they will succeed again, probably on an even larger scale than 9/11. Emerson has divided the terrorists activities into four categories: recruitment, fund-raising/money-laundering, networking, and direct organization. In recruiting, the Islamofascists love to find willing participants in Jihad who already hold American passports, at times finding these people among naturalized U.S. citizens of Middle Eastern descent. People who can generally travel freely into and out of the country, and within the country, with little suspicion. Other recruitment, orientation, and indoctrination can come from websites and newspapers, and the terrorists actively use our freedoms against us. We cannot stop anyone from preaching violence unless a standard of "clear and present danger" is met. As Emerson states, "We cannot stop groups from gathering to share their political views, even if one of those views is that the U.S. must be destroyed." In the areas of fund-raising and money-laundering, there have been conferences held right here on U.S. soil in which attendees were exhorted to directly donate at that time to fund the Jihad. Other times, charities such as the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development have made appeals for donations to support widows and orphans of the Middle East conflict, never telling the donors that the funds would go to fight and support continued Jihadist activities. They have smuggled contraband cigarettes for funding as well, participated in sham marriages to gain citizenship. Networking can be accomplished by using organizations such as CAIR (Council on American Islamic Relations) and MAYA (Muslim Arab Youth Association) among others with legitimate sounding names. These organizations may often publicly preach one message, while their members often exhibit what Emerson calls "contrary behaviors" in collaborating and facilitating the work of terrorists. Emerson rightly feels that these organizations must take responsibility for the things that take place at their conferences. Direct organizing has at times been accomplished by what Emerson has called "terror networks operating under their own names" such as the ARC (Advice & Reform Committee), formed under direct orders by Osama bin Laden to the man indicted in the bombing of the American embassies in Kenya & Tanzania back in 1998. Though ARC was never incorporated in the U.S., it kept two mailing addresses here in Denver and Kansas City. The fact remains that the vast majority of Muslims here in America are peaceful and genuinely moderate, subscribing to what Emerson describes as "the strong Islamic tradition of tolerance and human dignity." And yet it is the extremists who continue to have the most influence simply because they are the most active. That activism, combined with the funding of Saudi Arabian subscribers to Wahhabism, which supports the spread of Islam through violence, has led to what a prominent cleric has stated has been a takeover of "more than 80% of the mosques that have been established in the U.S." It is clear that the mix of radical idealism, Saudi cash, willing naturalized recruits, and modern technology are placing America in danger. Despite stronger intelligence capabilities thanks to efforts such as The Patriot Act, the infiltration of America is well under way, and it is important that we all both know this and remain awake and aware to any emergence in our own communities through schools, mosques, community centers, and other outlets. It is also important that we all recognize the successful role that this Act and other law enforcement and intelligence efforts have played in keeping us relatively safe since 9/11, and that we continue to support these efforts and the politicians who will continue their implementation.