The war on terror (a title set up by the media, more properly called the “Global War on Terrorism”) seems ill-titled. Terror is defined as a state of intense fear. If that were the only meaning, this war would be fought in laboratories where psychologists analyze patients under the duress of phobia in order to develop a cure or coping mechanism. It would be a psychological war. But that is not what is meant. The war is directed at America’s perception of terror personified in Osama Bin Laden’s brand of Islamic jihadists.
The objective is to rid the American public of terror by targeting and exterminating the agents that produce it. On closer examination, the phrase itself is vague. It can apply to any effort aimed at eliminating the cause of extreme fear. In Genesis 3, the personification of supernatural terror, the terrorist known as Satan, manifests and introduces fear, along with death and destruction. Bible-believing Christians, drawing from the Nevi’im, trace this conflict further back to God’s heavenly temple (Ez. 28, Isa. 14, cf. Rev. 12).
The terrorists Americans fight are, in part, products of their own making. They emerged from programs developed and run by the CIA and Special Forces to counter Soviet expansion across Eurasia in the late 1970s. American forces trained Islamic fighters, funded by wealthy Saudi families, and equipped them with intelligence to resist Soviet advances in Afghanistan (Paulien, 14–17).
America now attempts to cure the plague by cutting off funding and deploying special operations forces to eliminate figures such as Osama Bin Laden. These surgical maneuvers may appear effective, but they only force the plague to lie dormant. Some believe that if the head of the snake is cut off, the body will eventually die. This is not the case. This kind of snake grows a new head and continues to fight. Dead militants are elevated as martyrs, and their deaths become fuel for the continuation of the conflict.
It is hard to kick against the pricks (Acts 9:5, KJV). America is fighting an enemy rooted in religious ideology. It is not Islam itself that calls for such actions, but the interpretation of the Qur’an adopted by those who carry them out. This is a war that cannot be won because its root lies beyond the reach of cruise missiles. Ideologies can be challenged, but not extinguished. They remain, waiting for the next charismatic figure to give them voice.
America will not win this war because it cannot destroy the source. The source is the devil, who “has come down, having great wrath” (Rev. 12:12 NASB). His influence moves through the minds and voices of those who yield to it. Like a lion, he walks about seeking someone to devour (1 Pet. 5:8). Terror is the result of his activity and influence. He is the antitypical terrorist from whom all others emerge.
God has given the promise that this terrorist will be destroyed. Satan will be thrown into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:10). Humanity is engaged in a war it cannot win. Our efforts do not heal the wound, but God will intervene. He will split the heavens and bring terror to an end. A new world will come in which terror, and those who produce it, will never be seen or felt again (Rev. 21).
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