Information Warfare: May the Better Fable Win

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June 26, 2007: Fighting Islamic terrorism is often described as an information battle. If the West could just open up a dialog with the Islamic world, all would be well. It's not that simple. Moslems, in general, have a well developed sense of victimization by the West. A recent example was a plea, by the head of an organization representing Spanish Moslems, that Spain should offer Spanish citizenship the descendents of 300,000 Moslems expelled from Spain in 1609. Some Spaniards countered with a call for the Moslem world to pay reparations for the destruction inflicted on Spain by centuries of invasions and attempts to conquer the entire peninsula. This was met by incomprehension by Moslems, who believe it is their religious duty to bring their religion to the rest of the world, by force if necessary (or, in the current world, if possible.) There is a comprehension gap here, that is not being closed quickly enough.