This is the continuation of a multi-part post, Part III, Part II, Part I. Also, see Intro.
Along with covert action in the form of assassinations and sabotage, the U.S. should also do a much better job of using propaganda as a weapon, to create dissension among our enemies, and disrupt radical Islamic recruiting efforts. I believe one possible way to do this is to strike at them through their own religion. Throughout many countries, even within some of our so-called allies, there are extremist Islamic clerics preaching hatred of the U.S., hatred of Jews, jihad against the West in general, and encouraging/justifying the deliberate targeting of innocent civilians.
What if there were other Islamic clerics preaching that those who supported terrorism were traitors to Islam, were poisoning and damaging the religion, and should themselves be killed? The U.S. should recruit Islamic clerics to spread that sort of message, in order to foment conflict within Islamic communities where terrorist recruiting takes place. The more they are killing each other, the less time they would have to be plotting and planning terrorist actions against the U.S. Prospects for this sort of action could be recruited through various means, such as bribery and blackmail. And their calls for the killing of terrorist supporters could be reinforced with some well-timed and selected assassinations, carried out by the assassin teams I mentioned in Part I.
Most of the terrorism we face is justified by a radical interpretation of Islam. There's no reason we shouldn't be able to find ways to use their own religion against them. There are numerous Islamic clerics out there, many with no real voice or power. We could doubtless find some who would be willing to serve our purposes for the right price, or who could be persuaded by other means.
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