Originally Posted by Eric5273

Unfortunately, you cannot defeat terrorism by fighting against it with a military any more than you can put out a fire by pouring gasoline on it. If you think you can prove me wrong, name one example where a terrorist group has been defeated through military means. On the other hand, I can name lots of terrorist groups that were defeated through education and more constructive methods. The most immediate one that comes to mind is the KKK.

You can defeat an army through military means. But you can only change people's opinions through education and other means, and terrorism is not an army but a problem that lies in ideology. It can only be defeated through education.

As in the example of the KKK, it took minority groups almost 100 years to figure out how to battle racism. In the end, only Dr. King's non-violence worked. 90 years of struggle and fighting back through violent means prior to 1950 accomplished nothing. The same will happen with Muslim extremism. We've already wasted 5 years, and the problem is still growing, not shrinking -- a sure sign that our methods are not working.