“Bring It On” Worked
“Bring It On” Worked
by James R. Van de Velde
Download the Full Article: Bring It On Worked
Through accident or design, mostly through accident and blunt trauma, the war in Iraq was brutal, costly in lives and money, and heavy-handed, but dealt al-Qa’ida a severe blow — hopefully a fatal one and even better, a self-inflicted blow. By creating such a rallying cry for the West’s alleged ‘war against Islam,’ thousands of al-Qa’ida fighters were directed to Iraq where they trained and committed terrorist acts. These acts killed the perpetrators, of course, and killed thousands of innocent Muslims and many American, and Coalition soldiers and civilians. But the attacks revealed al-Qa’ida’s brutish nature, its willingness to kill Muslims, and its goal of achieving chaos and totalitarian rule in pursuit of deposing ‘apostate regimes’ and restoring a new Caliphate (under al-Qa’ida rule, of course) — all of which undermined its legitimacy.
Download the Full Article: Bring It On Worked
James R. Van de Velde, Ph.D., a former Lecturer of Political Science at Yale University and a former Lieutenant Commander in the United States Naval Intelligence (Reserves), is a counter terrorism and WMD expert at the international consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton.
