I think most of us agree that the world would be a better place without terrorism. It is methods we would disagree upon. That is, methods to rid ourselves of it.
For my part, I think that there are two basic ways to try to get rid of terrorism, or at least, the elements of arabic culture which make terrorism so common. There is the ruthless way, which involves direct and open interference, and there is the subtle, more devious but peaceful way, involving knowledge, education, economic pressures, culture "wars", and possibly various forms of espionnage. Perhaps a third class of methods could be made by combining the previous two methods in various fashions.
The US would appear to be trying to do the first method, but I would argue that they are not being adequately ruthless. The problem is not, primarily, a problem of government, but moreso a problem of culture. If you really want to eradicate these cultures, you would have to go in, take all the children from their parents, and raise them in strictly controlled environments where they are brainwashed using cutting edge psych techniques to eradicate any willingness to engage in terrorism. This could be done with a re-engineered, anti-terrorist "edition" of their existing culture... or it could be done with some form of Western culture. Of course, alternatively, if this seems too easy, just kill all of them, and that culture will birth no more terrorists. Killing them too much for your stomach? OK, sterilize them all. Biologically, and culturally, it amounts to nearly the same thing.
I'm not saying that I think the US should be doing ANY of the above. What I'm saying is that to succeed via direct interference, I suspect you need to be THAT ruthless. Frightening, neh?
It's possible that the US is trying to do some combination of the above two options. But, that's so complicated, I couldn't comment at all on the effectiveness of their implementation.
And then there's the culture war method. The method of peace and subtle underhandedness. I'm willing to believe that some day, as the world culture evolves, the attitudes and beliefs which motivate terrorists will pass away along with the adults which hold them. Given enough time, only a handful would remain, and they would not be able to exactly get support from those around them. Do you think this would happen? How many decades will it take? Is installing a democratic environment a necessary first step, making this a mixed thing?
And, for that matter, by how much could that time be shortened by making a specific attempt to make change?
Please discuss if you're interested, and play nice, kiddies. When there are differences of opinions on something factual, please find a source and cite it if you have time, or politely drop the topic.
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