What’s the best way to fight terrorism?

[9000white]

we have just as much blood on our hands.[/quote]

we aint got enough.

[Aggroton]

trust me if the terrorist could afford spy planes and computer guided missles and bunker busters you dont think they'd use them? and we would be in a conventional war? the 747 was the cheapest weapon they could get thier hands on. and it worked pretty well. no its not a nuke or anything. you think the ak-47 is their rifle of choice because its the best?
we are at war. london got bombed in ww2. oh wait so did we.

[mustangski]

I am positive they would use any weapons necessary to reduce our country and kill Americans, that is why I am glad we are doing everything possible to stop them from getting anything large and modern. On the other hand do you really think they need anything large and modern? Look how much damage a 747 can create.

P.S. I am not sure of the exact type of plane used on 9/11, that is just a guess.

[Aggroton]

well we seem to be running around in circles on this one...i think we just agreed on something?

love my country hate my goverment!

[bennettoid]

well we seem to be running around in circles on this one...i think we just agreed on something?

love my country hate my goverment!

What a load of poop.

Just like "I support the troops but not the war." It doesn't go both ways.

Thank God we're not counting on you to defend us.

[Newrider42]

There really isn't a best solution to this topic. When trying to fight terrorists who are willing to blow themsleve up, you can't win. They want to die, the only thing that the military can hope to do is kill the terrorist before he reaches his destination. Therefore the war can't be won simply by killing a bunch of them and hoping for surrender, every one of them have to be killed to truly win. I hate to say it, but it will only get worse before it gets better.

[TechTMW]

I was an Arabic linguist in a former life, working for certain government agencies ... I used to be more apologetic towards the ideologies behind terrorism in general, because I do believe there are things that the US does to secure its own interests which definitely hold back or hinder certain countries. I don't think that this is wrong per se - it's only natural to look after your own interests and want what is best (read most profitable) for your people.

I could go on a rant about certain things the West does that has a direct cause-effect relationship upon the creation of the terrorist mind. In the interest of brevity, I won't

What I will say is that a total military solution will not work - it can't be sustained. The US military is working at near to full capacity between Iraq and Afghanistan. For sustained military action it really is important that we have the backing of other nations. While we are powerful, we can't be everywhere all the time. Therefore unilateral military actions are really out of the question - especially at this juncture. For example - If IRAN is sponsoring terrorism (and there's much more proof that this is happening than there was in Iraq) we wouldn't be able to just go in and bust up Iran ... not going to happen - we don't have the manpower. We could just blow them all to hell, but that would really be creating more problems than it is solving. Personal vendettas (The US Killed my family in a bombing, so I'm going to become a sucide bomber for Allah) are MUCH MUCH harder to deal with than preventing a guy from becoming this way in the first place.

Therefore I thinkt he best solution is a combination of the three. Some may not like this, but I think FRANCE is a good model for rooting out Islamic extremism and continued police type actions within their own country - We could learn alot from the French. Britain's homegrown problems stem from the fact that they allowed well known terror promoters a free hand for far too long - they planted seeds the results with which Britain is now dealing. France would not have tolerated this type of behavior - it would have been rooted out and dealt with.

I think the US and Britain need to continue to promote their agendas and their programmes overseas in such outlets as Voice of America (Which used to broadcast US and International radio news to the Arab world, but which G.W.B pulled the plug on for "Funding reasons". Bad move. With the advent of internet and free'er' communications in even the most despotic of regimes, there is a chance that the message which is critically needed reaching the target populations. What a crappy time to stop broadcasting!!!

In addition, I think people (especially Americans) need to be able to see and hear news forom the Arab world firsthand - not filtered through Western Media channels first. We also need to stop thinking in an "Us Versus Them" mentality, because all to often we find that the enemy is really US ... Britain has found this out in the most difficult of ways (as did the US with Oklahoma City.) Promoting our nations within our own borders has to be near the top of the list. Flag waving patriotism is all fine and good, but it doesn't get to the heart of the matter - people who aren't patriotic in the first place aren't going to be swayed by a bunch of flag-draped propoganda and "for us or against us" reasoning. That crap just polarizes the situation even more, driving the two sides further apart in terms of Ideology.

Appeasement? No. Responsible deterrence? Yes.

[cansoldier]

Coming from a military background, I feel for the boots on the ground in Iraq. They are trying to fight a fullscale war with limited rules of engagement. IMO damn public scrutiny and let the troops fight to win. They have no bearing on public policy and are only the tools to accomplish such. The thread started as the best way to fight terrorism. How would you like to get into a brawl but be told you must reason your way out of it while being hit? Let's stop dwelling on the past decision made. We are there and at war. Now lets win, get the troops home with a minimum of casualties. As far as wether they created this bed they are currently sleeping in (the Americans or the West), there is no way to live life in this wide world of ours by appeasing everyone. Some where some way everyone will eventually anger someone. Remember, there are folks out there who don't like bikes on the road !!!

[earwig]

What’s the best way to fight terrorism?

Nuke the entire Middle East.

[Nibblet99]

Prehaps we should send them a truck load of clowns to take out their frustration on.... Unlucky for the clowns, but it might just work