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Truth and Its Consequences

Donald Sensing of One Hand Clapping has published a preview of his upcoming book about the history, causes, and implications of the current conflict between the West and a powerful strain of Islam. His summary begins,

This war is in fact a religious war all around, even though we of the West generally shun the idea. Unquestionably, though, our Islamist enemies know it, as do hundreds of millions of other Muslims who have not taken up arms against us.

This was enough to get my attention and motivate me to read the rest of what he has posted on his blog. Sensing is looking below the surface at the roots of conflict, the foundation of beliefs, which drive civilations to war and motivate followers to willingly give their lives for what they believe. In the introduction he writes,

What is truth? What is truth's authority? The answers are foundational for what is at stake for both violent Islamic terrorists and America. The mainstream of Western and Islamic understanding of truth and authority are not truly compatible even though they have occasional points of contact. The war today is not exactly a clash of civilizations as some have termed it, nor exactly a clash of cultures, although it has elements of both of these things.

Chapter 1, title "Lighting the Fuse", provides an incredibly interesting and compact history of the Soviet invasion of Afganistan and how this set in motion the terrorist movements of today.

... the Saudi clerics expected that once the infidel invaders [Soviets] were defeated and expelled from Afghanistan, the jihadis who answered the call would pack up and go home. However, said Saudi Islamist Saad al-Faqih, the war in Afghanistan dragged on for much longer than anyone expected and so "created a longer-term 'mentality of jihad' which some found hard to abandon."

One of the men who decided never to give up the jihad was Osama bin Laden, a Saudi man of privilege whose family had amassed an enormous fortune in construction contracts paid for by the luxury-loving Saudi royals.

Further fueling the fire was Ayatollah Khomeini's pronouncement of America as "the Great Satan," the ultimate enemy of Islam, and Saudi Arabia's decision to allow U.S. forces to utilize their country during the first Gulf War.

The fuses now were all burning: a victorious jihad in Afghanistan, an Islamic revolution in Iran and the occupation of holy land by American infidels troops. The explosions were soon to begin.

"The roots of Terrorism", linked as Chapter 3, details the complex development of the Islamic movement and terrorist wings and their differing characteristics from secular Arab movements including the Baathist political part of Syria and Iraq.

Converted to Islamism by fighting in Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden became the most die-hard jihadi of all. Unfortunately, he had hundreds of millions of dollars of family wealth to back him up. Bin Laden used a great deal of it before his access to it was cut off. The new mission in life that bin Laden adopted can be stated simply:
pure Islamic rule and life for Islamic lands, followed by re-establishing a unified,

Muslim caliphate reflecting the old Muslim empire at its peak.

After that, the rest of the world is to be converted to Islam by peaceful means if possible, by war if necessary.

Sensing's perspective is enlightening and, with this great start, I look forward to his complete philosophical, religious and historical analysis of the poorly named "War on Terror".

Donald, thanks for the preview!

Posted by tim at December 30, 2004 12:02 AM

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