The Cause of Islamic Terrorism (1)
   
   John J L Han (written on 1 October 2004)
   Fremont, CA 94538
   

   The event of 9/11 has shocked many in the world. In retrospect, however, such attacks should not be a total surprise because these Islamic terrorists never hide their extreme hatred toward the United States. Unfortunately, many in the world did not regard their talks and prior attacks as serious as they should. Even now many still do not understand the mindset of Muslims in the Middle East. Professor Bernard Lewis has recently written two excellent books on the crisis of Islam: “What Went Wrong?” and “The Crisis of Islam”. In the Middle Age, Islamic civilization was a leading civilization in many aspects. For the last three centuries, however, Islamic countries fall further and further behind Western countries. Among Muslims, various reasons (scapegoats?) have been blamed for the decline of Islamic civilization. First, it was thought to be Mongols. During the period of nationalism, it was other ethnic groups in the Islamic Empire. Then, the problem was due to Western imperialism. Now it is the United States. Because the US is the leader of Western civilizations, it becomes the enemy by default to Islamic extremists. In the last fifty years, the pain and frustration for Muslims in Middle Eastern countries keep growing. Modern media and communications allow ordinary Muslims to see the vast differences between their life and the life of their corrupt rulers and the contrast between their countries and the outside world. Even new comers, such as South Korea, Japan, have surpassed Middle Eastern countries in sciences, democracy, social equality, and economic prosperity. Islamic fundamentalism (not equivalent to Islamic extremism or Islamic militancy) is a movement that tries to find solutions in their religion. Because many imported remedies, such as military reforms, nationalism, independence, socialism, have been tried and failed in most Islamic countries, it is understandable that Islamic fundamentalism is on the rise. However, I do not think that Islam will provide them the solution.
   
   In a recent article in the September issue of Commentary, Norman Podhoretz characterizes the War on Terror as World War IV. In a way, the War on Terror is a worldwide war. And this war started in the Middle East at least from 1960s. Judith Miller wrote a book in 1997, "God Has Ninety-Nine Names", which provides an overview on Islamic militancy in the Middle East. Islamic terrorism is a threat to all countries and peoples including peace-loving Muslims. In fact, peoples in the Middle East were the first to suffer under terrorism. To win this war, it is essential to help all peoples and countries to see the root cause of Islamic terrorism. Unfortunately, the Iraq War and recent presidential debates involve too much party politics such that they obscure some important challenges facing us. For example, how should a president handle the clash of civilizations? In an interview appeared in the June 28 issue of the Time magazine, former President Bill Clinton said that in his judgement the Iraq War was inevitable although he would delay it until further UN inspection was finished. The Bush administration perhaps rushed somewhat. But President Bush might have to consider the weather to minimize potential casualties. In any event, being a Monday quarterback does not help. Does anyone seriously think that French or Germany would send their troupes to Iraq if the US waited for three more months? The question is what should be our strategy now.
   
   While the Cold War (or World War III as Norman Podhoretz calls it) has two fronts (military and ideological), this war has three fronts. It is well known that a person has three parts: spirit, soul, and body. Early Christian theologian Origen considered three levels of meaning of the Bible: literal, moral, and spiritual. I would like to consider three realms when analyze things: (a) material, (b) mental/moral/political; (c) spiritual. There are three fronts on the War on Terror: (a) military, (b) ideological, (c) spiritual. Although many have studied this war, few have considered the spiritual front. For example, Professor Lewis suggested democracy and perhaps religious reforms as solutions. However, his analysis is mainly in the ideological realm. A two-dimensional approach to a three-dimensional problem may be insufficient. Unless we win this war on the spiritual front as well as the ideological front, any victory is not going to last long. I plan to share my analysis in the spiritual realm in an article later. I will analyze modern democracy and its relationship with Christianity and consider the obstacles to realize modern democracy in Muslim countries. One should note that only a few Muslim countries are democratic and even they do not seem to excite their fellow Muslims.