Sebastian Gorka Unravels a Complex History and Critical Context in Delivering this Masterpiece.
Over the holiday I read Defeating Jihad: The Winnable War by Dr. Sebastian Gorka, a book I cannot recommend highly enough. In fact, I think it is imperative that any freedom-loving individual should make it a priority to understand the threat we face from the jihadist movement.
So, beginning this year, we will introduce a weekly feature dedicated to issues and events regarding this topic. You may credit Dr. Gorka as the inspiration behind this decision.
Gorka, is an American immigrant and widely recognized expert in the fields of national security, strategy and counterterrorism. His motivation for writing the book stems from the reality that America’s strategic response to the existential threat of the global jihadist movement is failing. Yet this war is eminently winnable if we remove our ideological blinders, accurately name our enemy, and draw up a strategy to defeat him.
As a student of history, Gorka likens the jihadists to the totalitarian communist regime of the Soviet Union. Like the communists of those days, jihadists also believe there is no peaceful coexistence with the West (or anyone who does not subscribe to their particular brand of Islam.)*
Early in the book, Gorka references Sun Tsu, author of the famous tome The Art of War. Sun Tsu is often quoted as saying, ‘Know your enemy if you wish to win.’ Gorka points out that this is actually a mis-quote. The real wisdom imparted by Sun Tsu is, ‘Know your enemy and know yourself.’ Thus it is critical to answer the following questions: (1) Why are you going to war? And (2) What are you fighting for? This critical piece of the equation was absent in the Bush years and has led us astray—often referred to as “mission creep” and/or nation building. As well, particularly under the Obama administration, naming and therefore understanding the enemy has been deliberately stymied.** This book addresses both and does so in expert fashion.
Bottom line: If you only read one book all year, this should be it. Anyone concerned with safety and security should know the unvarnished truth about America’s current situation and the role we all have to play in defeating the jihadist movement.
*For anyone concerned that Kravology is taking an anti-Muslim position, it is worth pointing out that in 2016 there were 2,474 terrorist attacks in 61 countries in which 21,237 people were killed and 26,667 were wounded. The vast majority of the victims are in fact, other Muslims.
**In 2011, with unclassified memos to the Pentagon and Department of Justice, the Obama administration established a system of censoring and monitoring that remains in effect. If you train our military or the agents or analysts of the FBI, your training materials must be submitted to an anonymous review board, which can demand changed or have you barred from teaching/training. The barometer by which the review board judges the material is weather or not it mentions Islam or jihad. There is no process by which this ruling can be challenged or appealed.
