Jihad in America and Islamic glee

By David Dolan

This is one of the most difficult reports I have ever written. I debated waiting a bit to send it out, due to the deep grieving that is still gripping my native land as decaying bodies are dug up from the rubble of the destroyed World Trade Center, and as people gather for a special national day of prayer. But it was precisely the day of prayer that led me to send this out now, so that it might play a role in some people’s intercession on this mournful day and during the traumatic times that lie ahead.

I have been probing the reaction of some personal Islamic contacts to the horrendous terrorist assault upon America. The street celebrations that swept many Palestinian towns and other Arab centers throughout the Middle East accurately reflect the gleeful feelings of many Muslims, I was told. The reasons for this are chilling, to say the least.

Essentially, I have learned that many Muslims see the coordinated attacks upon New York and Washington as signaling the imminent end of American hegemony in the world. My sources say that Muslim fundamentalist states and groups, who have viewed the United States as the main world obstacle standing in the way of the spread of their faith for decades, began to perceive a way to bring down the great empire during the Vietnam War. They were greatly encouraged that a relatively weak Asian army could essentially defeat the awesome American military machine. They pointed out that the central method of warfare used by North Vietnam had nothing to do with matching U.S. military might, but consisted of demoralizing, deadly hide-and-seek guerilla attacks. After Saigon fell in 1975, many Muslims likened the humiliating superpower retreat to the ancient rogue assaults that eventually brought down the morally decadent Roman Empire. The more radical Muslim groups were also highly encouraged by the ability of Islamic militants to humiliate Soviet forces in Afghanistan in the early 1980s, seeing this as signaling the eventual triumph of militant Islam over communism as well.

I have uncovered much evidence over the past few months that the very lukewarm backing the West has given to tiny Israel in her long and bloody struggle against Islamic terrorism has further heartened many Muslims. Any Israeli military response to outrageous attacks upon civilian buses, shops, restaurants, etc., has usually been met with open rebukes from the “Christian” world. I suspect that the inability of much of the West to understand and fully back Israel’s lonely fight is now coming back to haunt the free world.

My Muslim sources admit that the Gulf War was a serious setback to militant Islamic aspirations. The successful use of sleek and sophisticated weapons by the United States and its Western allies (especially Britain, which is almost equally hated by Islamic extremists even as the United Kingdom is used as a major staging ground for international operations) deeply humiliated America’s manifold Muslim opponents. But it also redoubled their resolve to bring down the U.S. giant and then, later, deal with its powerful regional ally, Israel.

Soft underbelly

I was told that America’s Islamic enemies concluded in the 1970s that the great United States could eventually be brought to its knees by internal guerilla-style terrorist strikes that would wreak emotional and economic havoc on the large country. America’s gigantic warships, far-flung military bases, missile arsenals, international alliances and sophisticated satellite systems would prove basically useless to fight such a war, they surmised, and might even add to the chances of ultimate Islamic success, since they would give a false sense of security to the “arrogant” superpower.

As the ’80s progressed, and even more so the computer-crazed ’90s, Muslim militants realized that the main target for attack should be lower Manhattan, since that would severely injure the massive U.S. economy – the key element in her international power and prestige. This conviction was strengthened by the internal collapse of the Soviet Union in the early ’90s, leaving a shell of an empire that did not have enough money to sustain its global alliances and enormous military machine.

As many terrorism experts have already reported, I was told that Islamic cells have been quietly preparing for an internal attack upon New York (and also another key target, Washington) for many years. This confirms what I learned from an FBI source in the mid-’90s. Many regional Muslims understand that Osama bin Laden merely acts as an agent for several Islamic states who all hate America – especially Iraq, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan and Sudan, along with militant groups in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and elsewhere in the sprawling Muslim world. They are convinced that he possesses several small nuclear “suitcase bombs” that were put together by the Soviet KGB. These are very low-level bombs compared to what America and several other countries deploy in their vast nuclear arsenals. However, they are perfect for achieving the Islamic militant’s goal of striking surreptitiously at America’s economic and political center – and thus reducing the rest of the country, and indeed much of the world, to frantic emotional and economic panic and chaos.

If good portions of Manhattan and Washington, D.C., were suddenly reduced to rubble, where would America’s surviving leaders order their military forces to strike in response? Would nuclear-tipped missiles be fired at Baghdad because they suspected that Saddam had a hand in the unprecedented, shadowy terrorist attacks? Would they level other Islamic states, or even the entire Muslim world, killing millions of civilians who had no say in what their despotic leaders might have sponsored? Would they strike at China, suspecting that the communist government in Beijing might have supported or sponsored such an attack?

I was told that Islamic nations believe they would suffer very minimal retribution for secretly sponsoring such a devastating blow on America, precisely because of high U.S. moral standards that would preclude massive strikes at mere suspect states. Thus, the classic Islamic method of focusing on clandestine terror cells that only answer to their immediate superiors – whose members do not even themselves know who is ultimately behind their devious actions – would basically succeed in dealing a huge blow to the United States without suffering much harm in return. (This is possibly best illustrated in miniature by the Pan Am terrorist attack that ended with the jet crashing into Scotland over 12 years ago, leaving nearly 300 people dead. The deadly assault has basically gone unanswered until this day, since the ultimate sponsors have never been clearly pinpointed.)

So this is where we now stand. I was told that the likelihood of more attacks upon America is very real, especially given what many Muslims perceive as the enormous success of this week’s terrorist strikes. With the president’s jet scrambling around the country in apparent fear, with the nation’s representatives rushing out of the capital building two times in response to bomb threats, with a portion of the Pentagon itself destroyed, with many of the men and women who run the world’s largest stock and bond market either dead or wounded, and, most importantly, with a sense of terrorized fear gripping many Americans, Islamic militants believe they have won a victory beyond their wildest dreams. As was the case with Israel’s quick military retreat from Lebanon and inability to stop a year-long terrorist war, they feel that they are definitely on a winning, Allah-sanctioned roll.

If America is brought to its knees, the way is open for a new world order. Most militant Muslim states believe it will eventually feature them at the helm, especially if they can also subdue the increasingly powerful European Union. However, as I projected in my end-time novel, I suspect that it will be the EU that emerges as the new global leader when all of the dust settles, based on the apocalyptic prophecies found in the book of Daniel. However, I do not believe there is any biblical reason to say that the United States will disappear. My homeland has indeed displayed its share of arrogance and has exported much sin over the past few decades, along with many good and positive things. It surely is in need of some corrective judgment from the throne of the Lord, but not destruction, I believe. One thing is crystal clear: There is much room for prayer as this historic week comes to a close.

David Dolan

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David Dolan is a Jerusalem-based author and journalist who has lived in Israel since 1980. He reported for CBS Radio for over 12 years. Read more of David Dolan's articles here.