Shortly after 9/11, many thought it was imperative to teach about and promote the heroes of that deadly day. One such hero whose life and example we can never learn enough about was Rick Rescorla. Originally from England, he came to America and distinguished himself as an Army infantry officer in Vietnam. Later he became head of security at Morgan Stanley, and, after the World Trade Center bombing in 1993, he knew the terrorists would go after the Twin Towers again. He warned the authorities continually; moreover, he led regular evacuation drills between 1993 and 2001. On 9/11, he successfully led almost every Morgan Stanley employee out to safety. He himself did not make it. His last known words were, “As soon as I make sure everyone else is out.” He said those words to another Morgan Stanley employee who had yelled to him that he had to get out too. Rick Rescorla’s remains were never found.
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Rick’s life was not wasted; he saved a lot of people. But if the government had listened to him before 9/11, he would have saved even more. Rick was somebody who should have been posted at the top of our intelligence community, but he wasn’t. Today, we are still not listening to the most creative and prophetic thinkers among us. One of them is Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, founder of the American Islamic Forum on Democracy. He is the intellectual Rick Rescorla of our day.
Dr. Jasser, a practicing Muslim, is a physician and former lieutenant commander in the Navy — someone who, like Rick Rescorla, served his country with distinction, and continues to do so both in his medical practice and in his public warnings and teachings about the dangers from radical Islam. One of his efforts has been to confront members of Muslim Brotherhood organizations such as the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), who continually denigrate America. Jasser’s view is that we should promote the virtues of American freedom and tolerance, which American Muslims enjoy, and should also publicize the way our efforts abroad have given freedom to Muslims in other countries.
Indeed, while most so-called mainstream Muslim and Arab groups in America feed hysteria and spread conspiracy theories, Dr. Jasser despises the grievance narrative; he loves America. Now more than ever, he is the kind of man our government should listen to — and, more important, he is the kind of man our government should use.
But, although Dr. Jasser has offered to serve his country again, this administration has ignored this unique opportunity. Last year, recognizing the need for a shift in our thus-far-ineffective public-diplomacy program, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and others nominated Dr. Jasser to serve on the State Department’s U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy. The commission is charged with “Appraising U.S. Government activities intended to understand, inform, and influence foreign publics.” There could be nobody better suited to serve in this role. Here is some of what Dr. Jasser said when testifying — extemporaneously — before the House Committee on Homeland Security earlier this year:
Until we have an ideological offense into the Muslim communities domestically and globally to teach liberty, to teach the separation of mosque and state, you are not going to solve this problem. . . .
. . . Our organization has . . . created a Muslim liberty project that looks at inoculating Muslims with the ideals of liberty, giving them the empowerment to counter imams, to feel that they can represent their own faith. . . .
This is our homeland. And we want to begin, if you will, a counter-jihad, an offense to counter these ideas. That, I think, is the best way to use our resources as a nation, and remember that the freedoms that we have don’t come with a cheap price, and we need to give back.
This is, simply, Dr. Jasser’s life’s work. This is the kind of thought and talk we need more of, not less. This is the intellectual Rescorlaesque effort we should be promoting and the government should be availing itself of.
Yet another piece of evidence that this president and his administration is not serious about protecting America to the fullest extent possible from radical Islam. Here is a man who is willing to offer his services, has a plan to teach freedom and liberty to Muslims and yet he is denied. I hope he is working on his own to accomplish this goal.
great article. i have followed dr jasser for a long time and he is all that you say and more. two other voices of sanity that are not being heard are tawfik hamid and irshad manji. as long as the useful progressive idiots are in power these people will be sent to the back of the bus.
This is exactly what we need to win the "War on terror" - a half-baked term if ever there was one. We will never win this war of ideas until all radical Muslims are convinced that there are no 72 virgins waiting for them, that if they blow themselves up and kill others they are going straight to hell. Simply "taking them out" by lobbing cruise missiles at them will never win this war.
If I may offer a slight correction to K Kammeyer. Yes, until people willing to blow themselves up change their minds, by definition we will continue to be bedeviled by them. But I think the key is a sea change in the minds of those Muslims who are NOT willing to blow themselves up, the leaders and others who are sitting on the sidelines.
When that happens, the radicals will become isolated kooks. Every now and then there may be an incident, just as every now and then you have a Jim Jones and his band drinking Kool-Aid. But we won't be having to spend a trillion dollars a year fighting them.
Excellent point. Unfortunately, with a very few exceptions like this man, and Ayan Hirsi Ali, all I hear from the "moderate" wing of Islam is crickets chirping. If they are that cowed by terrorists, then we really have a problem.
Chirping indeed. Jasser spoke of Muslims who are content to obey the laws of the country, since they are a minority. Of course that means that when they are a majority -- or gain some degree of power -- they will seek to implement Muslim laws and ideals. So much for moderates.
I heard Jasser speak Monday night. He was reasonable and articulate. But it is clear to me that some of the greatest obstacles he faces are those within the Muslim community itself, which will not speak up for the separation of mosque and state. He is gaining some traction, but this could be accelerated if the leaders of mosques in the U.S. would step up to the plate. They haven't.
At the end of his talk, the local CAIR representative stood up and accused Jasser of lying, presenting no documentation and instilling hatred into the minds of the audience. The audience, except for the small coterie of CAIR adherents, was dumbfounded! Jasser's response? "I think this audience is smarter than that." Well-played.
Jasser deserves a wider audience, and every opportunity to present his message.
