Not Just Jihad

National Review Online: Thwarted Attacks In U.K. Indicate Terrorists' Deep Hatred Of Self-Expression

(National Review Online)  This column was written by James S. Robbins.

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Imagine a plot device in a novel in which a terror attack is foiled because the car in which the bomb was placed was parked illegally and towed away. Would a publisher buy it? Maybe not. They would call it far-fetched, implausible, a little too cute. But sometimes the implausible happens. As Scott Macmann observed, "Truth makes better fiction."

There are several lessons to be learned from the failed terrorist attacks in Britain. Some are obvious, such as the fact that the terrorists are still a threat, the war is still on. Also that the terrorists are seeking softer targets, which speaks to the effectiveness of hardening others. The Glasgow airport attack in particular illustrates this — despairing of actually getting on an airplane, the bad guys just rammed the gate with a Jeep Cherokee with a bomb in the back. It was not a well-planned or thought-out attack; the vehicle was hung up on the static defenses, which worked as intended. And did one of the perps really as was reported pour gasoline directly on an open flame? No wonder he ignited. These are not superstars.

One should also credit the intangibles. It was fortunate one car was towed, and that both bombs failed to detonate when they were supposed to. Luck was aided by the sloppiness of the terrorists who parked the car illegally and manufactured the faulty bombs. Heroism was also a factor, in the bravery of the policeman who defused the bomb still on site. Those who think that terrorism can be countered with cookie-cutter precision should note well the role chance plays in almost every such operation.

Some alleged lessons should not be learned. For example newly appointed international security advisor Lord Stevens said that the techniques were "imported from Baghdad," since one of the alleged plotters (still at large) is an Iraqi. But surely car bombing is nothing new to London. The Israeli embassy in London was car-bombed on July 26, 1994. On June 25, 1992, the Provisional IRA used a car bomb near the London branch of the Chase Manhattan Bank. A car bomb was discovered near Harrods on December 17, 1983. The IRA frequently used car bombs in Northern Ireland, and an IRA splinter group car-bombed downtown Birmingham on November 2, 2001. The car bomb per se is not an Iraqi export.

What drew my attention was the intended set of targets in London, nightclubs and their patrons. This has been compared to the club bombings in Bali in 2002 and 2005, but the comparison is inexact. The Bali bombings were aimed at killing foreigners, and clubs happened to be where they congregated. An al Qaeda statement after the 2002 bombing stated that they were targeting "nightclubs and whorehouses in Indonesia" that are part of a "Jewish Crusader" alliance, and two of the bombers later stated that they sought vengeance for deaths of Muslims worldwide. But last week the targets were not foreigners clubbing in "Muslim lands"; they were young Londoners out having a good time. That alone was enough to condemn them in the eyes of the terrorists.

It is important to understand the contempt for life at the root of the jihadists; ideology. Simply enjoying oneself is a capital offense. This was illustrated in the planned attacks of the al Qaeda-connected "Crevice" gang. Five cell members were sentenced to life this April for plotting mass mayhem in London, in particular targeting nightclubs with fertilizer bombs. Surveillance audio captured one conversation on February 22, 2004 in which cell members Omar Khyam and Jawad Akbar discuss potential targets and methods.

JAWAD AKBAR: "You could get jobs like this, yeah, like for example the biggest nightclub in central London. Where now here, yeah, now no one can even turn around and say 'Oh they were innocent,' — those slags dancing around."

OMAR KHYAM: "If you got a job in a bar, yeah, or club, say the Ministry of Sound, what are you planning to do there then?"

JAWAD AKBAR: "Blow the whole thing up."

OMAR KHYAM: "Right."

Their target was "those slags dancing around." This tells us that their objectives are not simply political; they go much deeper than that. The jihad is not about Britain's Iraq policy, not some form of revenge for lack of economic opportunity, but is rooted in a basic rejection of the human spirit as expressed in any life-affirming activity.

This is a lineal extension of the beliefs of Sayyid Qutb, the Egyptian godfather of the contemporary jihadist movement. Qutb preached a form of radical asceticism which sought to negate most forms of earthly pleasure. He recorded his anti-fun epiphany in a 1951 book, "The America I Have Seen," an account of his experiences while earning a master's degree at the Colorado State College of Education, 1948-1950.

The scene was a church dance in the town Greely, Colorado, in 1949. Someone put on a recording of "Baby, It's Cold Outside," which had just hit the charts that year. As Qutb described it, "The dance hall convulsed to the tunes on the gramophone and was full of bounding feet and seductive legs ... Arms circled waists, lips met lips, chests met chests, and the atmosphere was full of passion."

