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2008 Campaign

Family Security Matters does not stand behind or endorse any candidate for president (or any other public office). However, as the President is also Commander-in-Chief and is responsible for setting national security policy, we will be publishing a variety of articles on both the Republican and Democrat candidates for President during this election year. As always, the opinions of our Contributing Editors are their own, and do not necessarily reflect those of Family Security Matters.

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July 18, 2008

Exclusive: CRC Open Sources

W. Thomas Smith, Jr., Director, Counterterrorism Research Center

On Tuesday, the British Parliament outlawed the military wing of Hezbollah. My first thought after learning of parliament's decision was, "It's about time."

According to the Jerusalem Post:

"The ban makes it a crime to join or support the group's military wing.

"Britain's minister in charge of fighting terrorism Tony McNulty said he had evidence that the movement was linked to insurgent groups in Iraq that had attacked coalition soldiers.

‘I can say unequivocally that Hizbullah's military wing is providing active support to Shia militant groups in Iraq,' he said."

That sounds more like "proof" than simply "evidence."

Now if we can just get our British cousins and everybody else to realize that you cannot separate Hezbollah's "social and political work" from what Hezbollah is: A global terrorist organization. After all, the Taliban has social and political elements. Those are two of the means - in addition to terror and militant force - by which groups like Hezbollah and the Taliban control people.

Also, in False Reports of Jihadists "Quitting" or Abandoning Islamic Supremacism, Jeffrey Imm writes:

"Another strategic error in the failure to address the ideological basis of Jihad in Islamic supremacism is that the lack of such a strategic debate allows a series of false and misleading reports about Jihadists allegedly ‘renouncing' jihad or abandoning Islamism. The point of these media reports are to suggest that either (a) there is no jihadist threat, or (b) what threat does exist is diminishing as ‘extremists' realize the folly of violence. Such reports have one clear purpose: quash public debate on the real ideological basis behind Jihad, with the secondary purpose of questioning Jihad as a ‘real threat.'"

This is a must read that cuts to the heart of "the war of ideas" and explains to a degree what we have frequently discussed re: Jihadism's infiltration and manipulation of Western media.


Visit W. Thomas Smith Jr. at uswriter.com.

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