Putting Islamic Terrorism In Perspective
By Larry Johnson on March 6, 2008
from Noquarterusa.net
Marc Sageman tried valiantly this week to get folks thinking rationally about terrorism, but the fearmongers and muslim haters just cannot help themselves. They must believe that every Muslim is hellbent on killing Christians and conquering the west. Marc, for those who don’t know him, was a NOC at the CIA and worked in Afghanistan when the Soviets were running amuck. Unlike the vast majority of so-called terrorist experts, Marc has actually faced death threats and has interviewed dozens of real terrorists.
Marc has written a new book. Leaderless Jihad. The Washington Post’s David Ignatius commented on the book earlier this week, writing:
The heart of Sageman’s message is that we have been scaring ourselves into exaggerating the terrorism threat — and then by our unwise actions in Iraq making the problem worse. He attacks head-on the central thesis of the Bush administration, echoed increasingly by Republican presidential candidate John McCain, that, as McCain’s Web site puts it, the United States is facing “a dangerous, relentless enemy in the War against Islamic Extremists” spawned by al-Qaeda.
The numbers say otherwise, Sageman insists. The first wave of al-Qaeda leaders, who joined Osama bin Laden in the 1980s, is down to a few dozen people on the run in the tribal areas of northwest Pakistan. The second wave of terrorists, who trained in al-Qaeda’s camps in Afghanistan during the 1990s, has also been devastated, with about 100 hiding out on the Pakistani frontier. These people are genuinely dangerous, says Sageman, and they must be captured or killed. But they do not pose an existential threat to America, much less a “clash of civilizations.”
It’s the third wave of terrorism that is growing, but what is it? By Sageman’s account, it’s a leaderless hodgepodge of thousands of what he calls “terrorist wannabes.” Unlike the first two waves, whose members were well educated and intensely religious, the new jihadists are a weird species of the Internet culture. Outraged by video images of Americans killing Muslims in Iraq, they gather in password-protected chat rooms and dare each other to take action. Like young people across time and religious boundaries, they are bored and looking for thrills.
This is not just Marc’s opinion. He actually has research and facts to buttress his position. But leave it to the neocons and rightwing crazies to twist his words and conclusions. Max Boot, for example, reacted to Sageman by blaming me:
(Continued here.)
from Noquarterusa.net
Marc Sageman tried valiantly this week to get folks thinking rationally about terrorism, but the fearmongers and muslim haters just cannot help themselves. They must believe that every Muslim is hellbent on killing Christians and conquering the west. Marc, for those who don’t know him, was a NOC at the CIA and worked in Afghanistan when the Soviets were running amuck. Unlike the vast majority of so-called terrorist experts, Marc has actually faced death threats and has interviewed dozens of real terrorists.
Marc has written a new book. Leaderless Jihad. The Washington Post’s David Ignatius commented on the book earlier this week, writing:
The heart of Sageman’s message is that we have been scaring ourselves into exaggerating the terrorism threat — and then by our unwise actions in Iraq making the problem worse. He attacks head-on the central thesis of the Bush administration, echoed increasingly by Republican presidential candidate John McCain, that, as McCain’s Web site puts it, the United States is facing “a dangerous, relentless enemy in the War against Islamic Extremists” spawned by al-Qaeda.
The numbers say otherwise, Sageman insists. The first wave of al-Qaeda leaders, who joined Osama bin Laden in the 1980s, is down to a few dozen people on the run in the tribal areas of northwest Pakistan. The second wave of terrorists, who trained in al-Qaeda’s camps in Afghanistan during the 1990s, has also been devastated, with about 100 hiding out on the Pakistani frontier. These people are genuinely dangerous, says Sageman, and they must be captured or killed. But they do not pose an existential threat to America, much less a “clash of civilizations.”
It’s the third wave of terrorism that is growing, but what is it? By Sageman’s account, it’s a leaderless hodgepodge of thousands of what he calls “terrorist wannabes.” Unlike the first two waves, whose members were well educated and intensely religious, the new jihadists are a weird species of the Internet culture. Outraged by video images of Americans killing Muslims in Iraq, they gather in password-protected chat rooms and dare each other to take action. Like young people across time and religious boundaries, they are bored and looking for thrills.
This is not just Marc’s opinion. He actually has research and facts to buttress his position. But leave it to the neocons and rightwing crazies to twist his words and conclusions. Max Boot, for example, reacted to Sageman by blaming me:
(Continued here.)
Powered by Blogger
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home