The ideological goal of militant Islamist terrorism is to found Islamic Sharia-run states, that is, new caliphates established on the basis of the anachronistic values of “feqh”-the process of carrying out Islamic law. As history shows, such states would resemble dictatorships similar to those in Afghanistan under the Taliban and today’s Iran and Saudi-Arabia. Although Militant Islamist terrorism comes in many varieties, all forms present a direct challenge to the fundamental principles of modern liberal demoracy.

A Short History of Modern Islamic Terrorism

Transnational Islamist terrorist groups are united in their goals across the globe. Islamist movements seek, first, to topple pro-Western governments in the Islamic world and then, in a larger sense, to propagate the Islamization of the entire world.

The Islamist terrorism of today has been decades in the making:

* The Fedaiyan-Islam killed four Iranian ministers between 1949 and 1953 as they sought to topple the pro-American royal system. The Islamic Revolution of 1979 fulfilled the dreams of Navab Safavi., leader of the the Fedaiyan-Islam. The Fedaiyan-Islam and the revolutionary movement of 1979 remains a model for the terrorist groups of today.

* On October 6th, 1981, Egyptian Islamic Jihad terrorists assassinated Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat in an effort to topple what they considered an insufficiently Islamist government.

* The victory of the U.S.-backed mujahedin against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan in the 1980’s reinvigorated the global aspirations of militant Islamist groups.

* The Hizbullah attack of October 23, 1983 in Beirut that killed 242 American marines and 58 French servicemen was designed to chase Western powers from the Middle East.

* The March 17, 1992 bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires that killed 29 and two years later the bombing of a Jewish center in Buenos Aires that killed 87 sought to punish Argentina for President Carlos Menem’s political rapprochement with the United States.

* Slowly but surely, the new Islamist terrorism has reached Europe. Between December 7, 1985 and September 17, 1986 an Iranian-backed terrorist group conducted 11 bombings in Paris, killing 13 and injuring 255. An underground train station in Paris was also bombed on July 25, 1995, killing eight people; trains were hit in Madrid on March 11, 2004, killing 191; and trains and buses were attacked in London on July 7, 2005, killing 52.

Globalisation of Terrorism

In an August 1996 fatwa, Osama bin Laden called for a “war against the Americans occupying the land of the two holy places.” The wording of the fatwa showed what bin Laden had learned from his Palestinian teacher, Abdallah Azzam, who preached for the “fight against Jews and Christians.” Bin Laden spoke of the “blood that was spilled in Palestine and Iraq.” He said, “The horrifying pictures of the massacre of Qana in Lebanon are still fresh in our memory. Massacres in Tajikistan, Burma, Kashmir, Assam, the Philippines, Fatani, Ogadin, Somalia, Eritrea, Chechenia and in Bosnia-Herzegovina took place, massacres that send shivers in the body and shake the conscience.” He spoke of “conspiracies of the United States and the United Nations” and of the “aggression of the Zionist-Crusaders alliance.”

In the 1980s Muhammad Abdul Salam Faraj Egyptian teacher of bin Laden, demanded the banishment of the “polytheists from [the] Arab peninsula.” The message from bin Laden did not come from heaven: calls for ejecting the West from the region have emanated mainly from the government of Iran.

Global Recruiting

Transnational terrorist organisations recruit members worldwide. The road to militant Islamist terrorism begins with sympathy for Islamist ideologies, for heroes like Khomeini and bin Laden.

In the past, Al-Qaida recruited in a traditional way. A recruit would attend a meeting somewhere in the world, travel to a training camp for ideological and military training, then be sent to fight, for example, against the Russians in Afghanistan.

But in recent years, recruiting has changed quite a bit. Even under the Ayatollah Khomeini, the revolution was fomented in part through the spread of propaganda using modern technology. Today, terrorist organisations rely heavily on the internet, using not just online magazines but with blogs, chat rooms, and videos on the Web.

Recruiters are still active but no longer do their work in grey raincoats and hats, with cigarettes hanging from their lips. Today, recruitment begins with a seemingly pious hate-preacher or a polite merchant in a mosque or tea house. Somewhere in Europe-London, Madrid, or Hamburg-candidates find themselves in a holy house or a cultural or sport center with the master-trainer, who was himself trained in Afghanistan, Chechenia, Iran, Indonesia, Yemen, or Pakistan.

Islamic establishments play a central role in the lives of the recruited, whether the recruit is merely going to pray or is ready to organise a mass suicide bombing. Largely free of any family constraint, the recruit is convinced that he is acting on God’s behalf as he takes aim at a “degenerate” Western world. The jihadist dreams not of finishing his university studies, of securing a job, or even of financial gain. Instead, he has a bigger dream: to create the Islamic paradise on earth.

The jihadist dreams of the Medina of yore, the first Islamic government under the Prophet Mohammad. This dream also served as the model for Islamic civil society under Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, predecessor to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who sought to build such a civil society inside a totalitarian political system. For the recruit who is convinced to become a suicide bomber, the reward for creating such a paradise on earth is a direct ticket to heaven.

Threats to Europe

The initial stage of the post 9/11 fight against terrorism has had some success, although it did not produce a conclusive victory. It wiped out key members of the first generation of Al-Qaida and put military pressure on Hizbullah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

The militant Islamist terrorists are fighting back, however, with ever more modern weapons at their disposal. The current Iranian regime advocates exporting its revolution far beyond its borders. Consequently, it supports Hizbullah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad with modern weapons and petrodollars. The Iranian website alborznews.net recruited candidates for terrorist activities of the Sepahe Mohammad (the “army of Mohammad”) in July 2006: the destination for volunteers was Lebanon.

Europe must expect new violent movements: some Islamist jihadists who went to Iraq could return to Europe and recruit newly radicalised young Islamists, from both populations born in Europe and new immigrants.

And if the West increases the pressure on Iran, that Islamic republic may respond with deadly force. Iranian politicians warn that they have trained at least 40,000 suicide bombers who are ready for death. Young and independent European Islamists are potential active militant jihadists. They use the internet to communicate effectively, finding ways to keep their identities unknown.

The Islamists are fighting to convert anachronistic values into state law, to create modern caliphates. In the end, they will fail. Muslims today are increasingly defending the universal principles of human rights and pluralism. Thus the jihadists are wrong for the world of today and tomorrow.

Wahied Wahdat-Hagh, Ph.D., is an expert on Iranian terrorism, the Basiji movement and the recruitment of European terror cells.