Are Israel and the US on the right path to ending terrorism?

Question

I am really thinking about this issue and I'd like to get more input.

Simplified (horribly simplified) US and Israeli policy on terrorism seems to be "Hit back way out of proportion to how hard we ourselves are struck."

The US lost the World Trade Center and several thousand innocent lives. We took over not only the country responsible but a second Islamic country as well. Israel looses two soldiers to a kidnapping; it bombs Lebanon back to the 1960's.

My question is not really if this is right or wrong. In my mind, all war is terrible. At the same time, Islamic extremism is a danger to innocent people the world over - including to those in Islamic countries. They are mass murderers who must be stopped.

So my question becomes this: Will US and Israeli policy be effective in the war on terrorism? Can we scare other countries into cracking down on radical Islam within their own borders? Will this end terrorism or at least make it much less likely to occur?

Answer 1

You're not asking for a simple yes or no answer. What would YOU deam to be an effective end result of the US and Israeli policy against terrorism? No one seems to know exactly what they want the outcome of these struggles to be. We don't want another 9/11, but then again who would? For every 10 people on the street who is asked why we have troops in the Middle East you will get 10 different answers. I don't think we went in there with any more than a "you hit us so we're going to hit you back" attitude and, once there, we realized that the terrorists were much more wide-spread than originally given credit for and it was like we were trying to herd cats.

I truly believe that there is no perfect policy to deal with terrorism. That will end up being a decision for each country to make on it's own. The US and UN can try and dictate the rules, but if a country really doesn't care to follow them, what are we going to do? Blow them up too? I don't think so.

I don't think that terrorism can be ended. Where do we draw the line against becoming who we are fighting? How do we, as a nation, continue to look ourselves in the mirror in the morning when we've done the same things we have publically protested. All we can do is be aware of our surroundings and stay informed.

If you really want to change the war on terrorism, stop calling them "terrorists" and start calling them "criminals", because that's what they are. Stop giving them that power over the people. They're basically thugs who want to play by their own rules and should be dealt with accordingly. Don't treat them as anything more than an organized criminal gang and that would probably take a lot of wind out of their sails. Maybe really all we need is a different approach.

Answer 2

The only people that can stop Islamic terrorism are the Muslims themselves, which isn't easy because they all don't even believe in Islam the same way. It is very comparable to Christian terrorism ie KKK and the IRA.

Israel is fighting because they were attacked, not to end terrorism everywhere. Being the only First-World non-Muslim country in the Middle East they are always going to be envied so they will never end the hatred for their Nation.

As for the United States, we must do the best we can in the Middle East, but in the end our actions are just moving the location of terrorism. They don't have to fly planes into our buildings to hit us any longer they can just go to Iraq to kill Americans.

You can never end terrorism because it is when extremist that believe in a common Ideal want to force the rest of the world to comply.

So when all is said and done all we can do is slow terrorism down for a while like during the Cold War.

Answer 3

Hezbollah fighters kidnapped two Israeli soldiers, when Israeli soldiers went to get them they were met with military style tactics and weapons. The Lebanese police didn’t arrest the kidnappers and they didn’t evacuate the citizens from a danger zone.
The Israelis were forced to try and get their soldiers back. When Israeli soldiers attempted this Hezbollah fighters used rockets and automatic weapons to keep the kidnapped soldiers. Several Israeli soldiers were killed in the attempt.
The wide spread fighting with the Hezbollah fighters makes them accessories to kidnapping and guilty of murder. The vast numbers of fighters should make this organized crime.
With the failure of the Lebanese police at both levels, the Israelis must do what is required to get their people returned. Military style tactics require military action to get this done. With the failure of the Lebanese police to get their people to safety, Israel can’t allow the citizens to deter them from bringing the criminals to justice.
Organized crime of this magnitude can’t be allowed to escape punishment. The Israelis must use any and all methods to bring organized crime to justice, the numbers of criminals and the firepower they have makes military action of any level to get the job done necessary. Hezbollah has a member holding the position of Speaker of the Parliament an elected position voted on by the Parliament. This must therefore be considered as a government sponsored action and any action by Israel needed to bring justice is warranted.
Hezbollah should have caught the kidnappers and sentenced them to justice. The failure of Hezbollah to capture the kidnappers and the killing of Israelis makes all the Hezbollah fighters accessories to kidnapping and guilty of murder. The shear level of the numbers of criminals, should have brought outside aide to Israel in the suppression of the Hezbollah organized crime criminals.
The failure of the worlds leaders is to their eternal shame, and that the whole world shall have to bear. Our world leaders have become cowards and not able to deal with a large organized crime syndicate. The Israelis are left to do what ever is required to bring all the criminals to justice.
Had this accrued in the US and Hezbollah hid in a neighborhood, then used rockets and automatic weapons on the same scale. The US military would level all the buildings occupied by Hezbollah and bring down the buildings with the criminals inside. As soon as the police had evacuated the citizens who were in danger.
Israel is doing no different, the law is the law and the organized crime syndicate known as Hezbollah must be brought to justice, no matter the cost. The law is clear and must be enforced.

Saddam thumbed his nose at the UN resolution for years. We did something to end the criminal actions there. The law is clear and must be enforced. Do you think we should allow the law to be flaunted and not ever being the criminals to justice ?

Answer 4

As long as there are two people left in the world who have different ideologies, and one hits the other ... there is terrorism.

Answer 5

Terrorism will never end until people stop supporting it and stop believing that such actions actually are constructive. If we don't fight it, well, you have to stand up to bullies.