Keeping an Eye on Technology Futures, No Hidden Agendas, New Attitudes, No Platitudes!
Today, virtually all terrorism stems from militant Islam, which seems to encourage suicide bombers as martyrs. Centuries ago, both Christianity and Islam practiced violence, which some still remember. But the real roots of today's terrorism is that militant radicals provide credible explanations of what's happening in the world and suggest actions that make sense to the disgruntled and disadvantaged.
For militant Muslims, the motivations for attacks on Muslim countries seem clear: Religion and Money (Oil) - How else can anyone explain why America is spending $3 TRILLION on an unpopular war? How plausible is it to suggest that America merely seeks to bring "democracy" to Iraq, while pandering to repressive, despotic, oil-rich regimes such as Saudi Arabia?
To stop terrorism, the world needs a broad range of measures to ensure that militant ideologies are less plausible in the future. If we cannot negotiate with militants, we can at least stop the next wave of recruits. And terrorism can be minimized by vigilant police action.
Muslim militancy cannot be stopped by force, which simply inflames it further. Nor by criticism from non-Muslims, which is taken as infidel interference. Rather, moderate Muslim leaders must step forward to reinforce the peaceful and harmonious teachings of their own religion.