Weapons of Mass Destruction are not Everything
Millions of words and thousands of articles and reports have appeared in print and on the Internet regarding the danger from weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) in the hands of Muslim terrorists, who are bound on destroying Western civilization. The outcome of the US presidential elections may depend on finding such weapons in Iraq as was indicated in intelligence reports before the Iraqi invasion. A major objective of that war was to deprive the Islamic terrorists of potential tools of mass murder, because the possession of such weapons by Islamic terrorists poses an unprecedented danger to Western civilization.
Islamic terrorism is associated with suicide of the perpetrators, with disregard for casualties of other Muslims. These terrorists, who believe in the glory of Muslims’ death in a Jihad (a holy war intended to kill or subjugate all non-Muslim), become catastrophically dangerous if they were capable of mass murder, far beyond the number the casualties on 9/11.
Chemical, biological and nuclear weapons were developed in the first half of the 20th Century for tactical and/or strategic purposes in western countries, based on western premises of human behavior, i.e. assuming that all people highly value human life and that it is unethical to unnecessarily kill non-combatants. Consequently, once more precise methods of destroying enemy arms and combatant personnel or strategic targets (such as nuclear reactors, railroad junctions, command and control communication centers) these old methods of mass destruction have become obsolete; in effect, they became counterproductive for several reasons. Paramount among these are Judeo-Christian ethical considerations.
But, as stated above, all these considerations are invalid in the world of radical Islam (which prevails in an estimated >10% of the Islamic world). For radical Islam, WMDs are tools of choice in their desire to subjugate all of humanity. WMD facilitate killing of a maximal number of humans (non-combatants, even babies of infidels, are considered legitimate targets for murder, as declared by Islamic “Palestinian” terrorist groups), and their deployment requires a minimal number of trained fanatical suicidal Jihadists (as demonstrated in the 9/11 atrocity, even without WMDs).
In any case, destruction of Western civilization, which is the prime objective of militant Islam, has two distinct requirements: WMDs are just one, the other is religiously motivated suicidal militant Muslim Jihadists to discharge them. We have seen in Israel that death of a perpetrator of indiscriminate mass murder of infidels is considered the highest achievable religious objective in the life of a militant Muslim (promised to be rewarded in Islamic paradise), not unlike achieving nirvana for a pacifist pious Hindu.
We went to war on Iraq in order to prevent the deployment of WMDs by terrorists. The fact that this far Iraqi terrorists have murdered their victims without the use of WMDs, with exception of a serine loaded shell, is no proof that they will not be used in the future. The Iranians declare openly that they will use nuclear bombs to destroy Israel and the Syrians are known to produce chemical warfare agents, in addition to allegedly storing similar Iraqi WMD materiel. However, we neglect to realize that the educational system of the “Palestinian Authority” continues to mass-produce fanatic Islamic suicidal zealots trained to mass murder infidels, be it Jews, Christians, or people of other non-Islamic faiths. A whole generation of half a million youngsters is being raised as potential murderers, to serve the “cause” of militant Islam.
The first crop of this monstrous educational system is already showing up. It has been just reported that 14 and 15 year old youngsters are being recruited for suicidal murderous missions in cities under the PA’s Islamic educational system (These kids were 3-years old in 1993, when Arafat implemented his “enlightened” Islamic education programs starting in nursery schools). Brain washed young terrorists are already being used as homicidal robots. The breeding grounds of these vital components of Islamic terrorism are not stashed away in hiding places, nor are they hidden in the mountains of Afghanistan, Yemen or Ethiopia; one can find them in the open in every school and kindergarten of the Islamic territories west of the River Jordan.
A similar educational process seems to be ongoing in Iran, where thousands of young people have recently volunteered to become suicidal Jihadists. Given WMDs of any kind, this enormous multitude of potential mass murderers might not only annihilate the State of Israel and destroy its Jewish population, but all of Western Civilization.
It is surprising that while so much attention is being given to the proliferation WMDs in Islamic countries, practically no one is pointing out that second requirement of the militant Islamic assault on the West. Moreover, nobody takes steps to eliminate this potentially deadly component of Islamic terrorism. It is deadly because Islamic zealots even without WMDs could use it; a dagger, a hand grenade, an assault rifle, not to speak of an explosive belt (even an explosive loaded shoe), might be enough. While it might be difficult to eliminate this potential deadly menace in Iran, it is bizarre that nobody is doing anything effective about it in the Islamic controlled territories west of the River Jordan. Sharon’s disengagement plan does not only neglect this critical problem, which is not limited to the Gaza strip, but it might even significantly exacerbate it.
Unconditional unilateral Israeli disengagement does not address or solve the critical problem of mass-production of young Muslim shahids, i.e., suicidal, Islam-motivated mass-murderers of non-Muslim. This problem deserves urgent attention, however, not less than target killing of terrorist leaders. Without recruitable young shahids those leaders become much less effective. Israel is focusing on depriving the Arab terrorists of murderous weapons, e.g. the operation at Rafah, while neglecting the supply of homicidal manpower.
The proposed Israeli unconditional disengagement will be touted by the Islamic clergy, who are responsible for the upbringing of those Islam motivated assassins, as proof that their ideology and actions have Allah’s blessings, enhancing their stature in the Islamic community. Moreover, Muslims living in territories besieged by the planned Israeli security fence are even more likely to follow their radical clergy than they do today.
Michael Anbar, Ph.D.