Unholy war

Bush says he won't stop bombing during Ramadan. But the tactic could blow up in our faces.

By Eric Boehlert

Nov. 5, 2001 | American military planners seemed temporarily stumped last month when Muslim allies in the war on terrorism began suggesting the United States halt its bombing campaign in Afghanistan during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which this year begins Nov. 17.

After days of persistent questioning, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld announced there would be no stopping for Ramadan, telling reporters, "History is replete with instances where Muslim nations have fought among themselves or with other countries during various important holy days." Besides, Rumsfeld noted, the al-Qaida terrorist network was "unlikely to take holiday." President Bush backed Rumsfeld on Friday. "The enemy won't rest during Ramadan and neither will we," Bush said.

End of discussion, in the U.S. anyway. As Newsweek's pithy "Conventional Wisdom" column put it: "Forget talk of a Ramadan ceasefire. They fast and fight all the time."

The debate over a Ramadan bombing halt, however brief, highlighted both the unusual lengths to which the U.S. might have to go to keep its tenuous coalition together, as well as the pitfalls of fighting terrorist organizations instead of state-run armies, with whom official ceasefires can be negotiated.

But Middle East experts suggest the issues surrounding Ramadan, like so many Islamic cultural questions that have arisen since Sept. 11, have been badly misunderstood by American policymakers and the general public, as the Muslim and Western worlds continue to talk past each other.

The question was never whether Muslims fight during Ramadan. Clearly, history is filled with examples when they did. Mohammed himself led men into battle during the sacred month. What's worth asking is how Ramadan bombings will be received inside already anti-Western Muslim countries during their holiest month of the year, and at a time of heightened religious fervor.

Most important, how will that reaction affect regimes in the Islamic world? Already nervous about widespread opposition in the streets to the bombings, governments allied with the U.S. will almost certainly face increased hostility at home during Ramadan. Currently the coalition holds its collective breath on Fridays, when conservative mullahs in Pakistan urge the devout to make the Muslim holy day one of protest, testing the government of Gen. Pervez Musharraf with anti-U.S. demonstrations on a weekly basis.

During Ramadan, though, mosques will be filled every day, and Musharraf, along with other Muslim leaders, will face a month of Fridays. During the lunar month, millions of Muslims will pour into mosques on a daily basis, gather for nighttime festivities and experience a renewed sense of community as they go from home to home for family reunion-style dinners each sundown. And what's likely to be the No. 1 topic of conversation inside the mosques, during the festivals and around those dinner tables during Ramadan? Afghanistan.

It's no accident that Pakistan's Musharraf, perhaps the most visible supporter among Muslim leaders of America's military campaign, was the leading figure beseeching the United States to halt its bombing campaign during Ramadan, to no avail.

"Musharraf knows he'll be under such intense pressure once Ramadan starts," says Akbar Ahmed, chairman of the Islamic studies department at American University.

"The silent majority is still sitting on the fence," Pakistani editor and political commentator Najam Sethi told the Baltimore Sun last week. "But at some point, their emotions will be frayed and they may jump in and protest. With the onset of Ramadan, Musharraf will be put to the test."

Next page: "Disgust might translate into widespread anger and fury"