It looks like Bill Whittle nailed it with his essay on deterring terrorism.
People argue passionately and relentlessly on both sides, but bring little that’s new to resolve the issues.
Perhaps the basic confusion underlying this argument is whether terrorists are psychopathic killers or misunderstood and abused members of an underprivileged group.
Being “mean” to Islamic terrorists will probably not deter them.
Continually exposing and bringing them to justice insures that existing social structures operating toward the common good have a chance of remaining stable.
Unconditional love, support groups for terrorists, and sympathy for those who choose to send their women and children to kill innocent civilians ignores the fact that love, support, and sympathy has never deterred psychopathic killers or even spouse abusers.
The meek inherit the earth, of course, because they are usually buried in mass graves unless a stronger force is mobilized to stop the carnage. Those who do not stand up for their rights lose them. People are responsible for their condition, whether they are stupid, or if they put their trust in things that aren’t true.
People who do not learn from history, often do not live long enough to regret their mistakes. Appeasement is not the brand new idea the Left would have us believe. Neville Chamberlain, a good and trusting man, was not the first or the last who failed to understand that one can’t reason with madness.
One of the comments to my last post said, “Perhaps understanding why these people are angry is the first step along the way.” I doubt that this commenter realizes that understanding a sociopath comes after capturing him and rendering him/her harmless to society at large.
Terrorism is not a subject that can be dealt with sophistry. A belief that all men are basically good is no defense against a man or group that is wildly out of valence and is dramatizing a desire to destroy.
Terrorism is criminal insanity and must be dealt with as such. Stop it or restrain it, and then have a dialog. Reason only works when both parties have some shreds of sanity left.
Terrorists are not sane. The biggest mistake one can make is to act as though they are.