“That’s fine, Commander Wayne. After all, you are an intel officer, and most of what you guys say are wild-ass guesses! Let’s hear yours!”
Lannis chuckled, enjoying the verbal bantering with Admiral Yates.
“First, a rather frightening possibility is that the so-called silent majority agrees with the Wahhabi/Salafi ideology but is not ready to take any action themselves. I hope and think that possibility can be quickly discounted.”
“I agree, Commander. Let’s throw that one out.”
“Second, they may think this radical ideology is a legitimate interpretation of the Qur’an, but just not their interpretation. If they follow the Qur’an’s teaching, ‘For you, your religion; for me, my religion’ then their attitude toward the radicals may simply be, ‘For you, your brand of Islam; for me, my brand of Islam’.”
“That’s only slightly better than the first one. If we believe Islamic scholars when they say Islam is a peaceful religion, then we have to throw this one out as well. Otherwise, there would be no brand of Islam that supports violence.”
“Yes, sir, I agree.”
“Okay, what other possibilities do you have? I don’t like any of these so far.”
“Well, another possibility is that mainstream Muslims don’t even realize that the Wahhabi/Salafi ideology is a perversion of Islam. They may not know enough about Islam themselves to know the radicals are wrong. We hear from Islamic scholars that the radicals are wrong, but the great masses of Muslims are probably not as familiar with the detailed teachings of the Qur’an as the scholars are. As a result, many may blindly accept what the radicals are telling them.”
“Interesting. Is that all?”
“Yes, sir.”
“So which one is your favorite theory, Commander?”
“I believe it’s probably a mixture of all of the above, Admiral. However, I find the last one to be most compelling, and it probably explains why most of the silent majority sits back and acquiesces. My own experience with people of other religions here at home has been that when you ask them detailed questions about their religion, they can’t answer them. It seems that most people don’t really know or fully understand the teachings of their own religion.”
“That’s true,” said Admiral Yates. “I’ve noticed that in my own church, but never thought about it in terms of Muslims.”
“With Muslims, the problem is probably even worse because unlike religions such as Christianity, there has never been any centralized control of Islam. There are no official statements made by religious leaders providing Muslims with guidance. There are no equivalents to the Apostles Creed or Nicene Creed in Islam. Every mosque’s imam is on an equal level with every other and can interpret the Qur’an as he sees fit. We hear of radical imams every day who get up and preach to their congregation that it is okay to murder infidels. It’s no wonder Muslims are confused, and it’s no wonder the ranks of the radicals continue to grow.”
Buffalo, who had been listening intently to the banter between Admiral Yates and Lannis, interrupted at this point to make an additional point. “Excuse me, Admiral, but I believe there’s another possibility for why the silent majority is acquiescing — one that may make more sense to me than any of those just proposed.”
“Okay, Commander Sewell, what’s your theory?”
“Well, sir, to put this in a context closer to home, let’s assume Commander Wayne is from Chicago. He’s very proud of Chicago and the Cubs or the Bears or whatever. Then the Mob moves in and perpetrates a series of violent crimes and announces to the world that Chicago is a Mob town. Anyone who resists them is gunned down. The vast majority of citizens, of course, don’t like this and want the Mob run out of town, but the police seem to be helpless to stop it or protect anyone who crosses the Mob. Got the picture?”
“Yes.”
“Then one day a bespectacled little man comes to Commander Wayne’s door and asks him if he will sign a public petition denouncing the Mob. The little man says, “We’re going to send it to the Chicago Tribune for publication to show the Mob they can’t steal our town!” How many people do you think would sign that petition, which is going to be made public for the Mob to see? Would you, Commander Wayne?”
“Probably not.”
“Of course not. It would be like signing your own death warrant.”
“So you’re suggesting,” said Admiral Yates, “that the silent majority of Muslims are afraid to take a stand against the radicals because the radicals will retaliate against them and their families, right?”
“Exactly right, sir. Look at what happened in Iraq after Saddam Hussein was toppled. The radicals killed thousands of Iraqis — anyone who cooperated in any way with coalition forces or the new Iraqi government. It was a war of intimidation then, and it’s a war of intimidation now. And the radicals will win that war every time.”
“I agree,” said the admiral turning back to Lannis, still at the podium. Then, apparently ignoring the fact that Lannis had committed this glaring oversight, the admiral continued, “Are these terrorists making inroads here or just in Muslim countries?”
“Wahhabi/Salafi ideology has made substantial inroads throughout the Muslim world, sir. It is well financed with oil dollars and has become a global movement in much of the developing world. It is also making inroads among immigrant Muslim communities in the West.”
“So what are their goals, Commander Wayne? What are they trying to achieve? It seems to me they’re trying to spread their radical version of Islam around the world. Are they doing that, or are they merely trying to take away our freedoms? They can’t be trying to drive us out of the Middle East because we’ve already withdrawn.”
“The radicals generally claim they are trying to restore the perfection of early Islam practiced by Mohammed and the Righteous Ancestors. They desire to establish a utopian society based on these fundamental Islamic principles.”
“To what extent?”
“Their goal would be to impose their interpretation of Islamic law on everyone. In the Muslim world, they would eliminate more liberalized variants of Islam and would transform Islam from a personal faith into an authoritarian political system, much like what the Taliban did in Afghanistan. Outside the Muslim world, they would continue to terrorize and attack, hoping to eventually subdue the entire planet and bring everyone under the control of their extremist ideology.”
Buffalo was confused about Lannis’s response. That’s not what he said before the briefing. He said they were trying to take away our freedoms. Now he’s expressing George’s opinion!
“Very optimistic goals,” said Admiral Yates. “So they want to turn the entire world into the Taliban version of Afghanistan. How are they going to do that by attacking us? Don’t they know we will defend our freedom to the death?”
“That’s true, sir, and at first glance it would seem to be a huge strategic blunder on their part. After all, if Muslims continue to emigrate to the West and convert additional people to Islam, they could eventually take over through peaceful democratic processes.”
“Yes, but that would take generations, and the radicals aren’t that patient.”
“That’s correct, Admiral, plus they don’t get their seventy-two virgins if they just sit by and wait for things to happen.”