Sunday, September 28, 2014

Inoculating Society From Ideologically-Driven Violence

Taking the life of violent extremists is nothing more than a stop-gap measure. It disrupts the specific plot but does not defeat the ideology that feeds it - it may, in fact, enhance its narrative.

To really defeat the ideology that drives them, we must help them develop a life too valuable to throw away invested in a society that, for all its serious faults, is ultimately worth the effort of peaceful reformation.

"[Homegrown violent extremists] absorb their anger from watching jihadist videos on the Internet, reading the essays of al Qaeda communicators like the late Anwar al-Awlaki. They come to see themselves as warriors in an epic struggle, go off to shooting ranges, pump each other up with the imagined heroic deeds they will carry out. Religion is a component, but seldom is the key factor. Adventure, revenge, glory propel them down the path. For many, the prospect of blowing things up is a solution to an unsatisfactory life. Terrorism does not attract the well-adjusted."

See Latest Alleged Homegrown 'Terrorists' Fit the Mold

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