Part of being an Army officer includes gaining as much knowledge about the current operational environment. Including all aspects like Political, Military, Economic, Social, Information, Infrastructure, Physical Environment, and Time (PMESII-PT) in order to be as successful as possible. “Knowing the Enemy: Jihadist Ideology and the War on Terror” by Mary Habeck is a critical informational read that directly assists with gaining information about the operational environment specifically in areas of Politics, Social, Information, and even Physical Environment because they all tie into religion through different angles. This book by Mary Habeck is about Radical Islamic Terrorism through all aspects and how it is connected to our western American culture. Its writing comes from one of the worst days in United States history known as September 11th when 19 men decided to attack by hijacking planes crashing into the Pentagon, Pennsylvania, and the World Trade Center. The American public is sometimes confused on who the enemy actually but with this book it is clearly explained through the organization of why those 19 men did it, how this terrorist thought has been created through history, and what the western world …show more content…
They believe that there are only true believers and that the rest of the world are unbelievers that have a sole purpose of destroying Islam. Anyone that is not a true believer shale be treated as a threat at all times. With society they believe every aspect of life should be controlled by shari’a law, with no popular elections or legislature. “The jihadists agree with fact that Islam requires political power and should run the state, but they believe that the faithful cannot wait for ideological change, but must use violence to create the Caliphate, which will maintain the struggle against unbelievers” (Habeck,
The book “How Terrorism End; Understanding the Decline and Demise of Terrorist Campaigns”, written in 2011 at the height of Al-Qaeda, the most well-known international terrorist group of our time. The author of this work, Audrey Cronin, at the time of print, served as a professor of strategy at the United States National War College in Washington D.C., and a senior associate at Oxford University’s Changing Character of War Program. Both positions allowed her to impact strategic policy making in the execution of the Global War on Terror by allowing her access to senior military and civilian policymakers. Her previous area of her prior work has been mainly focused on international terrorism with an emphasis on al-Qaeda. She has authored
Islam extremists believe in "jihad" which is interpreted by traditional clerics and Muslim scholars, the word speaks of spiritual struggle against sin. This can include fighting an attacker, but when it does, it has specific rules that bar indiscriminate killing. The word can also refer to the believer's internal striving for self-improvement. But within the dictionary of Islamic extremists, it has connoted acts of exceptional violence against governments that are deemed as non-Muslim or inadequately Islamic. This has led to include the launching of deliberate attacks against innocent civilians, essentially, terrorism. From the perspective of totalitarian ideologues, societies that reject the call for total revolutionary transformation are
Deceased philosopher Bertrand Russell once said, “War does not determine who is right- only who is left”. Those left are the soldiers of the 1-502nd, specifically Bravo Company 1st plt, and the Janabi family and to a greater extent, the ever-changing global world we all live in today. The tragic events that conspired in a small Iraqi village became a microcosm of how leadership failures at every level shaped the actions of a few soldiers who committed atrocious acts. One can also see how a high operational tempo, along with prolonged violence and death, has on a person’s psyche. It is the ugly side of war that the average American citizen may not want to hear or talk about. For a soldier, it is inevitably what they train their
This paper will talk about the largest terror group called Al Qaeda. Stating the facts on when this terror group formed, their motives, and graphs on numerous innocent lives. The most notorious Islamic terrorist group is Al Qaeda. Its pioneer, Osama Bin Laden, issued a fatwa (a religious decision) in February 1998 requiring an overall Islamic sacred war to slaughter Christians and Jews. Laden's key targets seem to be U.S. property. Al-Qaeda is a terrorist group that was established by Osama Bin Laden in the late 1980s. It started as a strategic system to help Muslims in Afghanistan battling against what was then the Soviet Union amid the Afghan War. Individuals were enrolled all through the Islamic world standing Al-Qaeda's roots and connections.
This novel is about the history behind the terrorist group Al Qaeda and how it led up to the attacks against the U.S. the took place on September 11, 2001. They focus on the former leader Osama Bin Laden and how he grew Al Qaeda into a major terrorist group. The book analyzes the group of terrorists before the attacks took place. This book analyzes the members of the group as well as their upbringing and their affiliation with the terrorist group.This novel goes into detail of the terrorists lives from way back even when they were growing up.
