Political Warfare

The Many Forms of Radical Islam All Threaten America by Peter S. Probst

 

. . . American-based Islamists and the groups they represent are increasingly reliant on sophisticated Political Action operations designed to eviscerate government capabilities to uncover and dismantle terrorist cells and support mechanisms. They capitalize on our government’s failure to recognize and counter their Political Action activities, which are being promoted through a variety of instruments including seemingly independent and benign front groups established to advance the radical Islamist agenda. They use our freedoms, constitutional guarantees, and the advantages of an open society as both a sword and shield in this latest iteration of ideological warfare.

They seek to foster malignant self-doubt as best expressed by the question so many of the well meaning ask:  “Why do they hate us?” The answer should be painfully obvious but, regrettably, eludes too many political figures and pundits. The truth is the Islamists do not hate us because of the freedoms we enjoy. They do not hate us because we are wealthy and powerful. They do not hate us because of our support of Israel. They hate us because they see us as the prime impediment to the realization of their messianic vision of a global caliphate under Sharia law.  They recognize that they cannot conquer us through force of arms, economic warfare or even terrorism. Their strategy is one of Political Warfare to sap our strength, self-confidence and will to resist and, thereby, leave us vulnerable to more conventional forms of aggression. History has taught that once a nation’s internal defenses are compromised and the public psychologically disarmed, a country can fall into the hands of an adversary like a ripe fruit – a strategy practiced successfully by both the Bolsheviks and the Nazis.

Political Warfare is an unfamiliar concept to most Americans. Essentially, it is an umbrella term that embraces a panoply of strategies, tactics and capabilities. It is, in essence, a tool kit from which the operator may draw to mount and tailor a campaign to demoralize, paralyze, bleed and, ultimately, vanquish an adversary.  At its most effective it is usually a mix of Psychological Operations, Political Action, and Terror. Tactics may oscillate between extreme violence and the apparently benign, the aim being to erode the public’s will to resist and to foster a readiness to accept seemingly reasonable compromises that in reality represent a slippery slope to ultimate surrender. The approach is insidious and effective.

They know us better than we know ourselves. This is why Regulars can’t fight the War of ideas against these people. Half of their political masters do not particularly want the War of Ideas fought.