Beyond Hearts and Minds
How the Operational Commander must understand Islamic war-fighting doctrine to secure victory in the long war

by James M. Vartanian, Lieutenant Colonel, USA
Naval War College
October 31, 2008

http://www.raymondibrahim.com/7491/beyond-hearts-and-minds

[Excerpts]

Mr. Raymond Ibrahim, a noted historian and writer of the Middle East and Islam, suggests that a thorough study and understanding of Islamic war doctrine is necessary to combat Islamic terrorism. Mr. Ibrahim also quotes LTC Joseph Myers, USA, who stated at an inaugural conference for the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA) that "though military studies have traditionally valued and absorbed the texts of classical war doctrine, such as Clausewitz's On War, Sun Tzu's The Art of War, even the exploits of Alexander the Great as recorded in Arrian and Plutarch, Islamic war doctrine, which is just as, if not more, textually grounded, is totally ignored." Mr. Ibrahim states that "this is more ironic when one considers that, while classical military theories (Clausewitz, Sun Tzu, Machiavelli, et al.) are still studied, the argument can be made that they have little practical value for today's much changed landscape of warfare and diplomacy. Whatever validity this argument may have, it certainly cannot be applied to Islam's doctrines of war; by having a 'theological' quality, that is, by being grounded in a religion whose 'divine' precepts transcend time and space, and are thus believed to be immutable, Islam's war doctrines are considered applicable today no less than yesterday."...

Additionally, Taqiya is "an Islamic doctrine allowing Muslims to dissemble their true beliefs when fearing persecution. Based on certain Hadiths, some Ulema (past and present Islamic scholars) expand the meaning of Taqiya to also permit general lying in order to advance any cause beneficial to Islam." Mr. Ibrahim notes that the "entire doctrine is dedicated to showing that true Muslims must always strive to be in a state of wala (love) by being devoted to Allah and loyal to one another, while maintaining a state of bara (hate) by hating or at least being clean from everything – and – everyone – outside of Islam. In fact, if every Muslim followed this doctrine, a clash between the Muslim world and the non-Muslim world would inevitably occur – which is precisely what al-Qaeda seeks."...

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