The Misnomer Jihad

As we fight the War on Terror, it is important not only to fight terrorism in a physical sense, actually neutralizing terrorist forces, but to combat terrorism across the mental and psychological dimensions as well. The best way to do this is to educate the people, both those of the United States as well as the populaces of the Middle East, so that we can reach a common understanding and truly put an end to the ideologies that lead to terrorism.

When referring to terrorists it is common for media to label acts of terrorism as acts of Jihad. Jihad in Arabic means struggle, and use of the word in the context of terrorism implies that Jihad is in essence the struggle against western oppression, or the "holy war" that is to be carried out by Muslims. Jihad in Islam is really understood to mean the struggle to do good, to follow the path of Allah. Giving a term that is symbolic of following in the path of God to events that take the lives of innocents strengthens Fundamentalists' ideologies. They believe that they are truly carrying out a struggle in the name of God.

If we strip any religious connotation from terrorist acts and remove the notion that carrying out acts of terrorism is a duty of any true Muslim, then we can rid extremists of any sense of religious piety and expose them for heretics and fanatics whose views directly contradict the religion they claim to be defending. In this way, as stated by a memo from the Bush Administration, we can stop unintentionally portraying terrorists, "who lack moral and religious legitimacy, as brave fighters, legitimate soldiers or spokesmen for ordinary Muslims."

Dirty Kuffar

"Jihad Against the Crusaders," appears on the screen immediately after laughter over the footage of the hijacked planes crashing into the Twin Towers.
This video presents a new threat to counterterrorism, and at the same time shows the ingenious of Fundamentalists to draw in new recruits to take up "Jihad." Dirty Kuffar means 'dirty non-believer,' and the video displays a new approach by Fundamentalists; they have now adapted typically Western themes, this video is reminiscent of an MTV rap video, to try to capture the attention of Muslim youths to take up the 'holy war' against the crusaders. While inventive, the video completely contradicts the ideals of terrorist forces like the Taliban, who ban music and dancing, but that is exactly the point of this video. The fundamentalists are trying to call Muslims that do not agree with the views and ideals of militant radicals by incorporating themes from pop-culture. In this film the fundamentalists also tie religion to a call to arms, to inspire a sense of moral duty to kill the 'crusaders'. As british Labor MP Andrew Dismore said, "these extremists are using music and video to prey on young and impressionable Muslim boys in order to attract them to their brand of lunacy and entice them to commit acts of terror. It is inexcusable."
The video was actually made in Britian, not the Middle East, by Sheikh Terra and the Soul Salah Crew. Produced in 2004, it was sponsored by Mohammed Al-Massari, a UK based Islamic extremist and Saudi Arabian dissident. British authorites are attempting to prosecute the makers of this video, however their efforts may be too little too late as new extremist rappers emerge.
Following in the footsteps of Dirty Kuffar, other British Muslims have begun to use rap and hiphop as a means to call people to Jihad. Aki Nawaz has emerged as the frontman for the extremist rap group "Fun-Da-Mental," a group that sings the praises of suicide bombers and Osama Bin Laden. In 2006 Britian passed a new Terrorism Act which made the glorification or encouragement of political violence a crime, but despite the efforts of British officials, videos like "Dirty Kuffar" are only a click away on youtube.

The Problem of Yemen

In one of his most recent posts, the author of "We The People," Ryan Ferguson talks about the looming danger that Pakistan poses. The threat of Pakistan distributing WMDs to terrorist forces is indeed a serious problem and a main concern for our national security. However, Pakistan is not the only issue of concern for our Homeland Security. It seems that as our attention on Al Qaeda strongholds in one area of the Middle East increases, the terrorists will shift their base of operations elsewhere. In this case they shift to the country of Yemen.

Yemen, the site of the bombing of the USS Cole in 2000, has always been a terrorist hotspot. The country’s poor infrastructure as well as a weak economy has bread a place where terrorist organizations can consider themselves in a safe haven. The country is the poorest in the Middle East, oil production has decreased by almost 40 %, Shi-ite movements in the northern part of the country have caused Civil War, and in the south secessionists are trying to break away from the government. While the Yemeni government attempts to cooperate with counterterrorist efforts, their plate is too full and Al Qaeda has gained the location, time, and ability to recruit and train.

The terrorist forces within the Middle East all have their own ideologies, Al Qaeda differs from Hamas and so forth, yet Al Qaeda forces from Yemen have been moving into Gaza to start global jihadist groups, vastly different from the local Palestinian Islamic Jihadist nature of Hamas. Yemen is also the site where the Christmas Day bomber gained his training and traveled from. So with all of this terrorist activity coming through Yemen what is the US doing about it?

An interview with Christopher Voss, terrorism expert and managing director of Inside Security, reveals that the United States has been working with the Yemeni government providing intelligence, showing the locations of terrorist targets, and helping the Yemenis to operationalize their strikes against the terrorist forces. This method has proven highly successful as 15 of the top terrorist leaders in Yemen have been taken out. However, just as the organization is fluid enough to move from country to country, a new leader will emerge to fill the power vacuum left by our counterterrorist efforts. In this case Anwar Al-Awlaki, a US citizen born in New Mexico that moved to Yemen, responsible for the planning behind the Christmas Day bomber has risen to the leadership position of terrorist forces in Yemen. The hunt for Al-Awlaki continues, and although training the Yemenis to combat the terrorists themselves has proved fruitful, greater US involvement may become necessary as Al Qaeda continually gains a stronger foothold in Yemen.