Dear Family and Friends: The Gist of the War Situation

Christopher Brent

      Christopher Brent has been in the military most of his adult life. He was an infantry battalion scout in World War II, a senior officer when he retired from active duty.

Dear Family and Friends,

      More friends than family have asked me-and tried to involve me in long telephone conversations-for my views about the purpose and the progress of the war. My crystal ball is a bit cloudy, but now and again a bright light comes through the fog. While I do not pretend to have all the answers, a few facts stand out and ought to be considered the foundation of any meaningful discussion. If you disagree with the items I postulate as facts, please let me know. I am quite ready to reconsider my present views in the light of new or additional facts. But unless we can agree on the facts that pertain to the situation, we will be talking past each other and meaningful dialog will not be possible. My list of facts is numbered for convenience of reference and not in order of importance.

1. In 1744, Ibn Sa'ud, then ruler of Najd, became a follower of Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab (1703-1792), who preached a return to the origins of Islam, which today we call fundamentalism. This version of Islam DEMANDS THE CONVERSION OR DEATH OF ALL "INFIDELS," WHICH INCLUDES ALL PERSONS WHO DO NOT FOLLOW THE "Wahhabiyah," al-Wahhab's teachings, laid down in his book Kitab at-tawhid (Book of Unity).

2. Ibn Sa'ud initiated a war to conquer all of the Arabian Peninsula. His heirs continued these conquests; by 1880 Wahhabism had become the dominant version of Islam in Arabia. After some ups and downs, the house of Sa'ud established in 1932 the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with Wahhabism as the state religion, supported by Sharia, Islamic law.

3. According to a NewYork Times report, "all public high schools in Saudi Arabia teach mandatory classes in anti-Christian, anti-Western religious fundamentalism, with nearly 30 percent of all class time devoted to such instruction."

4. With their oil money in the twentieth century the Saudis have been exporting these religious teachings throughout the world, that is, to the Moslem nations in Africa, to Malaysia and Indonesia, to Pakistan and Afghanistan, and to the Moslems living in the United States and other "Western" nations, through schools they establish (the madrassas in Pakistan), through mosques they build and support, and through student organizations they fund in our universities.

5. The House of Saud has attempted, at home and abroad, to divert attention from the high living of the royals (estimated total 30,000, of which 6,000 are princes) by "good works" in the name of Allah. (as described at 3. and 4. above)

6. Usama bin Laden is a follower of al-Wahhab; he has sworn death to all "Infidels." His hit list includes the Saudi royal family, whom he accuses of being apostates, as well as all Jews and Christians, and all Moslems who do not follow the Wahhabiyah.

7. With his own funds and contributions from like-minded, mostly Saudi Arabian, supporters, Usama bin Laden has created al Qa'eda to serve as recruiting agency for terrorists as well as a channel for funds, while it appears as a de facto commercial holding company.

8. Saudi Arabian schools and mosques, and all such institutions outside Saudi Arabia supported by Saudi money, will continue to preach our destruction until we eradicate them.

9. While Iran and Iraq have shown themselves as enemies, these are nations, and any potential war against them will have to consider such a war in traditional terms-but a change of government in these countries can remove them from "enemy" status.

10. Usama bin Laden has declared war on the United States. His method is terrorism to bring down our government. His support comes from al Qa'eda and from all the schools and mosques that teach the Wahhabiya-and from student organizations in universities and colleges throughout the Western World that have adopted this extreme form of Islam.

Based on the above considerations, I foresee a LONG WAR, not less than five years, most likely longer, much longer. It is a war that concerns and involves each and every one of us, because by the definitions in the Wahhabiya and the declaration of Usama bin Laden each and every one of us is marked for death-unless in good time we convert to Wahhabism.

In order to combat Usama's terrorists, we, that is the entire Western World, will have to:

A. Wipe out al Qa'eda and the Taliban, who provided "guest privileges" to Usama bin Laden. This is not a war against Afghanistan but a war in Afghanistan.

B. Terminate the madrassas in Pakistan and wherever else we might find them.

C. Prohibit the teaching of the Wahhabiya anywhere. We cannot win this fight until we have succeeded in rearing generations of Moslem boys who have not been taught to hate. Such prohibition will necessitate supervision by all Western and by all non-Wahhabite Arab/Moslem countries of all Islamic institutions in their lands. Ultimately it may involve deposing the House of Sa'ud and stripping them of funds for their "ministry." (Note that women have no standing under the Taliban or under the Wahhabiyah. Since all power in Moslem societies is focused in men, women become men's toys, without education or participation in economic or social life.)

D. Accept that religious fanatics are not susceptible to conversion. If "Islamists," as followers of the Wahhabiyah are nowadays called, are allowed to live, they will kill us. We have no choice; it's their life or ours. We have to put them to death. INCARCERATION IS NOT AN OPTION OR AN ANSWER.

E. Moslem countries other than the Taliban-ruled Afghanistan will get into the crosshairs of our sights only if they preach the Wahhabiyah or support al Qa'eda or Usama bin Laden. But the world knows other terrorist organizations, and we may find they are connected with the al Qa'eda kind.

F. All Christians, Jews, and Sunni and Shi'a Moslems must stand together, regardless of nationality, to defeat the Islamists and to root them out.

The task ahead is complex and difficult beyond belief. Yet it must be accomplished if we want to live, if we want our children and grandchildren to be able to live in peace again, some day. In short, we are in a fight for our lives, a fight we dare not lose, at the risk of the life of any one of us.

If we want to protect and pass on what we now call our values, Judeo-Christian values, including our inheritance from classical antiquity as well as from the renaissance, if we want to preserve the intellectual and moral precepts on which our country is based, we must fight. This really applies to all Western nations.

If we want one day again to be able to live in the U.S.A. that we used to know, we must fight.

Along the way, the necessities of this unique war will bring about many grave changes in our life. We will have to go through this valley to reach the other side, when we hope to have our liberties restored in a world free of Islamists.

Those of us who fought in World War II had an easy time identifying the enemy. Today it is much more difficult. But winning this fight will require the wholehearted dedication not merely of the members of the uniformed services of our country, but of every citizen. We must also assist our political leaders in achieving the difficult balance between the efforts to provide for our safety and individual liberty (which will be restricted) and the need to ferret out the enemy in all his hiding places, and to root him out.

I may not be around for the final bugle, but I will try to do my part until my last day.

Love and best regards, Chris