terrorism-can it ever be fully destroyed?

I don't think so. Terrorism isn't a single person, army, or country, all of which CAN be destroyed. And anyone can become a terrorist-a fanatic, a crazy person, or a person who wants revenge, for example for lose of a family member, etc.

I don't think it will ever be possible to destroy all of terrorism. Terrorism has existed for most of the human history, and I doubt it will end as long as humans are still alive.

Any opinions?

No terrorism cannot be destroyed. Terrorism is simply a tactic.

Now Islamic Extremists, they can be destroyed, if your willing to kill enough of them.

Originally posted by Sr Wing Commander
Now Islamic Extremists, they can be destroyed, if your willing to kill enough of them.

The problem is there will always be new terrorists created to take the place of them. You could kill all the Islamic terrorists that are around today, but tomorrow there will more. All you could hope for is to take out any structure that the terrorists have which would make them less effective and less of a threat.

As long as there is injustice there will be 'terrorists'.

Obviously the word terrorist is a varied and generic word that encapsulates a whole host of individuals and groups - some more justifiable than others, often depending on whose judging and labelling.

Nelson Mandela has been branded a terrorist.

Originally posted by Chud

Originally posted by Sr Wing Commander
Now Islamic Extremists, they can be destroyed, if your willing to kill enough of them.

The problem is there will always be new terrorists created to take the place of them. You could kill all the Islamic terrorists that are around today, but tomorrow there will more. All you could hope for is to take out any structure that the terrorists have which would make them less effective and less of a threat.

Exactly!

If only there was a way to have peace talks with them....................................

only one way to ever "win" the WOT....

kill every human being in the world... then you will kill the ideology.. as long as humans walk the earth there will be..."terrorism"...

*edit-(Additional Comments) I am NOT advocating the idea of killing all of humanity...

BTW.. Our policy has always been to "Not negotiate with terrorists".. and we see where that has obviously gotten us... has anyone every tried "negotiating with them?... maybe a silly question.. but I just couldnt help myself

[edit on 9/24/2006 by TONE23]

Well, we have to think about the idea of the War on Terror, and also the definition of "terrorism". If you live by the strict definition, anyone that causes terror is a terrorist. If Iraqis/Afghanis are terrorized, if Americans are terrorized, terror exists. Will we win it? Will we stop it? Of course not, because one will use terror over the others and still be creating terror.

It is up to us.

Russian Soldier,

Glad to see you know a thing or two about enemies and warfare. Here I assumed you were just gun-happy and overzealous about signing up for military service, but I reserved that opinion until you came out and made this post.

It is a very valid point about the given enemy of being terrorism. Terrorism is not an enemy but an action. And it is like saying about the same thing as we will destroy evil. Interjecting a bit of spiritual belief here, man cannot rid hisself of evil, but only a higher power can. It has never been done before and never will be, so I immediately saw the war on terror as a piece of propoganda right when this whole mess started taking shape.

Unfortunately it is a pretext for a never ending war if you define the enemy as "terrorists", so I am at least a little relieved that they have changed that now to becoming "radical Islam". Not that I hate any man, or would create wars but at least the latter enemy is more definite than an ambiguous definition of terrorism. I think this change is beneficial for the US gov. stance on their little war, but woe to the targets of the battlefield, both friend or foe.

Originally posted by Sr Wing Commander
No terrorism cannot be destroyed. Terrorism is simply a tactic.

Absolutely correct.

Now Islamic Extremists, they can be destroyed, if your willing to kill enough of them.

Not even close.

Creating martyrs of them will only incite more "terrorists".

Originally posted by redmage

Now Islamic Extremists, they can be destroyed, if your willing to kill enough of them.

Not even close.

Creating martyrs of them will only incite more "terrorists".

