Is ignoring terrorism a great strategy to fight terrorism?

Question

There are positives and negatives to fighting terrorism... One positive is Bush has pretty much told the terrorists they are going to die if Americans like it or not, but the negative are if we were to ignore their pathetic attempts at trying to get what they want, would they do it in the first place?
The killing of Americans was not just something the terrorists decided to do. No one seems to understand that their type of warfare is killing civilians in democratic states. We are who vote in this nation, so we are the ones who are responsible to not fear the bastards.
Now lets say hypothically the reason the terrorists planed the towers was because they wanted 10,000,000,000 dollars... Would you have paid them to save American lives? Do you realize that giving into their demands is a way of losing, and giving into demands will just give them reason to bomb again?

What happens if we tell the kidnappers to just shoot the hostage?
We're up to 6,000 deaths by terrorists. IGNORE!

The death by terrorists numbers is appoximate. THat is civilian deaths and military deaths since Bush has been in office.

I'M NOT BLAMING BUSH!
That is like blaming the police for the hostage. Screw having a heart I say.

I said ignore them... Screw demands and screw talking to them... Just ignore them altogether! Terrorists are criminals, not soldiers.

Oh, and even Bush said that we shouldn't fear the terrorists... THAT is one step closer to giving them what they want.

Answer 1

Ignoring it makes them even madder, but we need not give a voice to it

Answer 2

I really like this question. To answer directly the initial question, no, ignoring a threat is a great way to get a close up and personal look at the threat. Israel has previously held the rule that terrorists are not to be dealt with and I agree 110%. Would I have paid them ransom? Not a chance. And public opinion be damned. Ignoring these subhuman pigs is a guarantee of disaster.

Two days after 9/11, I was watching the news with my then wife and we were talking about the attack and what led up to it as well as what could be done about it. It occurred to me that when one has a rabid dog roaming the neighborhood, one does not call a contractor to build a 10 foot high fence. One grabs his or her extremely powerful handgun and puts a $1.75 bullet squarely between the eyes of the rabid dog ending the threat to all in the neighborhood. It was not until later that I found out the time line of terrorism. Not many knew about the attacks in 1977, why this is, I have no idea. But this fight began long before 09/11/01.

We have ignored this threat for far too long to our extreme peril (obviously). Hiding our heads in the sand is not a strategy. I am more one who would walk up to a bully, look that bully in the eye and then uncork a hambone sized right cross to the chops.

To say that we have created more terrorists is ridiculous. They have been growing exponentially since the early 70s when the radical arm had it's big jump in recruitment. And every time the west backs down, their numbers grow in leaps and bounds.

One last item. Terrorists are not criminals. When they flew commercial aircraft into civilian buildings, that was a classic act of war. When they strap explosives on and walk into a crowded mall, that is an act of war. These are not criminal acts, these are classic acts of war and until we all understand that this fight although not able to be pinned to a particular nation is a war, not a police action.

Answer 3

It's not about ignoring terrorism it's about responding to a threat in an appropriate manner. How many people died on 911? How many have died (and it hasn't finished yet) in Afghanistan and Iraq since? If you don't care about the peoples of those countries why not just count the Americans who have died there?

Is the threat of global Islamic extremist terrorism really so... threatening? Or are they just another bunch of loonies that we would not even think about if Bush didn't want to get his mitts on all the oil in the Middle East?

And anyway, where is that plane that hit the pentagon?

Answer 4

I agree that fighting the terrorists is crucial to our existence, I also realize that the probability of killing off an ideology is non existent, i say fight as you must ,accept the fact ,it's a forever uphill battle,un winnable,but yet,unavoidable,...It's now time to "grow a set",stay vigilant,and go about your life as usual, If a terrorist chooses YOU, there is no preventive measure,unfortunately,other than your actions at the spur of that moment

Answer 5

I realize you are a college educated Liberal (and I stress the word Liberal because that's the only view you hear in college)......but girl you need to understand something.
We are in the midst of WW III....a war between Western culture and radical Islamic extremists! These people simply detest our way of life and want us dead, gone, out of existence. Got it? We can't buy our way out, nor we will ever talk our way out. It's become a matter of kill or be killed. The Bush administration has done what past presidencies have chosen to ignore.....bring this fight to the terrorists!

Answer 6

I agree 110% with Rich B. Our motto should always be "We
do NOT negotiate with terrorists" and we should stand behind that statement, not just some of the time but ALL of the time.

Answer 7

You have a point. Margaret Thatcher said that we should not give terrorists the 'oxygen of publicity'. I think that's the right approach.

Answer 8

Democrats believe that if we consider terrorists "as victims", study their "inner feelings", and give them a "Big Democrat Group Hug", they will change their attitudes.
If we "understand" them, they will stop killing us.

Answer 9

No one is proposing ignoring terrorism. But it would be sensible to fight it in ways that produce as few new jihad recruits as possible. Invadin a Muslim country based on lies is not that way. We need intelligence and infiltration, a Shadow War, not something crude like a REAL war.

Answer 10

You never give in to their demands but making a war out of it just gives them more people to sympathize with their cause. Ignoring them does weaken them, you have to realize they like fighting and dieing, we don't.

Answer 11

We need to fight, because you CANNOT talk with evil psychos who want to kill everyone in America. The only way to make us safe from these people is to kill them. It's sad, but we need to protect our great country. God Bless America and our troops.