War Of Minds

Friday, November 9, 2001
By: Tashbih Sayyed

Terrorism is a state of mind. It is nurtured by hatred. Those who attacked the WTC and Washington D.C. represent this culture of hatred. It has evolved over a long period of time. Many factors have contributed to its evolution. The most important of them has been the development of Wahabiism in Saudi Arabia, which preaches a very narrow and rigid interpretation of Islam based on its hatred of Zionism and the US. It preaches that all the miseries that the Muslims suffer with are caused by a Judeo-Christian conspiracy, backed by the US. By destroying both the US and the state of Israel, Wahabiism wants to establish a universal state of "Islam".

Until Saudi Arabia got its wind fall of petro dollars in the 70s, Wahabiism was slow in recruiting its cadres. They were telling the Muslims that the Jews with the help of the United states of America have been successful in keeping the Muslims in economic, social and cultural bondage. They blamed Zionism for the destruction of the Ottoman Empire, the establishment of the state of Israel and the total humiliation of Muslims the world over. It promised to avenge the centuries old insults and degradation that the Muslims had suffered at the hands of Zionism.

They established madrasas to indoctrinate the young Muslim minds in this theory. Saudi petro dollars provided the movement with funds to establish madrasas in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. These madrasas have only one objective, to breed Islamists (Jihadis) who are committed to either convert or eliminate all those who are not Wahabis.

Because of the socio-economic conditions prevailing in Pakistan and Afghanistan, the madrasas had no problem in finding their students. By the time Soviets invaded Afghanistan, madrasas had enough numbers to put up an impressive resistance against them. Even the US was impressed. It saw in jihad, a potent force to win its war against the Soviet Union and avenge Vietnam. What it did not know was that for these jihadis, there was no difference between Moscow and Washington - both were infidels. They were fighting their war, not that of United States'.

The US dumped in billions of dollars, and Pakistan's military dictator, General Zia ul Haq, a devout Wahabi himself, decided to use the US funds to establish and consolidate a network of madrasas to train and educate the young minds in the art of hating the US/Zionism. He wanted these madrasas to become a permanent supply source of Mujahideen. He encouraged the extremist Wahabi Muslims to establish as many madrasas and as fast as possible.

It was not a very difficult job. Poverty, ignorance, hunger, absence of basic civil amenities provided a fertile ground to sow the seed of hatred against a perceived enemy. All these ills were conveniently blamed on a universal Judeo-Christian conspiracy to keep the Muslims backward. The United States was presented as the leader of this Judeo-Christian conspiracy. History was presented in such a fashion, that the Jews and the US became the real villains. A curriculum was devised which was to burn these "facts" into an impressionable mind permanently.

The war against the Soviets provided another opportunity to find recruits. In Afghanistan, there is only one bread winner in a family. Thousands of these bread winners were dying in the war against the Soviets, leaving behind thousands of widows and orphans. There was no social security system to take care of them. Madrasas took advantage of the situation and offered to take these orphans off their mother's hands. The mothers were only too happy to find a way to have their children taken care of . These children were to be fed, clothed, sheltered and educated by the madrasas. The curriculum was simple, memorization of Quraa'n, education in the most primitive ways of a very rigid Wahabism and a very strenuous military training to fight the infidels. These children were not to see any one outside the madrasa. They were not allowed to watch television or listen to radio. They were virtually in a bubble totally insulated from the outside world. Day in and day out they were brainwashed into hating the infidels. The United States and Zionism topped this list of infidels.

A new state of mind was taking shape. A new culture of death, in which it was required to destroy and kill the "infidels" was evolving. This culture did not owe its existence to one or two leaders. It was developed as a part of a popular psyche. All the graduates of this culture were ready to die in the process of establishing their 'Islamic" state. They were itching to destroy their perceived enemy. One could not get rid of this culture by eliminating its leaders. The whole environment had to be changed in order to eradicate this culture of terrorism.

It took almost forty years, for this culture to grow into a formidable 'ism' - Islamism. Islamism, as the world has experienced, is more dangerous than Communism. It has not only proven its power by conquering Afghanistan but has also besieged Pakistan from within. It has exported its revolution to all parts of the world. September 11, 2001, proved that even the United States of America is not beyond its reach. This first war of the new millennium is a new kind of war. It is a war of minds. This war will not be won by conquering bodies and real estate. In this war, the minds and hearts have to be won. This war is to be waged in a different kind of battle field - the madrasa and schools. The weapons in this war will have to be different. These weapons will have to be such that can change the circumstances which give birth to such a state of mind. We will have to remember that poverty, ignorance and absence of basic human rights give birth to anger and frustration. And these feelings can be harnessed by extremist people and groups to further their destructive goals.

The enemy that the US is confronted with is a state of mind. Osama Bin Laden or the Taliban are just some of the physical manifestations of this state of mind. The US will have to remove the environment that gives birth to such a state of mind. The only way of getting rid of such an environment is by educating the masses. Education can only be provided in a society that enjoys basic amenities of life - food, clothing, shelter, healthcare. The provision of these basic amenities, in turn needs an economic structure that provides employment to a majority of the people. To provide such an infrastructure, a long term plan is required. A plan along the lines of the "Marshall Plan" that was provided to Europe in the aftermath of the second world war. To accomplish this goal, the US will have to stay on after having achieved its immediate goal (the defeat of the Taliban and the capture of bin Laden), to oversee the establishment of an environment that does not breed hatred. The US has to help in building socio-economic resources that should be able to provide a bare minimum of civic amenities to the masses so that the reason for their anger is eliminated.

The objective of this Plan has to be the creation of a future generation that believes in the values of democracy, freedom and liberty. This can be done by helping 'targeted nations' to establish socio-economic institutions that provide basic amenities to the masses. Satisfied and content people can afford to send their children to real schools not madrasas. These schools, with the help of this Plan will have to follow a curriculum that teaches the students the values of democracy, freedom and liberty.

To achieve this objective a strict watch has to be maintained on what is being taught in the educational institutions in these countries. Islamists took 40 years to overwhelm the world with the graduates of their madrasas. We will have to be equally patient. During all this time when we will be working to counter the extremist mind, we will have to make sure that the affected societies start reaping the benefits of the new Marshall Plan so that there is a support system available for these new minds to prosper. The aid recipient country under the Marshall Plan should not be allowed to spend this aid on defense or non productive projects. All the projects, established under this plan will have the aim of uplifting the standard of living of the masses. Education and health has to be made the most important component of the developmental project. Industries that are labor intensive should be encouraged, so that the maximum number of people can find employment.

In order to make sure that such a Plan succeeds in achieving its goals, the participating nations of this have to keep a strict watch over the benefiting governments. In the past, all the aid that was given by the US for the economic development of these countries was misappropriated by rulers like Mubuto, Marcos, General Ziaul Haq, Sadam Hussian etc., leaving the masses poorer than before. The corruption of these dictators and kings has made the US a villain in the eyes of the masses.

They have come to believe that the US is responsible for their miseries. With this background, the US will have to control the Marshall Plan aid in a manner such that the masses are the ones which benefit in the end. For the US to succeed, it will have to make sure that the values of democracy, freedom and liberty become the focus of the new curriculum being taught in these societies.