Can we ever beat terrorism?

Can we ever beat terrorism? Now there's an easy question, with an easy though not very illuminating answer, which is: it all depends on what you mean by "beat". If "beat" is taken to mean "eliminate" or "eradicate", then the answer is a simple "no". Terrorism is not an "ism" in the sense of a political or religious ideology. It is just a means, used by ruthless and usually fanatical people, to further their ends. We are no more likely to eradicate it than we are likely to eradicate the other unsavoury methods used by such people: murder, kidnapping, torture, blackmail and so on. We may beat ... more

Although I am not a terrorist I do have a bit pf personal experience regarding terrorism during my days serving queen and country, especially in Northern Ireland, which was a little rough for a British Squaddie at the time?…although this really hit home during my civilian days when a few friend and myself were visiting a certain city in in June of 1996... Having passed a normal looking white truck on Corporation Street only minutes earlier… wondering what the woman police officer who were rushing towards us, waving there arms, wanted with us… (although we could tell from her face that it ... more

I make no apologies for using this category in the light of today's events in London. Suddenly Britain and in particular our capitol city has become the target for terrorists. The IRA has targeted us before but this is clearly an international terrorist effort to undermine our people and the efforts of G8 to rid third world countries from poverty. It can be no coincidence that on this auspicious occasion certain people have struck where it counts most, not at the summit but in the heart of London and to ordinary people going about their days' work. The aims of terrorists are to terrify ... more

8 July 2005 am As an Aussie in London, I am moved to capture my reactions to the events of yesterday, and the question posed by this thread - Can we ever beat terrorism? I remember when watching the events of September 11 unfold how I wondered how I would react to a similar situation. The terrorist attack on that day had occurred in the very early hours of the morning Australian time, and I arrived at work not knowing what had happened. The rest of the day was spent watching CNN on our firm's television and having their website up on my computer. No work was done. I felt numb. My office was on ... more

I have read quite a lot of World History, right from the times of Big Bang and the start of life on earth. From all the written records that exist of prehistoric times, it clearly shows that man has always killed his fellow man for one reason or the other. Perhaps ever since Man discovered that he can kill another person, killing has never stopped. The number Humans dying of natural causes like old age, illness, calamities etc has been significantly defeated by the number of people killed by other people. The natural calamities since the Boxing day tsunami till the recent tragic and sad ... more