David Aikman: Sharia - The Deadly Threat to America
[Dr. David Aikman was a journalist with TIME Magazine for 23 years, and is now a professor of history at Patrick Henry College in Virginia. He has authored more than a dozen books, including "Jesus in Beijing" (Regnery, 2003), "Billy Graham: His Life and Influence" (Thomas Nelson, 2006) and "The Delusion of Disbelief" (Tyndale, 2008). His latest book, "The Mirage of Peace" (Regal), was released in September.]
Dr. David Aikman (Patrick Henry College)In 1976 the then-Director of National Intelligence, George H.W. Bush ("Bush 41"), authorized officials in the U.S. national defense community (who had high security clearance) to offer an alternative analysis of Soviet military capabilities and strategic intentions to that offered by the CIA's official National Intelligence Estimate of Soviet power. The resulting report took the position that "détente" -- a policy of diplomatic engagement with the Soviet Union championed by former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger -- was deeply flawed. First, the report said, it underestimated Soviet military capabilities; and second, it completely failed to grasp that the Soviets' strategic goal was to bring down the U.S. and secure the triumph of communism throughout the world.
The "Team B" report, as it came to be known, can certainly be criticized in some parts because of its probable exaggeration of Soviet capabilities. But in its assessment of Soviet intentions, it was certainly much closer to reality than the CIA's rose-tinted portrayal of Soviet objectives at the time. Remember, when the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979, most of the official U.S. intelligence community was taken completely by surprise -- at least in part because President Jimmy Carter, after meeting with Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev in Vienna a few months earlier, had proclaimed Brezhnev to be "a man of peace." Team B's skepticism about the Soviet Union strongly influenced later Republican President Ronald and may well have fortified him in his determination to compete successfully with Soviet military power and bring down the regime.
911 terror attacksFast forward now to the current decade. Some nine years after 19 Islamic terrorists hijacked three planes and crashed two of them into New York City, killing some 3,000 people in the World Trade Center and surrounding area; and after repeated efforts by other individuals to cause murder and mayhem in the U.S. -- Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab (Christmas underwear bomber), Faisal Shahzad (Times Square bomber), Major Nidal Hasan (Fort Hood shooter), the UPS cargo plane plot -- some senior U.S. security officials seem to have a problem recognizing who our enemies are....
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Dr. David Aikman (Patrick Henry College)In 1976 the then-Director of National Intelligence, George H.W. Bush ("Bush 41"), authorized officials in the U.S. national defense community (who had high security clearance) to offer an alternative analysis of Soviet military capabilities and strategic intentions to that offered by the CIA's official National Intelligence Estimate of Soviet power. The resulting report took the position that "détente" -- a policy of diplomatic engagement with the Soviet Union championed by former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger -- was deeply flawed. First, the report said, it underestimated Soviet military capabilities; and second, it completely failed to grasp that the Soviets' strategic goal was to bring down the U.S. and secure the triumph of communism throughout the world.
The "Team B" report, as it came to be known, can certainly be criticized in some parts because of its probable exaggeration of Soviet capabilities. But in its assessment of Soviet intentions, it was certainly much closer to reality than the CIA's rose-tinted portrayal of Soviet objectives at the time. Remember, when the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979, most of the official U.S. intelligence community was taken completely by surprise -- at least in part because President Jimmy Carter, after meeting with Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev in Vienna a few months earlier, had proclaimed Brezhnev to be "a man of peace." Team B's skepticism about the Soviet Union strongly influenced later Republican President Ronald and may well have fortified him in his determination to compete successfully with Soviet military power and bring down the regime.
911 terror attacksFast forward now to the current decade. Some nine years after 19 Islamic terrorists hijacked three planes and crashed two of them into New York City, killing some 3,000 people in the World Trade Center and surrounding area; and after repeated efforts by other individuals to cause murder and mayhem in the U.S. -- Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab (Christmas underwear bomber), Faisal Shahzad (Times Square bomber), Major Nidal Hasan (Fort Hood shooter), the UPS cargo plane plot -- some senior U.S. security officials seem to have a problem recognizing who our enemies are....