Not exactly true hypothetically, but realistically you are correct. The only possible way to rid the world of radical Islam in any given moment is to take out all the radicals, but it doesn't mean a new generation would not develop the same ideals, so realistically it cannot be done to exterminate them. I think the main goal with US policy over the enemy is to knock them down so much that their voice is not as influential in the near future which allows the US time to take more control of ME influences. I don't think the US believes they can kill all terrorists or radicals. You don't really have to kill your opponent to achieve your goal if your goal is control and power. Killing may be involved to reduce their numbers and influence, but it has nothing to do with quelling opinions of an opposing side as long as you can gain control of most of the people and resources and have some assurance of undisrupted future profitability in the region.

Originally posted by ben91069
Russian Soldier,

Glad to see you know a thing or two about enemies and warfare. Here I assumed you were just gun-happy and overzealous about signing up for military service, but I reserved that opinion until you came out and made this post.

It is a very valid point about the given enemy of being terrorism. Terrorism is not an enemy but an action. And it is like saying about the same thing as we will destroy evil. Interjecting a bit of spiritual belief here, man cannot rid hisself of evil, but only a higher power can. It has never been done before and never will be, so I immediately saw the war on terror as a piece of propoganda right when this whole mess started taking shape.

Unfortunately it is a pretext for a never ending war if you define the enemy as "terrorists", so I am at least a little relieved that they have changed that now to becoming "radical Islam". Not that I hate any man, or would create wars but at least the latter enemy is more definite than an ambiguous definition of terrorism. I think this change is beneficial for the US gov. stance on their little war, but woe to the targets of the battlefield, both friend or foe.

No, not gunhappy at all. While I like guns in themselves, and many other weapons, and see beauty in them, etc, I don't like killing and believe that its not something you can take pride in. Imagine the enemy. He has a family probably. He was once a playful innocent child. Then reality hits back at you. You realize he's out to destroy what you hold so dear. You must stop him. I never liked war. People confuse my statements some times. I DO like military and weapons, but I DON'T like war. It is a terrible thing and many, especially innocents get killed. Why can't we all just get along? I guess its human nature. As long as humans exist, conflicts-both large and small, will also.

Originally posted by TONE23
only one way to ever "win" the WOT....

kill every human being in the world... then you will kill the ideology.. as long as humans walk the earth there will be..."terrorism"...

*edit-(Additional Comments) I am NOT advocating the idea of killing all of humanity...

BTW.. Our policy has always been to "Not negotiate with terrorists".. and we see where that has obviously gotten us... has anyone every tried "negotiating with them?... maybe a silly question.. but I just couldnt help myself

[edit on 9/24/2006 by TONE23]

I don't think that's a silly question. In fact, my post right above yours said "if only we could somehow talk peacefully with them". I think we should talk to them a bit. Find out what they want, etc. Peaceful talks could lead to better understanding, can it not? You could say that is rediculous, but I think its worth a try.
Just my 2 cents

thanks Russian Soldier...

It is good to know I am not alone in that possible avanue..

Btw I saw what you said .. above my post.. right.... after I finished editing mine....doh!...

I believe that as long as there are humans there will be terrorism. We will always have the lone nut that climbs the school tower and starts shooting, The maniac like the Unibomber or the children that make up a private plan and then go shoot up their school.

I also believe technology will eliminate much of the terrorism in the world. We will detect bombs sooner, faster and save more lives. All it will cost us is the privacy and decency of being human. The state is using terrorism to invade every little secret in your life, they are using it to find out the very depth of your soul.

Remember the book, "1984?"

Big Brother was able to make Winston Smith and Julia renounce each other and their love completely, because they knew the worst nightmares that they feared, and used it against them.

