Dr. Ajai Sahni in OutlookIndia (thanks to Fanabba) takes aim at the dhimmi analysts and academics who refuse to acknowledge the Pakistani jihad that is in front of their faces:
A “failure of imagination”, the Panel investigating the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the US stated, was what kept US officials from understanding the Al Qaeda threat before the catastrophic events in New York and Washington.
There is, however, a manifest and abiding danger today, that a future investigation into terrorist plots that are yet to be accomplished would find another, even greater, ‘failure of imagination’, culminating in horrors that may easily dwarf the events of 9/11.
The 9/11 Panel has been sagacious in noting that the critical element that must be understood if an adequate response to global terrorism is to be crafted, is that “we are in the midst of an ideological conflict”. The contemporary assessment of where precisely inimical ideologies are located will be crucial to the outcome of this conflict – and here, again, there is an evident error in the dominant American evaluation. It is, of course, the case that Osama bin Laden has been one of the most articulate representatives of this ideology, and his Al Qaeda one of its most effective manifestations. But there are many ‘future bin Ladens’ waiting in the wings, largely unnoticed, or systematically and intentionally ignored, by the American establishment, as well as by much of the world.
Among the most dangerous instances of this neglect occur in Pakistan….
There follow a series of lengthy and revealing statements about jihad from radical Muslim leaders in Pakistan and Kashmir.
Worse still, as has been repeatedly noted in the past, the extremist Islamist discourse on jehad, and shahadat (martyrdom) and the ‘global conspiracy’ against and threat to Islam is not the province of mullahs and militants alone, and has penetrated every aspect of the Pakistani educational system – and not, as is widely believed, just the extremist madrassahs.
It is useful to note that the examples drawn up in this assessment are a small selection of statements and writings in the past less than three months. A comprehensive archive of extremist discourse in this vein for the entire period since 9/11 would fill volumes, and would include innumerable statements by elements proximate to, or directly connected with, the Musharraf regime.
Some of these dangers have been acknowledged, for the pre-9/11 period under its review, by the 9/11 Panel. One writer notes that a cursory key word search of the Panel’s report recovers “more than 200 references to Pakistan, many of them damning. There are less than 100 references to Iran and Iraq combined.”
Nevertheless, ignorance persists at unacceptable levels. The international press and diplomatic community, largely located in protected and affluent enclaves, with their attention fixed firmly on the relatively moderate and westernized English language media, remain substantially uncomprehending of these dangerous undercurrents. Worse, denial remains integral to the mindset of many Western – and particularly US – observers. A mention of the ‘dominant ideology of Pakistan’ to a senior US diplomat posted in that country, for instance, drew a sharp response rejecting the idea that any such ‘dominant ideology’ could actually be identified.Such denial also characterizes the mainstream political discourse on the issue in India today, and constitutes a danger even greater than the direct threat of contemporary terrorism, creating vast spaces for the continuous consolidation of ideas that will breed much worse in the years to come.