I don’t know about everyone else out there, but everytime I turn on the news or look at the front page, some nation or state has been attacked by terrorists, rebels, insurgents, etc. Everyone talks about peace, but until ideas change significantly, it will never be obtained and kept. How can their (terrorists) ideas be changed to make them realize that nothing lasting will be gained by their actions?
they can’t… they’re fanatics.
peace
It’s impossible… there can never be peace…
Yeah - many of the terrorists have been brainwashed from an early age, and I think a clear example of that is their willingness to kill themselves without really considering if their death will really help all muslims or a few in power who manipulated them through an extreme form of a religion.
there can be peace… but it in no way involves changing those already corrupted… or brainwashed as kirupa pointed out. Peace can only come with teaching the youth of the world to accept and embrace peoples differences. Only the untainted minds of childern can be saved. Eventually those with so much hate will die and be gone, it is up to everyone else to create the foundations for a new and better population through education of our children. Its a tall task, but it is the only real solution.
You just can’t change people, but you can give them a better start.
peace
I like your idea ryall, the only problem is that no education can be so unbiased as to provide a completely clear slate for thinking in our children. I think it is possible for someone’s ideas to be changed, I moved to where I am now (some backwater town in rural michigan) from Chicago, and I can tell you that there is a big difference in thinking. BIG. Racism here pisses the hell out of me, especially since one of my best friends in Chicago was black. But…I’ve managed to influence some people who would have been racist to realize otherwise. And I think through experiences and encounters with the ones in contempt, perhaps a change in the ideas of those guilty of contempt can be changed. Personally, I don’t feel like waiting for the lives of my great-great-great-grandchildren for this problem to be solved. I want to at least see a major improvement in my lifetime, because there is no guarantee that when my offspring’s offspring are alive, that the problem will be solved. So while we can help the problem by teaching our children, what else is there that could start the solving with the benifits visible by the end of our lives?
I don’t know about everyone else out there, but everytime I turn on the news or look at the front page, some nation or state has been attacked by terrorists, rebels, insurgents, etc. Everyone talks about peace, but until ideas change significantly, it will never be obtained and kept. How can their (terrorists) ideas be changed to make them realize that nothing lasting will be gained by their actions?
What’s the real question? How can there be no more terrorists, rebels and insurgents? please define those terms, that’ll give you a hint as to how to deal with such groups. Also please ask yourself how significantly different it is to be a terrorist, an insurgent and a rebel.
I see a lot of things lasting from rebels’ actions… I see a lot of things lasting from insurgents’ actions… and depending on one’s definition of terrorists, I see a lot of things lasting from terrorists’ actions. And I’m only talking about good things (hell, even peace, not murder or the likes…)
oh, K-man, believe it or not, there are non-muslim terrorists in the world too… 
I’m starting to get depressed to find the analogy between terrorism and radical islamism come up so often
There is two ways to stop terrorism.
1. You ask them what is their problem.
When they ask you to:
Leave their country.
Stop supplying weapons to their enemies.
Free members who have been illegally detained.
You do as they ask and they no longer have reason to attack you.
2. Kill them all and make sure you don’t leave any behind.
(note: If you kill a father who is a terrorist, then you have to kill his wife and children, relatives friends. If you don’t all you are doing is creating more enemies.)
Well no one is going to kill enough as required in 2.
And politicians don’t care about a few dead people or a building or 2 knocked down by terrorists when they see their actions in manipulating other countries as more profitable, so number 1 isn’t going to happen anytime soon.
I think most of us here have more chance of being hit by a car than killed by a terrorist. Most of us have more chance of winning the lottery. The media just like to milk anything they can for ratings.
And your not going to change their views until have done number 1.
yeah!!.. “Extortion”… that’s exactly how to stop terrorism,
what do we do when they ask…" Oh! and by the way, give us 100 gazillion dollars… or else…"
The future leaders are coming up… god help us all…
Extortion & terrorism are 2 different things…
Saudi Arabia tried appeasing terrorists, and it hasn’t worked well for them. Also, when do you exactly stop appeasing them? Appeasing seems like only a temporary solution.
pomme - true about other religions part 
Also, when do you exactly stop appeasing them?
Well it depends on what they want I guess.
There is always room for comprimise on both sides.
Perhaps if the US had listened to what Bin wanted, and tried to work things out, those 3000 people from 9/11 might still be alive.
I haven’t heard anything about IRA bombings in a long time… Has the media given up on them or have they worked things out?