Looks like everyone was having a great time. But, alas, not poor Sayyid, who already held his fellow students in contempt. The young men he considered sports-obsessed oafs. The women clearly intimidated him. "The American girl is well acquainted with her body's seductive capacity," he wrote. "She knows it lies in the face, and in expressive eyes, and thirsty lips. She knows seductiveness lies in the round breasts, the full buttocks, and in the shapely thighs, sleek legs — and she shows all this and does not hide it."

Sounds like he needed a date badly. But from this point on Qutb was at war with what he defined as immorality. His followers have sought to externalize his biases and impose a rigid code of behavior on any people unfortunate enough to come under their sway.

So from this sock hop we get a global ideological struggle with terrorist fanatics? Well, there is more to it, clearly. But when Qutb's ideological stepchildren seek to bomb nightclubs in London, when they assert that no one could believe that the "slags dancing around" could possibly be innocent victims, we see the same hatred, the same disdain, the same vision of a world in which enjoyment of any kind is by its nature sinful.

I was reminded of a story from Afghanistan in 2001. When the Taliban regime fell, a group of Northern Alliance fighters celebrated by playing music that previously had been banned. Some women soldiers began to dance. One of the younger men watched raptly, and then began to cry. He had never seen a woman dance before — he said it was the most beautiful thing he had ever witnessed. I thought then that this was a microcosm of the war and its meaning, the reason it was being fought and why it must be won. We see it again in London. This war is not simply a contest of grievances, or a difference of opinions, but a defense of the human spirit, of the right of people to express that spirit, to sing, to dance, to live.

[xzavierbrown]

xzavierbrown - and as your politely "watering down" radical Islamic factions set on the destruction of all things western - how many bombs is it acceptable to have go off before we get sufficient watering done? If I remember history correctly, and if you consider the dawning of the "liberal watering down" process to be Rousseau and the Enlightenment - it took only 250 to 300 years for the watering down that we now "enjoy" today.

Frankly - I think the plan has some short comings on time.
Posted by jimmyc1955 at 09:29 AM : Jul 03, 2007
+ report abuse

*******

considering that the wheel of Islamic religion is spinning for the last few thousand years, a quick watering down is not possible NOT unless you are willing to inflict the Mohammad method.
at the rate technology and travel is going, it might take less time. i dont think an average muslim would like to go on a jihad if he knows that if has the other option of BMW, a loft, MTV, Madonna concerts, listening to Al Franken or Rush or whatever. Islam will cave in on its own weight.

[sy2502]

A relatively large percentage of the population in the UK is muslim. I'd say that 99.99% of them live in peaceful coexistence with their fellow citizens.
Posted by jasonking4 at 07:10 AM : Jul 03, 2007

Oh really? And I seem to remember a poll not long ago conducted among the british muslims, where 20% supported the London bombings, and about half wanted the UK under sharia law.

[jimmyc1955]

The use of the word criminal is correct technically but it ignores the fact that all the "criminal" acts are committed with a common intent in mind.

Funny how when the IRA was setting car bombs in London there wasn't any hestitancy in the press to refer to the IRA as terrorists. They had a common intent as well. But somehow a group that has committed far worse acts of terrorism than the IRA did are only criminal not terrorists.

When do they become terrorists? What act must they commit to earn that title?

[jimmyc1955]

jasonking4 - and since only .01% of the Muslims in the UK are violent - why isn't the other 99.99% controlling them - reporting Imams who preach hate and recruit monsters who are taught to kill innocent men, women and children?

I hear about peaceful Muslims but it seems to apply only to their own personal peace - not the peace of the community, their neighbors or their adopted nation.

[jimmyc1955]

xzavierbrown - and as your politely "watering down" radical Islamic factions set on the destruction of all things western - how many bombs is it acceptable to have go off before we get sufficient watering done? If I remember history correctly, and if you consider the dawning of the "liberal watering down" process to be Rousseau and the Enlightenment - it took only 250 to 300 years for the watering down that we now "enjoy" today.

Frankly - I think the plan has some short comings on time.

[gkc99]

"In the UK the people instinctively realise we are experiencing a backlash to the carnage seen in the Iraq war which most Britons regard as an illegal war."--Jasonking4

Well they always have some excuse. There is always some reason that there is virtually no Muslim / non-Muslim border in the world that is not in a state of war due to Muslim aggression.

It's real nice that you think you and your Muslim neighbors in the UK get along just peachily. One wonders if they are just biding their time before they make you put your face in the dirt and pray to the Muslim god, on pain of death and murder. Their Imams will tell you what to do--you cannot dissent, that is grounds for murder of you and your family.

Hope you like Shariah in Londonistan!