This is the world that the war on terrorism is bringing.

here is an idea

stop funding these terrorists and creating them for your own personal agenda
Get Israel to stop bombing the c***p out of the palistains each chance they get
dont bully other countries thinking its your god given right
stop killing cuvilains in IRAQ (US forces alone have killed more from the start then secterian violence which the US is responsible for by destabalizing the country)

to sort the problem you have to go to the root of the problem

Even if you are right Bodrul, terrorism will still exist. Focusing it and making whole countries happy will not stop it. Hell, even if you make a country happy, that doesn't mean all of its people will be happy. If Israel and Palestine devided the land half and half (which I think isn't too bad of an idea, I think they both have their fair share of land) there would still be people on both sides still angry at the other, still wanting more land, or the anihilation of the other side altogether. If you don't fund Al Quaida, it will find others to fund it. Anybody can. An angry rich man, upset at losing his wife. A corrupt government, with an intent to supply Al Quaida so it can continue striking its enemies, etc. Even without funding, Al Quaida would continue to thrive.

I strongly believe terrorism can't be destroyed. You can quiet it down for a year, a month, or day. But next thing you know, it will come back, maybe even bigger and more dangerous then ever. If only there was a way to stop terrorism..........but then, you got to understand (not the crazy ones) the normal average people who lose their loved ones to bs, and want to get revenge. It is bad, though.

Peace talks should start


EDIT to add: You are right, Bodrul, that the things you stated are bad to do. But you must understand that doing vice versa will still not stop terrorism. There is no "root", or "heart" or "brain" of it. There are influences, and they are born and eventually die. But terrorism lives on. It will live on without Osama, it will live on despite what happens. Its not a person, army, or country. It is something else. Some even consider it a way of life.


[edit on 26-9-2006 by Russian soldier]

America has terrorism on the run as soon as we take the gloves off Terrorism is finished. All we have to do is nuke all the terrorist countrys like Iran, North Korea, Jamaica, Cuba, China, Russia, France, Venezuala and all the rest of the communist facist muslim countrys .

The world is truely lucky we have a Great leader like President Bush who took up the challenge and is spreading peace and freedom around the world. Victory is already in sight and the world will be a better place for everyone.

So yes Terrorism will be defeated without a doubt.

To destroy terrorism, you need to remove the inspiration the group is using to attack.

I beelive the reason they have hit us in the past, is because we have intervened and maniuplated middle eastern conflicts.. even helped the demise of the arab population.

They see us as the enemy, because we help there enemy, and because they have been restricted so much meaning they are unable to create an army or political base to tackle us head on.. the only means they have of sending us a message is to hit us where it hurts, and where its noticed.

At home.

I have never known a terrorist group to attack simply for the 'hell of it'
There's always an underlying tone as to why.
And if you beleive sending in more troops to murder more parents and childeren is destroying terrorism your severly mistaken.

For every father we kill, we risk turning his wife, and his childeren into martyr terrorists.
For every child we kill, we risk turning there parents and there brothers/sisters into martyrs terrorists.

To think we can bomb the bajee'zaz out of a country, and ensure all the maimed, orphaned people left WONT seek revenge... is critically WRONG!


[edit on 27-9-2006 by Agit8dChop]

Originally posted by Shamanator
The world is truely lucky we have a Great leader like President Bush who took up the challenge and is spreading peace and freedom around the world. Victory is already in sight and the world will be a better place for everyone.

So yes Terrorism will be defeated without a doubt.

this just cracked me up the world is lucky for a

Great leader like President Bush who took up the challenge and is spreading peace and freedom around the world

seeing as the nut case has created more terrorists in the history of the united in his 2 year terms i find your response very funny.


i was just pointing out the highest % of terrorists Russian soldier
history has shown almost all majour terrorist org were created as a tool to push a countries agenda and so forth.

Agit8dChop spot on

Originally posted by Shamanator
America has terrorism on the run as soon as we take the gloves off Terrorism is finished. All we have to do is nuke all the terrorist countrys like Iran, North Korea, Jamaica, Cuba, China, Russia, France, Venezuala and all the rest of the communist facist muslim countrys .

The world is truely lucky we have a Great leader like President Bush who took up the challenge and is spreading peace and freedom around the world. Victory is already in sight and the world will be a better place for everyone.

So yes Terrorism will be defeated without a doubt.

If this is sarcasm, then



If not, then

On ATS, Ignorance Is Winning