Sometimes it is better to fold than to force a bad hand…
But everyone wants to win, everyone wants to save face… Fine for the politicians, they don’t go off to fight the battles, it’s not their children they send off to die.
[ot]That’s why they’re two different words. :P[/ot]
The key to stop terrorism is simple: Prevent the the people and countries (government intelligence agencies included) who fund terrorists from doing so, end ALL foreign military occupation, and announce that fear will no longer be tolerated as a political tool to control the masses… It’ll never happen, though…
If you appease islamic terrorists or any other terrorists, all you do is whet their appetites. The ultimate “goal” for them is to win the world for Allah. They would like to see every nation bow down to their own God and not have any westernization.
[quote]
- You ask them what is their problem.
When they ask you to:
Leave their country.
Stop supplying weapons to their enemies.
Free members who have been illegally detained.
You do as they ask and they no longer have reason to attack you.
[quote]
Often times, Vulcan, their “members” haven’t been illegally detained. They have been rightfully detained, but they want them out anyway. Why should we stop giving weapons to Israel? They fight to keep their land. Palestinians haven’t ever had a country. They are refugees. And not israeli refugees. Most of them are from Iran and Saudi Arabia originally. They just aren’t allowed back in because it gives them an excuse to “fight for their holy land”. I’m glad Israel is tough on them. They basically have targets picked out and when every 5 or so Israelis die, someone gets bombed to ****. If we aren’t proactive, we’re going to have another Hitler or Saddam, or Lenin. “Oh, they aren’t doing anything THAT bad (ie killing their own people, but not many of ours), and it doesn’t affect us yet, so lets just stay out of their way until they really do something bad”. Screw the UN.
Terrorists aren’t fighting for peace. They are fighting for either a) their leaders aspirations of power, or b) their leaders delusion of a “world under Allah”. Michael Moore might tell you otherwise, but he’s a proven manipulator (http://www.workingpsychology.com/fahrenheit.html).
Cheers
Also, when terrorists demand land or something, I’m sure the gov’t may have negotiated compromises in those cases. When the demands are something such as death to Americans, death to Israelis, etc., appeasing does not become feasible.
Besides, I don’t miss any sleep from having bombed the taliban and having them out of power. We should have done that a while back, but oh well.
Disco - about the UN comment, the way I see it, GW (Washington) way back then said he didn’t want the US to become a part of any entangling foreign alliances. The UN seems like such an entangling foreign alliance.
Getting back to the main topic, I don’t think you can do anything to those who have already been brainwashed into terrorism. There is always hope in providing a better education for kids, but “immobilizing” the current generation of terrorists from killing innocent people is the only feasible solution when their demands are outrageous.
If “hell” does exist, how can this be good? Perhaps a placebo effect (because its nonexistant) causing people to have better morals and ethics in fear of burning after life for eternity? Lets see, when was the last time there was peace in the world? Hmmmmm, try never.
I didn’t draw any relation between muslims/islam and terrorism. However, it just so happens that the majority of contemporary terrorists are in some form related to radical forms of religion, and the majority of the majority are beleivers in Islam.
I don’t know, maybe you were high when you wrote your comment.
Pomme: Radical Islam is only the “foremost” form of terrorism that we have to deal with today. They are the ones that are a threat to us at the moment. The main problem is that they don’t have rational demands, and also, they can willingly die for their cause because they think something better is coming.
These aren’t “Iraqi freedom fighters” or “Minute Men” either, as Michael Moore would have you believe. (http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20040623-094344-1804r) There are quite a few foreign fighters, as well as outside terrorist influences taking advantage of Iraqi minds and telling them they need to “fight the oppressor”. Last I checked, we were trying to help out the people by establishing a functional government. What the hell do they want? To be screwed by Saddam again? No. This is not the “Iraqi Population” speaking here. It’s the Islamic militants that polute the minds of kids by making them believe we just want to steal their land. Then, when we give it back, they think our troops need to leave, so that anybody with a militia can just come along and seize power. What are the troops doing that is so bad in Iraq?
I think first of all we must define terrorists, because if we clumb all terrorists of the world together we wont know how to deal with them, we will apply wrong tactics and strategy.
Thats a start…
How can their (terrorists) ideas be changed to make them realize that nothing lasting will be gained by their actions?
I hate to say but some terrorists will and have achieved what they want through their actions. Terrorism is a powerfull tool that works. Not always, but it has been known to work.
I think first of all we must define terrorists, because if we clumb all terrorists of the world together we wont know how to deal with them, we will apply wrong tactics and strategy.
Thats a start…
