Brain Fertilizer

Al Qaida has found a new game: beheading hostages.

Why?

To date, they have captured:

- Daniel Pearl, reporter, beheaded on video
- Nick Berg, civilian, beheaded on video
- Paul Johnson, contractor, beheaded, pictures released
- Kim Sun-il, a Korean civilian aid worker, beheaded on video
- three Turkish contractors, to be beheaded within 3 days
- Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun, a US Marine of Lebanese descent
- Amjid Yousef, a Pakistani driver for the US military

Gen. Grange, a CNN military analyst, says that it is a poor strategy. I don't think he understands.

The strategy is not to influence the United States, although they would be pleased with such a serendipitous result. No, it is a morality play being enacted on the world stage through the internet. The terrorists are sending a message to Iraqis and to the Muslim community worldwide that they still retain Allah's favor.

From the very beginning, al Qaida has declared war on the western world. The Islamic faith has no mechanism for self-correction or expunging heretics or even determining leaders. Anyone who follows the Five Pillars of Islam is a Muslim and exempt from punishment, because Allah will punish or reward. Anyone who studies the Koran can announce his own understanding, and if Allah has blessed him with wisdom, he will attract followers. Ideas and theologies are allowed to struggle and compete for supremacy, and Allah is supposed to bless the ones that are more correct, helping it to gain supremacy.

That's the main reason why we didn't hear much condemnation from the Islamic world over 9/11: their success proved the blessing of Allah. We were unable to immediately strike back, so it must have been the will of Allah to have made al Qaida strong enough to succeed so well against the Great Satan of the West.

But things have turned against them. The Taliban and al Qaida have been pushed out of Afghanistan. Osama bin Laden is in hiding and hasn't released a current videotape in years. Even with the help of western news media in trying to demoralize public opinion in the West, the insurgents are losing ground. As things get worse for them in Iraq, what proof do they have that Allah favors their actions? When the Coalition Forces can kill hundreds of insurgents each week with only the loss of a handful of US combatants killed from cowardly ambush, what can they point to as evidence their cause is just? Little or nothing.

So they capture individuals, and show their "complete power" by beheading them on videotape, or showing pictures. They are saying: "See, people of Islam? We still have the power to take anyone we want and brutally humiliate and kill them, and the Great Satan can do nothing to stop it. Surely, Allah is with us." They are escalating the message as well, taking Muslim Turks and a Pakistani and even an Arabic soldier. With these abductions, most likely followed by beheadings, they are trying to prove that Allah even approves of killing Arabs and Muslims who do not help kill westerners and minions of the Great Satan.

The beheadings will continue until we have killed or captured enough of the ring-leaders to demonstrate that Allah has frowned upon their actions.