A Military Perspective of the Daesh

Muhammad Taught Us to Fight

By Norvell DeAtkine at tex.deatkine@gmail.com

“…… Islamist militants focus obsessively on the methodology of such battles as Yarmuk River in the Levant and Al-Qadisiyah in modern day Iraq, drawing inspiration from the tactics that can be reintroduced and expressed with 21st century technology. For these reasons we cannot afford Not to teach early Islamic history and obscure battles of the late antiquity……”.Commander Youssef Aboul-Enein (US Navy)

So why don’t we? Even the more celebrated books on the ISIS such as Mc Cants’s ISIS Apocalypse have no reference to the military strategy of the ISIS.

To some extent it is also the problem of walking through the minefield of talking or writing about religion in which chances are you will offend some or everyone.

The Problem

Arabs in Conventional War “Why Arabs Lose Wars,’”.

Armed Forces in the Middle East, ed. Barry Rubin

Lack of officer-EM cohesion Lack of professional NCO corps Lack of initiative at all levels Inability to perform combined arms

operations Security paranoia Structured disunity…creating a

coup-proof military Lack of maintenance and logistics

systems

Arab Military Culture I

Western Training of Arab Militaries http://www.rubincenter.org/2013/03/western-influe

nce-on-arab-militaries-pounding-square-pegs-into-round-holes/Example of Winston Churchill’s optimism on creating the ‘

new Egyptian army in the i880’s French in SyriaBritish in Iraq and JordanUS in Saudi Arabia and lately IraqThe difference between training soldiers to operate weapons and building a cohesive professional ethos. We are counter-culture.It has never been a matter of intelligence or courage but CULTURE.Culture is the primary determinant on how people fight.

Arab Military Culture II

Arabs in Unconventional War “The Arab as Insurgent and Counterinsurgent,”In Conflict and Insurgency in the Contemporary Middle East, ed. Barry Rubin;

Light weapons hence very little maintenance and logistics

Blood and religious ties Leadership by performance rather than

appointment Consonance with Qur’anic Concept of war Allows greater individualism and self

promotion

Arab Military Culture III

Ghazzia: the raid for plunder or slaves

deception and secrecyno shame in hasty flightIntimidationLots of noise little blood Tribal wars; Relief from

boredom…prove manhood

Bedouin Way of War

The concept of a unifying religious factor (later evolving into Jihad). Total war. Basically turned Bedouin warfare from a sport into a war

of total commitment. “Jihad is a continuous and never-ending struggle waged on all fronts

including political, economic, social, psychological, domestic, moral, and spiritual to obtain the objective of policy.” ( Qu’ranic Concept of War) by S.K Malik

Despite the earlier Bedouin rules of war non- combatants were no longer exempt from the effects of war. Resistance was dealt with harshly.

Total victory was the objective. Truces were only temporary. Plunder and slaves were the by- product of the total war concept. War was not the absence of peace but rather the perpetuation of the

quest for the conquest of the non- Islamic world. Seizure of land and its occupation was the new objective.

The Islamic Impetus Imposed by the Prophet Muhammad

“Once war was harnessed to strategic objectives, it became possible to introduce tactical dimensions that were completely new to traditional Arab warfare. Muhammad used his armies in completely new ways.

He attacked tribes, towns, and garrisons before they could form hostile conditions: he isolated his enemy by severing their economic lifelines and disrupting the lines of communication

Muhammad also introduced the new dimension of psychological warfare, employing terror and even massacres as a means to weaken the will of his enemies.”

Richard Gabriel. Muhammad: Islam’s First Great General

The Muhammad Way of War

The brutality of this way of war was practiced by all the world empires, the Byzantines, the Persians.

Jesus said. “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth. I came not to send peace , but a sword.” Matthew 10:43

The story of Saul and and the Amalekites in which God was displeased with Saul because he disobeyed God’s command to kill them all. Samuel 1:15

Muhammad and his generals were normally generous in terms if the enemy capitulated early in the conflict.

The Necessary Qualifiers

The charisma and leadership of the ProphetThe religious zealotry imputed by Islam,

demanding total personal commitment. The magnificent sources of plunder and

slaves.-An idea of the number of slaves flooding the Islamic

Empire as a result of the conquest may be gained from such exaggerated figures of the following. Musa Ibn Nusayr took 300,000 captives from Ifriqiyah, one fifth of whom he forwarded to al Walid, and from the Gothic nobility in Spain he captured 30,000 virgins. Philip Hitti, History of the Arabs

The Motivators

Encompasses courage, esprit de corps, the individual fighting spirit and cohesiveness of the fighting unit. Not to be confused with morality

• The empowering appeal and sweep of the Islamist story of the world, and presenting an opportunity for an individual to be part of the grand design. As was written of the early Islamic warriors They “delight in battle and slaughter,” and the glory among their peers and those who follow. Blood exhilarates not repels.

