he tragedy of September 11, 2001, and the subsequent con-
ceptualizing of the war on terrorism have presented a very
difficult problem to those responsible for framing the strat-
egy. The basic problem has been one of defining the enemy.
After four years, this problem still eludes a clear definition
although the national leadership has been care-
fully moving toward a more definitive description.
The basic obstacle has been one of clearly describing
the enemy without seeming to single out the world’s second
largest religion, Islam, as the cause or facilitator of this ter-
rorism. To differentiate the radical forms of Islam from the
mainstream Islamic community, the word “Islamism” was
coined to describe an ideological movement using Islam as
the vehicle to power. Others term it political Islam, while
some journalists and media types still refer to it as Muslim
fundamentalism.
In actuality there is a wide gap between the fundamental-
ists and Islamists. While the fundamentalists may accept
many of the views of the Islamists, for example, the law of
the land being the Sharia (Islamic law) primarily based on
January 2006 ■ ARMY 55
By Col. Norvell B. De Atkine
U.S. Army retired
