In the wake of the recent leak and subsequent media misrepresentations of the most recent National Intelligence Estimate, it’s been made abundantly clear that there are many who fundamentally misunderstand the nature of the war we are fighting. Democrats and other critics think Iraq was a distraction from the true threat. They believe this because they think we are at war with Osama bin Laden or Al Qaeda. We are not. Al Qaeda is an enemy, but they are not the war. When Japan launched a sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt did not respond with a declaration of war on the Japanese navy. Nor did he limit his efforts to only those generals directly involved in the attack. He declared war on Japan.

President Bush was right not to focus our response exclusively on Al Qaeda. Al Qaeda is a subset of the enemy; just one tool amongst many that they use to advance their cause. The true enemy is violent Islamic Jihad. This is why the Democrats are wrong to think our efforts should be limited to only those directly involved in 9/11.

President Bush recognized this larger threat immediately. It is this threat which the Bush Doctrine, whether you think its methods are sound or not, is designed to combat. President Bush believes that in order to defeat Islamic Jihad, the absolute authority that virulent propaganda has in the Middle East must be eroded. The Bush Doctrine is the belief that the establishment of representative governments in the Middle East, with the personal and economic freedoms they bring, provides our best chance to achieve this goal. I believe it as well. By its nature, however, the success of the Bush Doctrine will be indeterminate for some time, possibly a generation.

In order to defeat an enemy, one must know the enemy. Violent Islamic Jihad is itself a subset of a larger group, that of Islam as a whole. But the whole of Islam is not our enemy, rather it is a fraction of the whole that seeks to spread Sharia law, through violence and intimidation, across the world. They believe the world is Islamic and all that’s needed is the elimination or subjugation of the infidels for their Islamic world to be realized.

We should not kid ourselves as to their religious faith. Their interpretation of their faith is just as legitimate as that of those who do not wage violent jihad. We do no one any favors by continually trying to deny that fact. Instead, what we must do is embrace it.

We need to do more to encourage Muslims who do not support this radical agenda to speak up for and defend their interpretations. As it is now, many within Islam have their heads in the sand. They insist the jihadists have no basis for their beliefs, and so they refuse to engage them. Instead of simply allowing them to deny that they have any obligation to defend Islam, we must take a firm stance and demand their vocal support.

When democrats and other critics complain that Iraq has made more jihadists, they expose their ignorance of the enemy we face. Those jihadists have been in the making for decades. They have been exposed to virulent propaganda since birth. Any efforts we make will be exploited by the enemy to motivate those they have spent so much effort making predisposed to violent jihad. That fact is not a reason to quit fighting.

We must keep our eyes on the prize. A world without violent Islamic Jihad can be realized, but it will come only after the slow and steady implementation of the Bush Doctrine. This will require a level of resolve that has not been asked of us in generations, if ever. Yet we must remain firm, as the alternative is too horrible to contemplate.

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