The Importance of the mythological Islamic world and the heroic deeds of the individuals,. Similar to the motivation of the Leftist terrorists of the seventies

Read Eric Hoffer The True Believer. As Hoffer wrote;

Dying and killing seem easy when they are part of a ritual, ceremonial, dramatic performance or game, and becomes a theatrical gesture.

Identification with a collective whole. The psychology of mass movements.

Deprecation of the present and glorification of the past. Creation of a fact screen imposed between reality and the

faithful.

Moral Dimension (Human Factor)

A culture of romance Promises adventureHarkens back to medieval

heroismReinvent their identityThis identity is not new but

very old. Creswell and Haykel,”Why Jihadis Write Poetry”. New Yorker Magazine

The Culture of Jihad

“Victories Without Battles” TE Lawrence “Victory in war is the result of imaginary psychological factors.

Numbers, weapons and proper tactics may guarantee victories but they are less effective that the factors of spreading dissension, disunity, and a feeling of hopelessness among the enemy. “ Trickery is one of the most useful things employed in warfare. It is the thing most likely to bring victory.” Ibn Khaldun, The Muqaddimah

In his use of propaganda, the Prophet used ridicule, the threat of total war and a dramatic use of the carrot and stick policy toward his enemies. Russ Rodgers, The Generals of Muhammad

“The Arabs are also shown adept at spying, sneaking into their opponents camp, cutting tent ropes and stealing their mounts to spread alarm among the enemy.” Hugh Kennedy, The Great Arab Conquests

More than any other factor it was the psychology of fear that created to collapse of the Iraqi army in Mosul.

Psychological Warfare

Total war requires total commitment “The Quranic view on war is, however altogether different.

According to the Book, the very initiation of war is for the Cause of God. It is therefore controlled and conditioned by the word of God from its conception till culmination.” S. K Malik, The Quranic Concept of War

In the traditional view, the world is divided into two parts, the House of Islam ( Dar al Islam) where the Muslims rule and Muslim law is enforced , and the House of War ( Dar al Harb), the rest of the world where infidels still rule.

According to traditional teaching, the obligation of Jihad will continue until all the world either adopts Islam or submits to Islamic rule.

Bernard Lewis. Islam; The Religion and the People

The Grand Strategy

According to Egyptian Brotherhood leader Dr. Ateya Adlan;The Quran teaches the Muslims to “strike fear into the hearts of the infidels, so strike them on their necks, and chop off all their fingers, which they use to wield a sword. In other words ,the Quran teaches Muslims how to fight. When the Quran discusses the duty of Jihad for the sake of Allah, it goes into the most minute detail.”

The Prophet Taught Them How to Fight

The tactic of the German army in WWII. No passive defense. Immediately counterattack. In early Islamic history every defeat or indecisive battle was followed up quickly with an attack. Often the Byzantines and Persians, after a successful campaign, retired to their sanctuaries and cities.

The early Islamic warriors simply regrouped and at earliest opportunity renewed the offensive. Driven by religious duty and the sense of martyrdom.

The Qur'an directs the constant adherence to having the initiative. “The Holy Prophet never let the initiative pass on to his adversaries.” (Malik; Qu’ranic Concept of War).

Michael Knights calls the ISIS conduct of war a “cult of the offensive” driven by individual zeal for Jihad and glory.

The Prophet Taught Them the Spirit of the Offensive

The Early Islamic conquerors used a variety of battle strategies, indicating their versatility and resourcefulness.

Quickly adapted useful tactics and weapons of war from their enemies.

Adapting tactics, weapons, and strategy to hit enemy vulnerabilities.

The ISIS absorbing these lessons, has used conventional warfare, maneuver warfare, Guerilla warfare, and terrorism

The Prophet Taught Them Adaptability

As a long time observer of the Arab scene has written, the Arabs have a way of rising from the ashes.

Many times in early Islamic history the Arab invaders were soundly defeated ( example; Battle of the Bridges) but quickly returned to continue the war to a successful conclusion. Their patience and determination undermined the confidence of the enemy.

Western or Russian trained Arab armies have not shown this resilience.

The ISIS has evidenced the early Islamic resilience. Time and time again they lose territory in one sector and immediately attack in a different sector.

