How to STOP Terrorism

Various Methods employed in the past to stop terrorism:

The Great Wall of China

The Xiongnu ,a confederation of nomadic tribes from central Asia, were considered so dangerous and disruptive that the Qin Dynasty ordered the construction of the Great wall to protect China from Xiongnu attacks.

Hiroshima: World War II

"It wasn’t necessary to hit them with that awful thing . . . to use the atomic bomb, to kill and terrorize civilians, without even attempting [negotiations], was a double crime."- Eisenhower

Mahatma Gandhi: on using Terror

The ability to cast an empathetic eye was central to Gandhi's view of conflict.

After a solution was imagined, the second stage of a struggle was to achieve it. This meant fighting--but in a way that was consistent with the solution itself. .

If you fought violently you would establish a pattern of violence that would be part of any solution to the conflict, no matter how noble it was supposed to be.

Even if terrorists were successful in ousting the British from India, Gandhi asked, "Who will then rule in their place?" His answer was that it would be the ones who had killed in order to liberate India, adding, "India can gain nothing from the rule of murderers."

A struggle could be forceful--often it would begin with a demonstration and "a refusal to cooperate with anything humiliating." But it could not be violent, Gandhi reasoned, for these destructive means would negate any positive benefits of a struggle's victory. If a fight is waged in the right way it could enlarge one's vision of the truth and enhance one's character in the process. What Gandhi disdained was the notion that one had to stoop to the lowest levels of human demeanor in fighting for something worthwhile.

When I despair, I remember that all through history the ways of TRUTH & LOVE have always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem INVINCIBLE, but in the end they always fall. Think of it–always.

Dalai Lama on Tibet:

I know you are being provoked at every level but it is important to stick to our non-violent practice.
It is the legitimate right of every Tibetan to struggle for their freedoms and rights. On the other hand, it will be futile and not helpful to anyone if we do something that will create hatred in the minds of the Chinese people. On the contrary, we need to foster trust and respect in our hearts in order to create a harmonious society, as this cannot be built on the basis of force and intimidation.
We should not engage in any action that could be even remotely interpreted as violent. Even under the most provocative of situations we must not allow our most precious and deeply held values to be compromised. I firmly believe that we will achieve success through our non-violent path. We must be wise to understand where the unprecedented affection and support for our cause stems from.

Understanding the the real causes of terrorism -

1. Insecurity (of the terrorist!!!)

Terrorism as opposed to what is usually thought about it, is a plea.
What is the plea about?
The plea is against insecurity caused by unequal distribution of wealth, greed(read Iraq), destroying cultures (read Bali).
But unfortunately, the victims of these crimes are often ruthlessly exploited by Politicians,Religious Fanatics and maniacs.
Guns may seem to curb the menace for a while, but in the long run, what is needed is love and understanding.
Let’s ask ourselves “Why do terrorists behave like they do?". Surely, they are not joking when they lay down their lives. Politician Leaders sit back and pull strings and count the number of dead to rate their chances of survival in the next election. “They” may be joking. But not the terrorist who actually dies.
So what is it that causes them to think that their “cause” is as high as that for which christ died?
Drugs? Brainwashing? Terror camps?Climate?
Barbarian blood?
Could be..but i’m sure there is another reason.
They’re insecure. They firmly believe that someone somewhere is stealing their rightful share of the world’s goodies. It could be the governments of America,India, Israel ,china or spain. Doesn’t matter.
Now what these governments could do, is to negotiate. i’m sure they’ve tried it all before. But to curb terrorism, one has to bend over backwards to find a solution that is agreeable to the potential terrorist as well as to the so called oppressive regime.
But unfortunately there is insecurity on either side.America felt as threatened by Iraq maybe because of it’s oil resources as Saddam felt about America.
My point is,it is the insecurity that causes these things to happen.
And just how do we deal with this insecurity. Meditation is a good way. Reckon it’s easier to kill the terrorists than to get them to meditate. I agree. What i’m trying to suggest here is that there are other totally agreeable, innocuous and maybe even mutually beneficial ways to deal with insecurity than using guns.
If everyone had thought like the Dalai Lama the world woud be rid of terrorists.

2. Exploitation
So here is what is happening. Great leaders like the Buddha, Jesus and Mohammed realised that there was a lot of insecurity intrinsic in the human nature and suggested very real practical methods to quell it. “Love thy neighbor” ,”Desire is the root cause of all evil” are two of these, to site examples.
But unfortunately, insecurity got the upper hand. Insecure men have succeeded in using even the teachings of these great men, to exploit the insecurities of their followers, to feel more secure themselves.
Take a look, it’s everywhere. Leaders everywhere, be they political,religious,or so called godmen are exploiting the very insecurity of people that these spritual leaders tried to get rid of.Right from Constantin.
These spiritual leaders had no idea that this would happen! or they would have never started these faiths!
That brings us to the question, what can we DO about this.
This,we can do. We can study these texts,regardless of how others may interpret them.
I’ll give you an amazing example. It is a true story.
There was a religious leader who gave provocative speeches. So much so that the government of his country jailed him. There in jail, he had time to think. He thought over his religion. The sacred text that he had spent his whole life preaching. And he gained insight. He understood the real meaning. On his release from jail , he not only stopped giving inflammatory speeches, but started working toward the unification of various welfare organizations towards the common goal of the welfare of people!
We learn from this how easy it is for even religious leaders to wrongly interpret their religion.And how careful analysis and thought can bring them to the path that was originally intended by the founders of their faiths!

Summary

The bottom line is , we cannot fight violence with violence , not in the long term. Nor by exploiting the insecurities with in men by wrongly interpreting texts to suit one’s greed.
What we need is Love and understanding.And thankfully there are plenty of spiritual faiths to aid the promotion of love and understanding. Problem is that these are in the wrong hands most of the time. In the hands of people who use them to increase their own security at the expense of poor innocent believers.
What we can do is to read these texts, preferrably of all faiths and try to understand what is actually said in all of them.
Meditation will work just as well. Even introspection will do.
In the end , it all depends on how many of us see the light and how many pretend they do and lead us to darkness.

"Terror is in the human heart.
We must remove this from the heart.
Destroying the human heart, both physically
and psychologically, is what we should avoid.
The root of terrorism is misunderstanding, hatred and violence.

This root cannot be located by the military.
Bombs and missiles cannot reach it, let alone destroy it.
Only with the practice of calming and looking deeply
can our insight reveal and identify this root.
Only with the practice of deep listening and compassion
can it be transformed and removed.

Darkness cannot be dissipated with more darkness.
More darkness will only make darkness thicker.
Only light can dissipate darkness.
Those of us who have the light should display the light
and offer it so that the world will not sink
into total darkness."

— Thich Nhat Hanh in Shanghai, October 19, 2002

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