More on our response to terrorism...

My previous post has prompted some "out of band" discussions. Central to these has been the "true" cause of Terrorism. Tom Friedman's Op-Ed today http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/06/opinion/06friedman.html is central to the fray. I couldn’t agree anymore passionately with his conclusions. Islam, while the the most prevalent religion on Earth and consequently the largest population of marginalized and down-trodden souls, is also the most tolerant religion. Certainly far more so than Roman Catholicism. Radical Islam is NOT Islam. Its no different than any other dark and heartless belief system, but it is organized, and darkest of all, it is seducing young men and woman with an empty vision of salvation from their suffering. All humans crave love and acceptance, given enough deprivation, its a natural human emotion for many, to turn to hate. I’ve met young white supremacists and anti-Semites who I envision to be in this same boat. They are a horrible combination of fear, hate and sadness and they have placed their remaining faith in a belief system that was inculcated in them by someone else. They are in many cases extremely violent and they are willing to die for their beliefs and to escape their pain. In the case of radical Islam, there is nothing stronger than someone fighting for “god”. The aforementioned someone else, needs to be dealt with differently than the disillusioned youth. Coincidentally, some of these folks are not Islamic, but they identify so strongly with a disenchanted belief system, that they join them. Friedman says “no laws or walls... will ever be sufficient to protect us unless the Arab and Muslim societies from whence these suicide bombers emerge erect political, religious and moral restraints as well — starting by shaming suicide bombers and naming their actions “murder,” not “martyrdom.” Well, ya. No debate there. But that it a cultural change of Gaussian proportion. The governments of many Islamic nations are corrupt and prejudice themselves. Some enlightened leaders from around the world are making valiant efforts dedicated to positive change and shared values (Dr. Lazlo’s World Wisdom Council and Sir Richard Branson and Nelson Mandela’s Band of Elders). When friends started The Giving Planet - www.thegivingplanet.org/ they chose the refugee camps in Palestine as the first location. This was due in large part to a recent study completed there, by an American researcher who asked the youth, among other questions, what they felt the highest use of their lives would be. The majority response was to become a suicide bomber. I am a Board Member and supporter of this organization, because the results of their efforts with marginalized populations of youth there, in Central America, Africa and elsewhere, is nothing short of miraculous! They reach these kids and help them to gain a perspective that carries them far beyond their communities and even their countries. Once they gain this realization, they are most likely beyond the reach of those who would twist them into hate-mongers to serve a draconian agenda. The Giving Planet is a very small effort in scope and success, but its a model that works. I don’t know how, other than one small group at a time to turn the tide. But this effort should be compounding and self-perpetuating. Getting back to the previous topic, in the mean time we need a much better defense. The point that our foreign policies often perpetuate hatred toward American and European countries is certainly valid. In most cases its not our goals but our methods that fail in this regard.  We are executing so poorly in our homeland defense practices that we encourage those who would commit acts of terrorism. I’m not overlooking the root cause and I’m not suggesting we consume ourselves with fear or preoccupation with counter-terrorism. I’m advocating the necessary, short-term, detective and preventative controls, which are necessitated by a clear and present threat. We need to tighten up our perimeter controls, identity authentication and access controls, both physical and virtual. If we don’t start managing this with an exponential improvement, the unthinkable is far more likely.