The R9X missile is a type of missile-delivered weapon developed for assassinating Muslim leaders from the air. Instead of containing an explosive warhead, it extends blades which dismember the body of the target. It usually strikes moving vehicles, killing the driver and passengers with the force of the blades.

Although the warhead is billed as being “secretive,” it has been broadcast throughout the media. The narrative that goes along with these broadcasts claims that it shows the great efforts by the US military and CIA to try to minimize civilian casualties, since many children have been killed by explosive warheads in the US’s drone assassination program.

This is not necessarily altruistic, though it is sometimes painted as such. First, there is a utility in trying to claim moral superiority, which helps to justify their war efforts. However, it is also an attempt to deal with the fact that killing innocent people in the “war on terror” ends up inspiring many more people to join the war effort against the US.

What’s odd about this narrative is the methods used by the US elsewhere. In Raqqa, Syria, there were an estimated 60,000 artillery strikes on the city by the US-led coalition while it was under the control of ISIS. There is nothing ‘smart,’ ‘precision,’ or ‘surgical’ about artillery strikes in an urban area. 60,000 artillery shells fell on a city of around 200,000 residents, in addition to airstrikes. This completely debunks the narrative of the US somehow caring about reducing civilian casualties. One French artillery officer wrote a letter of bitter criticism, citing exactly the points that the R9X missile is meant to address.

He said that fighting honorably, like men, would result in higher casualties among the French soldiers, but could dramatically reduce the deaths of innocent people. He also complained that by indiscriminately killing so many innocent people, they were showing the local population that they were no better than ISIS. His advice was ignored.

This is because there is very little political will for the “war on terror,” because the West simply does not have the moral high ground. The people of France or America are not willing to tolerate a high death toll among their soldiers, because deep down, France and America don’t really have any good justification for being in Syria. It’s an imperial war fought to preserve wealth and power, and this wealth and power is used, for the most part, to fuel hedonistic, excessive, and detrimental lifestyles. It’s very obvious that the narratives of the war being about freedom and human rights are utterly superficial and false, so there is very limited willingness to die for these ideals.

The political leadership chooses to kill innocent Muslims instead and somehow voters are more willing to tolerate these deaths. The R9X is an important part of securing this tolerance, because it helps with a public relations campaign that paints American forces in a positive light. This is the same reason why images of children who are killed by American and European combat operations are never shown in the media. Convincing people to fight honorably is much more difficult than covering up dishonorable actions and deceiving the public about the true nature of the war.

One of the most powerful methods of deception is misdirection, which involves focusing on some aspects of a situation, while ignoring others. The heavy media focus on the R9X program certainly falls into this category. This is part of psychological warfare, both in terms of increasing approval for the war among the kuffar, but also in terms of reducing opposition to the war among the Muslims. Muslims should be aware of this aspect of the war. We must be ready and willing to oppose the allies of Satan because of their hostility toward the truth and the people of the truth, and not only because of personal vengeance and anger. We should not wait until our father, mother, brother, or sister is killed in order to take action. If we do, it means that tactics like the development of the R9X will be effective in reducing the size and scope of opposition.

It’s praiseworthy to draw attention to the crimes and abuses of the kuffar, but this should never be our primary reason for fighting. Rather, our main motivation must always be to obey and worship our Lord and establish the supremacy of sharia. The injustice and oppression and innocents being killed every day are only a symptom— the root cause is our failure to establish the law of Allah, subhanahu wa t’ala.