On Thu, 6/10/10, Dr. Tawfik Hamid wrote:
 

Shall the US start fighting terrorism in 'Brainistan'? 

ABC's Test for Radical Islam 

Op-Eds by Dr. Hamid 

Op-Ed

Shall the US start fighting terrorism in 'Brainistan'?

by Tawfik Hamid

www.tawfikhamid.com   

Shall the US start fighting terrorism in 'Brainistan'?

By Tawfik Hamid

The war on terror and the US military confrontation with Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan is considered to be one of the longest wars in our modern history. It has actually surpassed WWII in duration. The jihadist-related terrorism phenomenon has not been defeated yet, 'Home Grown Radicalism' in the US is increasing, and the Taliban is regaining power and killing more US troops. This state of affairs should lead us to think that the US may be fighting the correct war but in the wrong locations.

Traditionally, military confrontations occur in a physical territory or a geographically describable piece of land and ends with military control over this territory. The global nature of the jihadist phenomenon and its ability to span the globe from Indonesia to Spain and from Russia to the US makes it very difficult - if not virtually impossible - to confront it at a territorial level. Furthermore, the use of the internet to transmit radical teachings by someone like Al-Awlaqui in Yemen to effect Major Nidal Hasan - who conducted the Fort Hood massacre in Texas and Faisal Shahzad - who recently attempted to explode a car bomb in Times Square in NYC - add another dimension to the problem and further support the idea that we need to think outside traditional warfare tactics and a territorial way thinking when we deal with the phenomenon of Islamist radicalism and terrorism.

When we look deeper into the phenomenon of terrorism we need to ask ourselves: What makes a person decide to go get a bomb or a weapon just to kill some innocent people without achieving any materialistic gain for themselves? In other words, what happens in the brain of such an individual to make them take such a destructive, frequently self-destructive, decision?

 Studies in physiology tell us that an impulse(s) has to originate in the mind of this individual that will ultimately make them make such a decision and take such an action. This impulse could represent an impulse of hatred, revenge, animosity, or other forms of negative feelings toward others.

Hence, the real territory in the war on terror is actually the brain ("Brainistan"), and our real challenge is to fight this impulse in the minds of these individuals and to replace it with an impulse of love, forgiveness, and humility.

Electrical impulses in the brain that make an individual choose the path of violence over the path of peace can be either nourished or inhibited via education, ideology, cultural behaviors, and other factors that affect the psychology of a human being. 

Humans are born equal. One of the main differences between us is the way and the quality of the education we receive. If we acquired an education that promotes love and harmony it is likely that we will become good human beings. On the contrary, if our education and upbringing created hatred toward others, suppressed our human conscience, and created a feeling of superiority above others, the outcome can be completely different.

In 'Brainistan'' the tools of winning the war on terror are approaches to education that encourage critical thinking, uphold the use of our human conscience, and ultimately teach us how to be able to love others irrespective of their religious backgrounds and views.  The main challenge that faces us in 'Brainstan' is, on one hand, to create an impulse of love and tolerance toward others in the minds of the youngsters in the Muslim world to protect them from becoming terrorists, and on the other hand, to suppress the existent impulses of hate in the minds of those who have been already radicalized. This does not in any way mean that we ignore or underestimate the physical nature of the threat posed by the terrorists, but mainly points out that our confrontation in this war has to be extended beyond the physical territory in Afghanistan or Pakistan to include and give more focus to fighting it in "Brainistan" as well. 

ABC's Test for Radical Islam 

The time has come to define Radical Islam. Please ask your local mosque, Islamic Shool, and Islamic organization to clearly, unambiguously and publically denounce the following concepts:

Apostates killing

Beating women and stoning them to death for adultery.

Calling Jews pigs and monkeys.

Declaring war on Non Muslims to spread Islam after offering Non Muslims three options - subjugate to Islam, pay Jizia (a humiliating tax), or be killed.

Enslavement of Other Human Beings.

Fighting and killing Jews before the "End of Days".

Gay Discrimination and Hostility.

A true moderate person or organization must be able to immediately denounce the above concepts and stand publicly and unambiguously against them.

The Muslim world can not expect the world to consider Islam peaceful as long as they teach and promote such tenets.

A clear stand is needed from leading Islamic Scholars all over the world against such teachings.