We are in a real war. Radical Islamists are stepping up their efforts to destroy the West, and Christians are a primary target. A number of disturbing jihad manuals have come to light recently which show a renewed determination and resolve by the militants to terrorise the West into submission.
Patrick Poole in FrontPageMagazine.com (November 17, 2006), writes that these new revelations should serve as a wake-up call to the West. He begins by examining an older manual that has been repackaged and re-released by Muslim militants. The manual, A Guide for the Undecided on the Legitimacy of Killing Christians, first appeared in September 2002, and was published by al-Qaeda.
The 56-page document is “an extensive theological warrant deeply rooted in Quranic and Hadith sources for the killing of Americans based on what the author alleges are historical wrongs committed by America against Muslims worldwide. An entire section of the work, ‘Al-Umariyah Conditions,’ (Chapter 9) is dedicated to explaining that the only proper role for Christians and Jews are as subjected and submissive dhimmis – legal non-persons. It also provides justification for attacks directed at Muslim allies and Islamic governments working with the U.S. government and thoroughly rejects any coexistence with America.”
Another recently released manual is called, How to Fight Alone. It is “a how-to guide for Muslims to conduct their own ‘Jihad of One’ against the ‘Crusader-Zionists’.” One analysis of the booklet describes how a lone Muslim can fight the infidels:
“The recommended methods include stabbing, feeding overdoses of cocaine or heroin, injecting air via needles, assassination with guns, burning down homes, putting poisonous snakes in cars, tampering with car brakes, planting explosives in vehicles, running over people, and luring people and then killing them. The book also highly recommends poisoning targets and includes various methods of preparing and obtaining lethal toxins, including botulism. The book also gives instructions on making improvised explosives.”
Then there is the 151-page, The Myth of Delusion: Exposing the American Intelligence. It “expresses a conspiratorial worldview where U.S. intelligence is governed by a cabal of conservative think tanks, South Korean intelligence, the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, Texas oil interests, and – of course – the Israeli lobby (oddly, not much unlike anything you can find on several prominent American leftist blogs). But its importance lies especially in the real-world advice offered to jihadis on evading detection by Western signals intelligence agencies by using disposable cell phones and avoiding the use of certain key-phrases to escape notice by the National Security Agency’s ECHELON system.”
These and other manuals “form an integral part of the burgeoning global jihad apparatus. Norwegian terrorism researcher Thomas Hegghammer has appropriately dubbed this genre ‘jihadi strategic studies,’ which combines theological explication, military strategy, theory and planning, and practical how-to advice to guide the next generation of the global jihad movement.”
Concludes Poole, “This is what adds to the concern of counter-terrorism officials in the U.S. who see manuals, such as A Guide for the Undecided, which justifies violence against American civilians. Not only might this document itself and its recent reappearance anticipate terror attacks inside the U.S. in the near-term; but in the long-term, it serves as a template of terror that is intended to be followed by generations of followers advancing the global Islamic jihad. The growing library of jihadi strategic studies envisions violent confrontation with the West until the submission of the West under the green flag of Islam is made a reality.”
Fortunately most Muslims do not subscribe to the views represented by these manuals. But enough do to make them a very real concern. Part of the way in which we can win this war is to be aware of the enemy and his plans. These manuals make that information clear. But whether the West has the resolve and the patience to fight this battle is another question that remains to be finally answered.
