( CNN ) -- The story of Ahmad al-Shayea is the story of all that has been wrong -- and continues to be wrong -- with the United States and our allies ' campaign against Islamist extremism . During 2004 , Ahmad had fought for Al Qaeda in Iraq against the United States . Indeed , he became famous as the first suicide bomber in Iraq to survive his attack . Known as the `` living suicide , '' Ahmad was rehabilitated , both physically and mentally , at a U.S. Army hospital before being repatriated to his home country of Saudi Arabia . I met Ahmad at the Saudi government center also designed to rehabilitate jihadi militants . Ahmad and I became friends . We spent several days together and continued a correspondence for years after I left Saudi Arabia , until Ahmad went back to Syria and Iraq to join the Islamic State ( ISIS ) . Ahmad had been the poster child of the `` reformed '' jihadi . He told me of his fondness for the American doctors and medics who nursed him back to health after suffering extensive burns from his bomb attack . Given ample funds and help finding a job by the Saudi government , everything was seemingly taken care of ; Ahmad was a terrorist no more . But what both the Saudis and Americans who tried to `` rehabilitate '' Ahmad never addressed was the only thing that mattered to him . And that was his deep and abiding religious belief . Above all else , Ahmad wanted to be a good Muslim , devout and steadfast to the principles of Islam . Many Muslims consider being a martyr in holy war -- going to heaven to fight for the faithful -- the purest path to the truest faith . When the war in Syria and now Iraq began again , it was Ahmad 's faith that drove him . He is not alone . Among young Muslims in the Middle East , South Asia and even the West , their faith has become a race to the fundamentalist finish line . Whoever offers the purest Islam -- the real and most devout faith these young men seek -- will win the race . No amount of jobs , money or friendship with Americans matters . And no amount of American military force will ultimately matter either . Take the story of Ahmad again . The United States defeated him and his group Al Qaeda in Iraq some seven years ago . Ahmad was even the paragon of a successfully rehabilitated terrorist . And here we are fighting the same group again , for ISIS is largely Al Qaeda in Iraq reconstituted and re-energized , with Ahmad and many men like him their holy warriors once more . What can the United States do ? We must first recognize that this is not primarily a war between the United States and radical Islam . It is a war within Islam itself for the soul of the faith . Until Muslims and Islamic religious authorities in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere can offer a true and convincing vision of Islam to young men such as Ahmad , we will lose the battle for their souls . This is not an American government battle . By making it so , the U.S. government will continue this fight for years , if not decades , as President Obama concedes . An effective response against extremism can only come from Muslims themselves . What can the U.S. do ? We are not powerless . Whenever American national security is directly threatened , a limited use of American military power can be warranted , but only if is secondary and in support of effective local Muslim governments and local forces in the region . We can not lead , as the President is undertaking now . We can , however , help to expose the feckless nature of the radicals . In 2011 , U.S. authorities killed the radical Islamist cleric Anwar al-Awlaki with a drone strike in Yemen . Al-Awlaki allegedly inspired the Boston Marathon bombers . If the United States had disseminated the facts about Awlaki instead -- the cleric had been arrested for soliciting prostitutes in San Diego , a violation of Islamic precepts -- that may have accomplished more to discredit his religious standing among young men looking for an example of Islam than turning him into a martyr . Similarly , of the more than 100 Islamist radicals I 've interviewed , the most prevalent reason they expressed for leaving the radical cause was its `` un-Islamic ways . '' Corruption being the key . Exposing the illicit oil trade of the Taliban , as well as its smuggling and narcotics trafficking could do more to defeat the group than all the drones in the world . But while the United States can help expose their corruption , it must be up to Muslims themselves to expose how and why their ideas are not the true and purest Islam . Thirteen years after 9/11 , it 's time America wakes up . This is not our war . Let 's stop fighting it . Ahmad al-Shayea tells us no less .
Ken Ballen : Shayea story shows what 's wrong with campaign against extremists . He says Shayea rejected Al Qaeda , was rehabbed by West , but returned to fight with Al Qaeda . West fails to realize : Key to un-Islamic fighters is Muslim faith . Military force wo n't win , he says . Ballen : un-Islamic must fight their radicals ; Saudi Arabia can help expose leaders ' un-Islamic hypocrisy .