Abuse of Muslims

"Guantanamo is used by al-Qaida as a symbol of American abuse of Muslims and is fanning the flames of anti-Americanism around the world," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California.
Andrew Taylor, Associated Press, 5/20/09

It must be obvious that we are losing the propaganda war to al Qaeda.

We have been backed into a corner with few options. Capturing enemy combatants can never meet the legal standards of criminal law. Requiring soldiers to be policemen will not work. Nor will handing veto power over military operations to lawyers.

Fighting a war against an enemy dressed as a civilian, police ally or in our uniform is difficult under any conditions, but impossible under present rules of engagement.

We need to make the enemy identifiable. Our intuition tells us that most of the inmates of Guantanamo are enemies. So why is an American senator so troubled at their incarceration? Why is there a gap between what we intuitively understand and our ability to act on that understanding?

Look at the problem of enemy identification from the enemy’s point of view. He is standing up shouting, waving his arms identifying himself as our enemy. We can’t see him.

He marches in the streets carrying signs that identify him as our enemy. He has entire television stations and websites that broadcast day and night one message—I am your enemy. We can’t see him.

Our enemy is identified by what he believes. He proudly identifies himself when he announces his beliefs. We can’t hear him.

What is the content of the unspoken fear of bringing Guantanamo inmates to American prisons? It is that they will spread their beliefs in our prison populations. This infection is spreading in Britain and to some extent in America. From the enemy point of view, time spent in Guantanamo confers high status.

Of course we don’t want the rock stars of jihad preaching in our prisons. We can’t compete with them. That would identify Islamic teachings as the enemy’s ideology, and we are officially not at war with any part of Islam.

If we stand mute while the enemy preaches, we lose the propaganda war and the enemy gains recruits. We have a message too. It has proven to be more attractive than the enemy’s. That’s why there is a long line of people wanting to come to America, and no line to get into countries governed by the enemy’s message.

But if we refuse to identify the enemy, our message remains unspoken.

We must confront the ideology of Islamic supremacy through violence. Anyone who preaches or acts on it is our enemy. All Muslims who believe it should not be part of their religion are our allies.

Originally posted on 5/21/09