Defining Terrorism

Submitted by Rebecca Moulds (United States), Dec 24, 2008 at 16:41

If the world, and the United States in particular, "woke up" on September 11th, 2001, then the world has gone back to sleep. There was a surge at the time of needing to know what Islam is, who the enemy is, what jihad is, what it means to be a radical Islamist, and how to stop another attack of the sort that crippled our country. But that desire to know has dwindled to but a few stragglers; the economic situation has taken precedence over keeping a watchful eye on terrorism, although there are certainly many more websites devoted to this cause.

The terrorism we are experiencing today stems from Islam, has been named as radical Islam; most of the terrorist acts in the past thirty years have come out of Islam. These people have been and are radical Islamic terrorists. How can they be called otherwise? There is a problem with this religion and only the moderate Muslims can solve it. If President Bush got it right the first few months after 9/11, what happened after that?

Why did he soften his approach? Why can't the moderate Muslims admit that their religion has spawned terrorists? That radicals grow out of it, wishing to take over the world, annihilating all those who oppose it, is a known fact; that Islam is quietly changing its course, and secretly hoping to force Shari'a by peacful means on non-majority Muslim countries is a little-known fact. The enemy is still out there---radical Islam----it is being taught everywhere, is insidiously snaking its way into Western societies, and we are allowing it in although unbeknownst to the majority. Living in Egypt for ten years may have given me a little knowledge of Islam, but there is still so much I don't know, although I have met the entire spectrum of Muslims from the totally non-practising to the ultra-fundamental.

There seems to be many interpretations of what is and what isn't radical Islam, and why we need to keep calling it "radical" --- emphasize why it is akin to Fascism, Communism, Naziism, and any other "isms"; understand there is a connection between radical Islam and terrorism; to learn more about it, to stop it in its tracks before it stops us from living in freedom. Defining terrorism in the context of radical Islam and its roots will help in the fight against it, but only if there is world-wide recognition of that definition. An enemy can be defeated only if we know exactly who the enemy is.

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