Religion and politics in the war against us

The Captain's Journal looks at the confluence of of religion and politics by those making war against us.

The recent British airport bombing suspect, a high-educated doctor, was also an eager religious radical, calling into question again the paradigm of disenfranchisement as the motivation behind such terrorists.

Armed with off-the-charts intelligence, Bilal Abdullah entered this world with the kind of family pedigree and privilege few Iraqis enjoy.

But he may have intended to leave this world a martyr in the name of radical Islam.

On Saturday, Abdullah was charged with planting two car bombs in London and riding shotgun in the botched suicide car-bomb attack on Glasgow International Airport late last month.

Investigators in Britain and Australia are questioning seven other suspects in custody.

The case may further dispel a still widely held Western perception that Islamic radicalism is the province of the disenfranchised and uneducated.

Shouts of ‘Allah, Allah’ could be heard as the suspects were apprehended. The view that poverty, disenfranchisement and dislocation is beind global “jihad” is popular and in vogue. The issue of religious motivation is behind the dispute discussed in (1) Religion and Insurgency: A Response to Dave Kilcullen, (2) Smith Responds, and (3) More on Dave Kilcullen vs. Smith. Kilcullen claims that the insurgency in Iraq is “entirely political.” I have argued to the contrary, i.e., that there are at least some of the insurgents who fight due to religious motivation. The seminal thesis that guides Kilcullen’s thinking was outlined several years ago in a monograph entitled Complex Warfighting.

...

OK, it is both. To deny that there is political motivation among the enemy is like denying that politics does not play a part in the selection of Bishops and Cardinals. For the al Qaeda factions religious bigotry is the driving force and root cause of their war effort. In Iraq the situation is much more complex. The "Iraqi rejectionist" made up largely of the tribal leaders and their followers are much more political When the Anbar chiefs changed sides, they justified by saying God had told them to change sides. It was still a political decision based on where their interests could be best served and they clearly thought that al Qaeda would be a greater long term danger than the US. The Former Regime Elements in Iraq are essentially a political preservation society who believe that permitting other political powers in the country will lead not only to their political demise, but to their bodily demise also.

Where ever al Qaeda attacks it uses religious bigots like the doctors in the UK. In Iraq where al Qaeda attacks it uses religious bigots to attack non combatants. It is essentially an organization that focuses on killing non combatants where ever it operates. When it fights our troops it is usually in a defensive battle where al Qaeda is trying to get away so it can kill more non combatants at another time. The success of the surge has been to separate the Iraqi rejectionist from al Qaeda.

Hat tip Larwyn.