MUST READ: "TO OUR GREAT DETRIMENT" IGNORING WHAT EXTREMISTS SAY ABOUT JIHAD

"TO OUR GREAT DETRIMENT": IGNORING WHAT EXTREMISTS SAY ABOUT JIHAD
BY MAJOR STEPHEN COLLINS COUGHLIN (U.S.A.R.)

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first, we do not understand the Islamic components to the WOT [War on Terror]; second, Muslim adversaries conceptualize the threat in authentic Islamic terms that; third, appear to drive their decision making thereby; fourth, making an Islamic vision a component of adversaries' doctrine which; fifth, the Underlying Causes model does not account for and cannot compensate for by reference to alternative academic (behavioral, sociological, economic, psychological, or anthropological) models.

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Given both our inability to develop a descriptively accurate understanding of the nature of the enemy and our broad frustration with the current state of affairs in the WOT, it may be time to ponder deeply what was meant when Majid Khadduri [in his seminal "War and Peace in the Law of Islam"] said that "the universality of Islam, in its all embracing creed, is imposed on all believers as a continuous process of warfare, psychological and political, if not strictly military" that Pakistani Brigadier S.K. Malik said was the point [ in "The Qur'anic Concept of War"] where Qur'anic concepts of war are won-at the war of will phase. To break from the slow submission cycle that leads to the destruction of our confidence, a recommitment to a process driven by facts along with an associated commitment to ruthlessly go wherever those facts may take us, is recommended. With IPB [Intelligence Preparation for the Battlefield], we already have a methodology capable of taking us down that path.

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If, in furtherance of creating a working threat model, points in this thesis are successfully challenged, this thesis will still have served its purpose. Having said that, it is the position of this thesis that it will not fail if decision makers and analysts return to an IPB [Intelligence Preparation for the Battlefield] methodology that begins with an unconstrained, undelegated, systematic, factual analysis of the threat doctrine that the enemy self-identifies as being driven by Islamic law. Following such a process has the benefit of meeting professional standards for competent analysis. This thesis cannot succeed, however, if the response is to outsource it to subject matter experts willing to volunteer their information under the sole condition that it be accepted both uncritically and unconditionally. This is not only true because such an approach fails to meet the professional standard, but also because it fails the standard that will lead to defeat in the WOT.

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Because Islamic law matters to Muslims, in the WOT, it should also matter to us.

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Pertinent Links:

1) "To Our Great Detriment": Ignoring What Extremists Say About Jihad