Stopping Terrorism: Hawks/Doves – Peace/War

Getting right into the heart of the battle to maintain a peaceful society is to understand the pain of war. In its totality this understanding is like reading Tolstoys’ War and Peace in five days – a difficult task yet simple if you have the tenacity to obtain the goal. Furthermore it is a task that a single person can only accomplish. Of course there are shortcuts. You can read the abridged versions. Watching the movie is another method. Both will still leave the book truly unread and the task not completed in reality, it is a half measure. At some point you will have to get down and work at it word by word. The above analogy is the very work of maintaining a peaceful society. Some will embrace it while others will loathe it. Some will fight, some will take short cuts and some will not even try. With that struggle is a multitude of emotions which people will carry concerning the task. Just as we have similar struggles to maintain peace around the world. Currently we are dealing with the many Daesh type organizations killing people around the world. Stopping them requires each and every one of us to do our part. These organizations thrive on individuals who are lost or are feeling as though they have to act violently. Such a mindset creates an internal downward spiral of hatred that will worsen if not eased. As that spiral of hatred increases so will the efforts to exact revenge, cause damage and/or seek approval from others to increase impact. Even though the above description seems to be simplistic, the solutions to terrorism rests in that simplicity. The complexity is challenging enough on the individual basis. We must also deal with the global network as well. In truth terrorism is a dual front challenge that we must take on. On the physical front we also have the sad challenge of dealing with death. The breakdown of dealing with the individual leads to the greater problem of having to physically fight. As that challenge increases the result will eventually lead to the decision to kill. We are at that point now where killing each other has become industrial. We were warned about the industrial complex after the second world war. We did not learn enough from that warning at that time. We are learning more about it now. The experience piece is being taught right now. The entire world is involved in this as is every person. How do we stop terrorism? At this very moment we are using death as a deterrent. The global effort includes the military, security and intelligence gathering efforts. In truth we know that is not the solution. It is part of the puzzle which will not work without the individual component. The true solution rests in the individual responsibility to care and protect each other. Just like reading War and Peace, you have to take it one word at a time.