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Jihad like Yoga
Topic Started: Nov 3 2009, 10:58 AM (68 Views)
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Jihad like Yoga
QUESTION: In an interview, you mentioned the second generation of al Qaeda. What is the role of Osama bin Laden for the younger generation of terrorists? Is he "only" a symbol of the global jihadists movement, or still a real "true-born" leader?

WALID PHARES: Al Qaeda as an organization has a hard core center linked to its chief, Osama Bin Laden, and it has affiliate organizations operating in various areas, such as al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, etc. In addition, there are Jihadist movements and organizations allied to al Qaeda, such as Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Jemaa Islamiya in south Asia, Shabaab al Jihad in Somalia, Abu sayyaf in the Philippines etc. The sum of all these organizations and movement is a Salafist nebulous, which I define as combat Salafists. Those who believe that terror Jihad is the shorter way to reach their goal of reestablishing the Caliphate. In that web, al Qaeda is seen as the center and its commander Bin laden as the “Fuehrer.”
But this Jihadi nebula is not the only one. There are other nebulae such as the classical Wahabis, Muslim Brotherhoods, Deobandis, etc, who along with al Qaeda nebulous form a large bloc of Global Salafi Jihadism. Bin Laden is the hero of his own nebula and he is somewhat seen as a popular, but irresponsible leader within the classical nebulae. So, as you see it is complex. But in terms of al Qaeda, he is unquestionably the supreme leader. But in the daily practical life of these movements, he is not the chief executive, he is sort of a high-ranking symbolic leader. It is mostly Ayman Zawahiri who plays the role of chief executive. And among the affiliates, it is the local emirs who lead the action.

QUESTION: How would you describe the European way of understanding and defining the global jihad danger? Some European politicians seem to not take the global terrorism seriously enough.

ANSWER: Europe's academic elite, or perhaps mostly Western European intellectuals, have been influenced by the oil producing regimes for years, as were most governments. Since 1973, the oil shock intimidated the economic and political elite of the then Western Europe who feared a repeat of the boycott. Since then, what as in my books I have coined Petro Jihad, left an influence on the European perception of international relations, and soon enough on European handling of Jihadism on the continent. European chanceries catered to the oil producing regimes in the region, and thus to the ideologies of Wahabism and Salafism. Academic scholarship, often funded directly or indirectly by oil interests, advised European Governments and later on the European Union institutions, not to confront these ideologies because it would ignite the wrath of the petro-regimes. Even as the Jihadists, such as al Qaeda and others, hit the U.S. on 9/11 and later Madrid in 2004, London in 2005, and were behind violence in the Netherlands, Italy, France, Belgium, Germany and Scandinavia, the expert body at the European Union level has always and continues to advise against coining the threat as an ideology and calling it Jihadism.
In my many briefings and testimonies over many years at European institutions, I realized that European bureaucrats and their advisors avoid identifying terror with an ideological root. They decline admitting that behind the actions of Jihadi terrorism there is a totalitarian ideology, despite all research and facts saying so. But I also noticed that central and eastern European legislators and experts are more sensitive to totalitarian ideologies and to the tactics of penetration used by the Jihadists. Naturally, eastern Europeans are more experienced with terror having lived under totalitarian regimes for many decades. However, let me also note that many Western Europeans are becoming much more aware of the Jihadi threat because of their own research and the incidents they have been observing on European soil. Today at the European Parliament, there is a large group of MEPs who have been finally able to define the threat as Jihadism and are moving in this direction.


Full interview at:

http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.4456/pub_detail.asp

Marcus Aurelius.
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ignominius
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Seems like there maybe hope in the political elite yet. If only Labour would wake up to it!
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