Dr. Jasser has the intellectual brilliance that out matches the whole Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and Homeland security combined, the political and cultural insights into Islam that matches that of Bernard Lewis, and the historical knowledge of the Islamic legacy of Jihad that rivals Dr Bostom. Yet, petty politics interferes with one of the only Americas that can actually bridge the gap of understanding the intricacies of the political verses religious aspects of Islam. Truly, Dr. Jasser on a daily basis risks his own life to educate Americans on the true meanings of radical Islam and how that work. Further, he is one of the few people beyond Ibn Warraq and a few others notable people that have actually lived and breathed Islam their whole lives yet our current administration chooses progressive politics over clear common sense of actually learning from Dr. Jasser’s insights. God help us all.
Hearty agreement with this article. Dr. Jasser should be the government and the media go-to spokesman guy for American Muslims instead of the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated CAIR.
Why is it so hard for some to tell the difference between Western-compatible Islam and Western-averse?
Expecting this administration to get it right on anti-jihad is a lost cause. Just reading a Washington Times article that said:
"The CIA and Department of Homeland Security abruptly canceled a conference in August on homegrown U.S. radical extremism in what officials close to the issue say was an effort to block two conservative anti-terrorism experts from presenting their views."
The two experts were Steve Emerson and Stephen Caughlin.
"One intelligence official said the conference was stopped after the White House learned that Mr. Caughlin and Mr. Emerson were speaking. This official said that to prevent the two experts from taking part in future conferences, the administration is drafting new guidelines designed to prohibit all U.S. government personnel from teaching classes on Islamic history or doctrine. The new rules also will seek to prohibit the use of federal funds to pay contractors for such training."
You write: "Dr. Jasser should be the government and the media go-to spokesman guy for American Muslims instead of the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated CAIR." How can Dr. Jasser be a spokesman for American Muslims when American Muslims reject him? Jasser has no following among them. Therefore, it makes no sense to turn to Dr. Jasser as a spokesman. Would it were otherwise!
It isn't surprising this administration would not want someone like Dr. Jasser in a position of influence. His positions are anathema to the Jihadis already working within the administration. The anti-American positions of CAIR align perfectly with Caliph Obama. (Peace be upon him)
I applaud Dr. Jasser's efforts to educate the Moslem (I refuse to use the dhimmi spelling "Muslim") community on the need for a separation of Islamic church and Western civilizational state.
However, I am truly puzzled... measured against all the current and foundational teachings of Islam, isn't Dr. Jasser therefore an apostate? Wouldn't he need to start a new schism from Islam that dispenses with Jihad, Sharia, abrogation, taqqiya, the Hadiths, and the associated belief that Mohammed lived an exemplary life?
It is clear to me that now and for the last 1400 years, there is no difference between 'Islamism' and Islam, and attempting to make such a distinction to Moslems is doomed to failure.
You are right that there is no difference between "Islamism" and Islam. That is why Dr. Jasser's position is untenable. He is not making efforts to educate the Moslem community because the Moslem community has ostracized him and will not listen to him. Also, he spends all his time speaking to non-Moslems, not to Moslems. Some Americans will listen to his criticism of "Islamism" only because he calls himself a "devout Muslim". That is the good that he is doing for the cause.
It is no surprise that the Obama administration rejects Jasser. After all, Jasser has been ostracized by the Moslem community, and, therefore, he represents nobody. Jasser bravely exposes the evils of the Islamic religious establishment and the Muslim Brotherhood, whereas the Obama administration is promoting the cause of the Muslim Brotherhood. There is a sector of the American public that will listen to Jasser only because he claims to be a devout Moslem, and so he is helping our cause by reaching those people who would not otherwise listen to Robert Spencer, for example.
As for reforming Islam, Jasser is totally useless. He is not an Islamic scholar, and he cannot go up against the Islamic religious authorities.
Don't worry the bleeding hearts will help them destroy our country, thinking that they will bring out the good in the radicals, WRONG! The Socialist will win in the end, WHY, do you ask, we don't ask people to ASSIMILATE, so no wonder America is dissappearing, this is NOT America any more, nobody wants FREEDOM anymore, they want the Government to take care of them from birth to death, too lazy to get out of their own way! Semper Fi.
This is the first time I have agreed with Obama's State Department - albeit for entirely different reasons - but I do not believe that Dr. Jasser ought to be on any commission intended to combat Islam. He may be a true patriot who believes that there is a form of Islam compatible with Western values. If so, he is wrong. There may be moderate Muslims, but there is no moderate Islam. There is only Islam, and it is entirely incompatible with Western concepts of liberty and justice.
Does Dr. Jasser think Islam is like a Chinese menu - take one from column A and two from column B? The Koran is considered by Muslims to be a perfect document - the word of God. Mohammed is considered to be the perfect man - an example for Muslims to emulate. What little there is left to interpret does not, unfortunately, make Islam compatible with the West.
Dr Jasser wants to empower Muslims to "represent their own faith"? Sadly, the hijackers of 9/11 were representing their own faith.
It is Mohammed who made the mosque the center of political activity and not just religious worship.
Dr Jasser wants to "inculcate Muslims with the ideals of liberty"? They do not want these ideals which they regard as man's law. They have God's law. Which do you think is the trump card?
Dr. Jasser is at best on a unicorn chase. His views offer no benefit in fighting Islam. There is no shortage of people who understand the implacable nature of Islam and certainly no shortage of ex Muslims. They are the ones America should listen to.
