Ending Islamic Terrorism
The death of Osama bin Laden will not bring an end to Islamic terrorism. The factors that motivate terrorists remain in place. Four issues motivate certain people to commit terrorist acts against the United States. When these issues are resolved, the threat of terrorism will drop dramatically. The four issues are: (1) the Israeli-Palestinian situation, (2) the Kashmiri situation, (3) American support for corrupt Muslim dictators and (4) the American military killing people in Muslim countries. There are solutions to all four issues.
The Israel-Palestinian conflict can be resolved equitably with a two-state solution based on the Geneva Initiative, which was negotiated between Israelis and Palestinians. What has been missing is the leadership to implement the agreement.
Prior to 9/11, Al Qaeda’s primary business was training terrorists to fight in Kashmir. Kashmiri’s were promised the right to determine their future through elections. Elections on Kashmiri on sovereignty need to be held and results fairly implemented.
Next, the US must resolve its military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and withdraw military forces from those countries. The US is on this path in Iraq. The path needs to be clearly established for Afghanistan.
Finally, corrupt Muslim dictators must be replaced by leaders who will work to meet the needs of their citizens. This process is underway in some of the countries in the Middle East.
These actions would eliminate 99% of the motivation for Islamic terrorism. Terrorists will not engage in suicide attacks when it is pointless to do so.
