There is a fundamental civilizational disconnect in the Islamist war waged against the non-Muslim West (kafirs). Islamists do not fight within the Western frame of reference. They are a quintessential death cult. Their martyrdom mindset contradicts Western expectations and fuels miscalculation. Even if they cannot carry the day militarily, victory is claimed in their survival and non-defeat. Surrender, let alone unconditional surrender, is apostasy. They would not surrender even when faced with being bombed back to the Stone Age. Indeed, some factions within the clerical leadership of the Islamic Republic of Iran believe that apocalyptic war is a necessary requirement for the Mahdi (the Twelfth Imam and Shi’ite Messiah) to be revealed and impose Islamic rule over the world.

For Islamists, battlefield death in the cause of Allah, jihad, means that they do not have to wait for Judgment Day to reap their rewards. For Islamists, martyrs are not truly dead but “alive with their Lord” (Surah Al-Imran Ayat 169; Qur’an 3:169). The promised utopia can be obtained, therefore, here on earth, not in a messianic future or the afterlife. Correspondingly, they promote what was formerly forbidden suicide (intihar) as martyrdom for a higher purpose (istishhad), even as committed by children, and condone the use of human shields as expendable martyrs (shuhadāʾ).

This means that........

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