Dear Madam Undersecretary Before you fight the terrorists get to the library

Dear Madam Undersecretary Before you fight the terrorists get to the library

With the swearing in of Karen Hughes as the new Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy, America is planning to launch a renewed offensive on two fronts. The first of these fronts is the global public relations effort directed towards our allies and those who would be our allies. This will be a straightforward effort, and one that Mrs. Hughes is well equipped to fight. However, the second front in this war of ideas, which might require a little study on Mrs. Hughes’ part if she is going to prove to be effective.

As with all study there will need to be some serious reading so that she knows how and what we fight. To begin perhaps one of the best introductory books for Mrs. Hughes to pick up is the book “On Political War” written by Paul A. Smith, Jr and published by the National Defense University. Although this book was printed in 1989 and is currently out of print, it is one of the best books available on the topic of political war which is exactly what we are fighting. One of its biggest strengths is that it does not focus on any single tactical aspect of what this type of war involves but instead examines the underlying strategy with examples of effective and less than effective tools. In addition, this book examines the history of political warfare and provides a great deal of insight from various time periods including perhaps most importantly lessons from the Cold War, which is one of the most successful and long-term effort at fighting a serious war of ideas. Lessons from these efforts and many of the insights in this book will be invaluable in the coming years as we pursue a true strategy rather than just rhetoric.

However, before beginning down the path towards a strategy Mrs. Hughes and our nation needs to understand the idea or more to the point ideology that we are fighting. Despite the numerous of books, articles, and television specials produced in the last four years no one has yet to give the entire picture of the history or development of this ideology and unfortunately because of space neither will this posting. What can be presented here are the names of the two most important books that the good undersecretary should read in order to begin to understand what we face.

First on this list of books on this ideology must be “Milestones” by Sayyid Qutb. This is to modern Islamism what Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto is to Communism. This foundational book, which is available at almost any Islamic bookstore or the text, can be downloaded form dozens if not hundreds of sites on the Internet, provides the arguments that al-Qaeda and other radicals within Islam have used since the 1960’s. Although Qutb, who was the grand ideologue of the Muslim Brotherhood, is obviously not the origin of many of the arguments or concepts contained in “Milestones” he does manages to lay out the general social, political, religious, and even to a lesser extent economic framework of arguments. This is the context of the war the Islamists have and continue to wage against all other systems of thought outside of their own ideology. This forms some of the fundamental arguments behind the Jihadist justifications for their actions and methods.

Second on the list must be “The Neglected Duty” by Muhammad Abd al-Salam Faraj. An English translation of this text is available in the book “The Neglected Duty – The Creed of Sadat’s Assassins and Islamic Resurgence in the Middle East” by Johannes J.G. Jansen. Although Jansen’s analysis and the counter-arguments of various Islamic groups are excellent and should eventually be read, the important thing in the context of understanding the Islamist ideology means that one should first read “The Neglected Duty” text contained towards the back of the book itself to approach it from a fresh perspective. Faraj is of course arguing that the neglected duty is Jihad. Faraj does not limit himself to that issue alone but explores many of the ideas raised in “Milestones.” However, the true importance of this little known text is that it is a primary source for those who are part of the Takfir al-Hijra movement that originated within the Muslim Brotherhood. This movement’s membership has been involved in almost every major Al-Qaeda operation. This includes the operational leader of the 9-11 attack, Mohamed Atta who joined the Takfir movement before being recruited into Al-Qaeda. Ayman al-Zawahiri himself is believed to have been one of the key leaders of the Takfir movement for decades, which might explain how this movement is a key source of Al-Qaeda’s most committed terrorists as well as the majority of its leadership. This little known group and its writings such as “The Neglected Duty” must be understood if Mrs. Hughes is going to combat one of the key sources for the Islamists ideology.

Mrs. Hughes, if we are really going to combat this ideology, we should move beyond both of the extremes in the debate over the role Islam plays in the ideology of these terrorist groups. One extreme based on complete ignorance tries to claim that it is Islam itself is the beginning middle and end of the entire ideology. Not only is this fundamentally incorrect but it risks marginalizing many potential allies. However the other side, which is very well financed, is equally as dangerous as they repeatedly try and in many cases succeed to assure the public, the media, and policymakers that there is nothing within Islam that contributes to the ideology of these groups. Not only is this misleading but it is creating a very dangerous environment of political correctness that has and will continue to handicap the war of ideas that we must fight and win if we are to defeat this type of islamist terrorism once and for all.

Mrs. Hughes as our new Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy has a very difficult task ahead of her however, it is not impossible. Perhaps her most important task once she understands the ideology and battle that we face is to bring together the talents of those who are experts on the ideology with those who can best formulate and communicate a counter-ideology and message in a way that will be most effective. Best of luck Madam Undersecretary.