In the early Islamic conquests, the death of leaders seem to have had little consequence. So it appears with the ISIS.

The Prophet Taught them Resilience

Specifically: Transformed Arab tribes into instruments of large scale of war Transformed social composition from tribes to a “national” army,

just as ISIS melds together many different ethnic groups Established a unity of command Transformed Arab style of combat from individual to collective

unit. Created the concept of strategic war. The total war concept. Created a professional officer corps by the school of hard knocks. Introduced training and discipline.

The use of spies to understand the enemy weaknesses, structure, strengths, weaknesses, and their the leadership.

The ancient Islamic ways of war have been modernized by the ISIS. The use of different types of formation, weaponry to confront

different enemies. Encouraged the decentralization of command and individual initiative

but insisted on unity at the top. As seen today in ISIS tactics. Small unit initiative, and decentralized

decision –making.

The Prophet Taught Them Innovation

A one early Islamic tactician put it. “The first part of the fighting is the shooting of arrows, then the pointing of spears, then the trusting of them right to left, and then the drawing of swords. “The Armies of the Caliphs,” Hugh Kennedy

Compare this to the so called swarm tactics of the ISIS.

“Maintain an extended line abreast, keep your neighbors just in sight, but no closer, move to the sound of the guns, dismount when you see the enemy, when you come under fire, stop and fire back. Dennis Lowe, Small Wars Journal

The Prophet Taught them Simplicity

Individualism is a Bedouin attribute but has been smothered in modern conventional Arab armies. It was venerated in the early Islamic conquests. As Ibn Khaldun wrote, every Bedouin wants to be the leader.

Smallest formation was a squad size katai’ib which had considerable latitude in their tactics.

The Prophet was not primarily a military man. He relied upon his commanders, but always questioned them closely on tactics and strategy.

Their leaders were shrewd and cunning, and generally allowed to manage their campaigns without micromanaging from Mecca. This decentralization of authority was present at every level. This has been an anathema to conventional Arab military.

The Prophet Taught Them Small Unit initiative

Water. They made sure they had ample supplies of water and access to water, and use their mobility to get between their enemies and the water supplies. Today water has become a very potent ISIS weapon.

Night fighting. Rarely in conventional Arab armies but often in the early Arab wars. ISIS made a river crossing at night to surprise a Kurdish village.

Dust storms. Used very often to cover movements and attacks by the early Islamic warriors. Used to cover the attack on Ramadi by ISIS.

Sun Get the sun in the eyes of your opponents. Open terrain. Early Arab warriors avoided it “do not fight them ( your

enemy) firing arrows at them in an open space for they outnumber you and can surround you.”

Defiles and passes; Favorite place for Arab warriors to attack, especially for ambushes.

Cover your tracks; back track. Send small parties in several directions to confuse the enemy of the main objective. Today the ISIS attacks simultaneously in several places

The Prophet Taught Them the Clever Use of Terrain and Weather

“Trickery is one of the most useful things in warfare. It is the thing most likely to bring victory.” Ibn Khaldun,The Muqaddimah

Accounts are replete of the Prophet and early Islamic commanders rigorously maintaining security, secrecy, and using secret police, spies, assassinations, and strategic and tactical duplicity throughout the era of early Islamic conquests. Example: using soldiers disguised as pilgrims to assist in conquering Mecca.

The early Islamic warriors always used reconnaissance in force to probe their enemies, infiltrated in agents to create unrest, and moved boldly, but only after careful assessments of enemy strengths.

Surprise, ambushes, and fake retreats, were essential features Islamic warfare. Along with their mastery of archery their ambushes were particularly effective. Arabs have always avoided close in combat whenever possible, not because of a lack of courage but because they were costly in casualties.

The Prophet Taught them Deception, Intelligence and Operational Security

As has the ISIS, the early Islamic armies fairly quickly incorporated numbers of non- Arabs to fight their wars. In fact the elite troops were often drawn from Persians or central Asians, such as the Shakira who were the praetorian guards of the ruling elite.

However the seeds of eventual destruction of the Islamic expansion was the Arab feeling of superiority over the not only the non Muslims but also the Mulawi, the non-Arab Muslims,

The Prophet Taught them to Recruit from Everywhere

“The Zealot is the man who takes refuge from the unknown in the familiar; and when he joins battle with a stranger who practices superior tactics and employs formidable newfangled weapons of war and finds himself getting the worst of the encounter, he responds by practicing his own traditional art of war with abnormally scrupulous exactitude. “Zealotism,” in fact may be described as archaism evoked by foreign pressure….”

Arnold Toynbee Civilization on Trial

The Zealot