[jasonking4]

The rank hipocracy that eminates out the US media regarding the UK handling of terrorism is amazing. A relatively large percentage of the population in the UK is muslim. I'd say that 99.99% of them live in peaceful coexistence with their fellow citizens.

The US media make it out like there's a war going on here. THIS IS A LIE. Yes terrorism is bad, but the Brown Government now refuse to call it Islamic terrorism, they call a spade a spade, it is simply CRIMINAL actions. They seek to bind the community together. HTe factt that people seek to kill others is not seen as a vindication or motivation to ostracise another community, but an opportunity to bring communities together.

In the UK the people instinctively realise we are experiencing a backlash to the carnage seen in the Iraq war which most Britons regard as an illegal war.

So please no more heroising, no more making us out to be like you, because were're not, and thank God/Allah for that.


.

[xzavierbrown]

'm not using radical Islam to get back at Bush.

I'm using his failed foreign and domestic policies to get back at him. He hasn't done anything good for this country. He's led us into a war we can't win, he's bolstered the terrorists and served as their poster boy for recruitment, while draining the national treasury. China and OPEC are crushing us economically, while our government does NOTHING about it. Members of his own administration are breaking the law, and walking away because he calls their punishment "excessive". Martha Stewart went to jail for 10 months for obstruction of justice - why is Libby exempt? Would he pardon someone that wasn't in his administration - say you or me for example? Our health care is in crisis, and that's killing our nation's top businesses - and he's not doing anything about it. Gas prices doubled overnight after Katrina, and he did nothing about it. Social Security is going bankrupt, and the only thing he could do was come up with such a terrible plan that the Republican Congress AND Senate wouldn't vote for it.

Shall I go on or would you like to keep trying to tie terrorism with homosexuals?
Posted by hungry1968 at 11:46 PM : Jul 02, 2007
+ report abuse

***********

re-read my retorts to you because you are running around in circle here.

[hungry1968]

Posted by xzavierbrown at 07:00 PM : Jul 02, 2007

I'm not using radical Islam to get back at Bush.

I'm using his failed foreign and domestic policies to get back at him. He hasn't done anything good for this country. He's led us into a war we can't win, he's bolstered the terrorists and served as their poster boy for recruitment, while draining the national treasury. China and OPEC are crushing us economically, while our government does NOTHING about it. Members of his own administration are breaking the law, and walking away because he calls their punishment "excessive". Martha Stewart went to jail for 10 months for obstruction of justice - why is Libby exempt? Would he pardon someone that wasn't in his administration - say you or me for example? Our health care is in crisis, and that's killing our nation's top businesses - and he's not doing anything about it. Gas prices doubled overnight after Katrina, and he did nothing about it. Social Security is going bankrupt, and the only thing he could do was come up with such a terrible plan that the Republican Congress AND Senate wouldn't vote for it.

Shall I go on or would you like to keep trying to tie terrorism with homosexuals?

[idlepugilist]

***All*** ***the*** ***little*** ***HItlers*** ***can*** ***stop*** ***the*** ***liberal***-***bashing***. ***Typically*** ***when*** ***jihadists*** ***are*** ***mentioned*** ***there***'***s*** ***a*** ***war*** ***hawk*** ***conservative*** ***barking*** ***about*** ***liberals*** ***feeding*** ***terrorists*** ***Miracle*** ***Grow***.
***Let***'***s*** ***make*** ***a*** ***real*** ***point*** ***here***, ***neighbors***. ***There*** ***are*** ***narrow*** ***minded*** ***haters*** ***of*** ***middle***-***eastern*** ***descent*** ***and*** ***Muslim*** ***faith*** ***who*** ***think*** ***suicide*** ***is*** ***flattering*** ***self***-***expression***.
***Now*** ***let***'***s*** ***think*** ***about*** ***the*** ***concept*** ***of*** ***the*** ***Neighborhood*** ***Watch***. ***Let***'***s*** ***summarize***: ***Americans*** ***expect*** ***Americans*** ***of*** ***Muslim*** ***faith*** ***to*** ***be*** ***on*** ***the*** ***lookout*** ***for*** ***Muslim*** ***lunatics***, ***and*** ***to*** ***call*** ***the*** ***authorities*** ***if*** ***they*** ***know*** ***a*** ***problem*** ***exists***. ***In*** ***this*** ***way***, ***and*** ***only*** ***in*** ***this*** ***way***, ***will*** ***Muslims*** ***in*** ***America*** ***be*** ***free*** ***from*** ***any*** ***reprisals*** ***from*** ***their*** ***neighbors*** ***who*** ***don***'***t*** ***like*** ***being*** ***victims*** ***of*** ***insanity***.