[size=+1]Islamic terror based on Qu’ran: ex-CIA official[/size]
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The Canadian Jewish News ^ | December 9, 2004 | SHELDON KIRSHNER</SMALL>
A former top official of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency paints a menacing picture of the relationship between Islam and terrorism.
“Islamic terrorism is based on Islam as revealed through the Qu’ran,” keynote speaker Bruce Tefft claimed in a panel discussion at the University of Toronto on jihad and global terrorism. The session, held late last month, was sponsored by the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Speakers Action Group.
Tefft, a founder of the CIA’s counter-terrorism center and now an advisor to the New York Police Department’s intelligence and counter-terrorism divisions, said that without Islam, the long-term strategy of Al Qaeda and its followers make little sense.
Linking Osama bin Laden to the attacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in 2001, Tefft said: “To pretend that Islam has nothing to do with Sept. 11 is to willfully ignore the obvious and to forever misinterpret events.”
In a harsh indictment of Islam – the world’s fastest growing religion and the second-largest faith after Christianity –
Tefft said that while there may be moderate Muslims, Islam itself is immoderate.
And, he added, “
There is no difference between Islam and Islamic fundamentalism, which is a totalitarian construct.”
According to Tefft, the Qu’ran enjoins Muslims to believe that the whole world should be governed by the principles of Islam, an expansionist religion that has historically grown through conquest.
All infidels are to be converted, enslaved or killed, he said, drawing on the knowledge of Bernard Lewis, a Jewish historian who has written books about Islam and Islamic history.
Tefft, whose career at the CIA spanned 21 years, argued that Islam was a religion of peace and tolerance in its formative phase, but has since grown intolerant of non-Muslims.
Islam cannot be reformed because its teachings, as revealed through the Qu’ran, are regarded as the word of God, and to be a Muslim, a believer must accept the Qu’ran on a literal basis, Tefft said.
He said Islam views Judaism and Christianity as failed religions and itself as the only true religion.
Islamic terrorists are animated by passionate anti-Western convictions, Tefft argued. They blindly sacrifice their lives for the chance of going to paradise and enjoying the charms of 72 virgins.
To them, the United States is the epitome of evil, because its constitution separates church and state.
Tefft said Al Qaeda’s 700-page training manual covers all aspects of terrorism, from surveillance to assassinations, and is drawn from U.S., Russian and Iranian manuals .
“They’ve compiled the best of the best.”
Of the 6,000 or more mosques in North America, 80 per cent are radical in orientation and devoted to spreading an intolerant Wahabi strain of Islam. They are funded by Saudi Arabia, he said.
David Harris, the former head of strategic planning at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, said that Islamic fundamentalists are hostile to Canada and consider it a “Little Satan.”
He warned that Hezbollah has begun surveying sites in Canada for possible terrorist attacks.
Canada, though, innocently thinks it is immune to such aggression, Harris said.
John Thompson, the president of the MacKenzie Institute, a Canadian research organization, said Al Qaeda has a reservoir of recruits for at least a generation to come.
Tom Kay, the chief of police in Owen Sound and the immediate past president of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police, said Canadian law enforcement agencies that combat terrorism are under-funded.
“We face complacency from people in power,” he said, referring to Canadian politicians at all levels.
It is scandalous that more money is not being allocated to counter-terrorism efforts, Kay said.
Leo Adler, the director of national affairs for Friends of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, urged Canada to be more resolute in fighting terrorism. Rather than operating in a vacuum, Jihadists work with highly honed organizations that supply them with funds, logistical support and intelligence, Adler commented.