Osama Bin Laden was one of the most remarkable terrorist leaders in the world. His tactics of manipulation and philosophy on his engagement of targets of opportunity was like no other. His principle of creating an Islamic Empire by taking advantage of Islamic countries was the foundation of his evil plan to retaliate against The United States. It is important to emphasize the origin on how Bin Laden came with the idea to attack our Homeland. After the Cold War, the retreat of Russia from Afghanistan was seen as a victory against the infidels for those who defy their Islamic Religion. This conflict made Bin Laden to solidify his idea of creating a Holy War against the so called Crusaders, which are basically other individuals who believe in
Foreign and domestic policies are not linear, rather the policies are connected in a circle, with each policy reinforcing the values of another. Domestic American terrorism in the prison and detention systems and governmental reforms are influenced by the mobilization and ethnocentrism abroad. The militarization internationally is justified by the domestic handling of the same cultural issues within the United State borders. The United States has strangely used a near Catch-22 to handle dilemmas. The United States has allowed perspective to become reality, whether with oneself or regarding issues abroad, specifically in the Middle East. Terrorism is the use or threat of fear for political or economical gain. An internal characteristic of terrorism is how dependent it is of perspective, one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter. To understand “terrorism,” a focus must be applied to the history, what drove an organization to commit such acts. Respectively, the Middle East has been a hotbed for the key word “terrorism,” especially because of 9/11. Subsequently, Muslims have been stigmatized by the United States as terrorists. The consequences spawned because of 9/11 require a look to the past to understand the present.
Islam is the belief in one Allah and the belief in heaven or hell. A religious affiliation that follows these beliefs are AL-Qaeda and that affiliation was the one responsible for the attack on 9/11. AL-Qaeda wants to get rid of americans and all american influence out of muslim nations. AL-Qaeda feels it is the duty of Muslims around the world to wage holy war on the U.S., American citizens, and Jews. Muslims who do not heed this call are declared apostates (people who have forsaken their
As the country goes through its tenth year of the war on terror one can look back and see some of the policy differences that has plagued this country when, as a nation, our young men are sent to war. Everything, in this author’s view needs to be on the table, and transparent. Of course, troops strength, strategy, and general war plans should be kept from the enemy, the need of informing our own people has been a tight rope that is not easy to balance on for any one person. This was especially true of the “enhanced interrogations” used by the Bush administration at the beginning of the War on Terror. What this paper plans to do is to explain the four greatest
Wright has a special way of explaining things. When reading this book, a reader need not have a background knowledge on terrorism, Wright crafts the book in such a way that it consists of a ten page list of the main characters, fifty pages of notes, a list of interviews held, a bibliography and a clear bibliography for those who would love research the topic more. He also
The biggest issue our military is facing while engaging in conflict with terrorist groups, such as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), is that these groups are not abiding by the Laws of Armed Conflict and the Rules of Engagement. These terrorist groups are using tactics that are not discriminate and are not proportional to the military advantage gained. For example, the use of IEDs can be characterized as an act by the terrorist group that is indiscriminate. The purpose of these IEDs is to inhibit the movement of the American forces but the IEDs are put in random places along routes and could kill civilians instead of soldiers. The enemy’s main mission is to kill the U.S soldiers and any other organizations that go against their belief system. They will employ any tactic they see necessary in order to accomplish their goal, such as attacking innocent civilians, who are not taking part in the conflict. This action taken by these terrorist organizations can make it difficult for officers to encourage their soldiers to abide by the rules and
Overall, the article explores how America’s foundation was built the quote, “we hold to the self-evident truth that all men are created by God, which imparts to each of them equal, inestimable and eternal value.” The author claims that Americans have the right to be defended by the government. Unfortunately, the history of America does not always involve in keeping everyone safe, especially ones who do not value their own life. In addition, the author claims that jihadists threaten every human’s life. The author also claims that every jihadist has an agenda, which is to plot and kill the lives of innocent Americans.
Liberal Muslim political organizations are against the idea of Jihad; they want to establish good relations with other foreign countries based on respectful bonds that, among other things, will help in the mutual development of economies and educational systems. The idea of Jihad will considered if a real threat on their country already happened.
The concept of Jihad was not widely known in the western world before the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001. Since then, the word has been woven into what our media and government feed us along with notions of Terrorism, Suicide Bombings, Hamas, Al-Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden, and now, Jihad. Our society hears exhortations resounding from the Middle East calling the people to rise up in Jihad and beat back the imperialist Americans. Yet, if we try to peel back all of these complex layers of information we can we attempt to find out what Jihad really means. Webster’s Dictionary defines Jihad as “a holy war waged on behalf of Islam as a religious duty or a crusade for a principle or belief” (1). Often, media depicts
In light of recent events in the global community, one word that is used frequently but rarely truly understood is the Islamic word Jihad. Jihad has become a very volatile word, so it is necessary that those who use it should understand exactly what it means, what it entails, and what significance it has in current global events.