Terrorists fight with bombs and bullets. They frequently target civilians. They always take personal risks because they think their cause is just.

Terrorists like nothing better than governments who fight back with guns and bullets. This makes their outrages seem more respectable. The innocent get hurt, and from their ranks spring up more terrorists. The fighting back gives the terrorists publicity, which they crave.

Terrorists claim that their cause justifies their outrages. It never does. Terrorists have to have non-violent supporters who hide them and provide them with finance. Once you convince these supporters that the terrorists methods are not justified, then the terrorists become a fringe activity who can be infiltrated and destroyed from within.

Governments should never behave like terrorists. They should behave with dignity, and in accordance with law. Whilst this is necessary in accordance with morals and all relevant religions, the principle reason for is practical, it is a necessary precondition of success.

For Bush to declare war on terrorists is silly. It is CERTAIN that you cannot with bombs and bullets stop people blowing themselves up and nearby civilians with them. To do this is an outrage against creator God and the human race and is quite definitely not authorised by any mainstream religion If the communities from which the terrorists come are treated even half decently they will not support such terrorism and it will wither

. Bush’s war against terrorism is not even honest. He does not mean terrorists in general, just those who attack America. Whilst some revenge after the unprecedented and unspeakable outrage of September11th is doubtless understandable, it is threatening to go far beyond that. There is currently no evidence that the evil tyrant Saddam Hussain is planning civilian outrages on mainland America or actively supporting those who do. Whilst he may be amassing chemical biological or nuclear weapons, the idea that he plans to launch them off against America is absurd (the evidence does not exist and cannot even be credibly manufactured).The Americans doubtless can defeat Iraq and overthrow Saddam, but what then, and where will it end?

The only legitimate demand, post September 11, is for governments, whatever they did in the past, not in future to sanction training camps where suicide terrorists are trained to commit civilian outrages. Governments should be invited to say they will not and show they will not, and those that do so should be guaranteed freedom from attack. Those that continue this lamentable practice should be subject to economic pressures, and diplomatic pressures, keeping military means as a truly last resort and only after U.N. approval. Should this make American hawks impatient they should be reminded that they themselves built up the Afghan and Iraqi offenders, to fight the Russians and Iranians.

Dropping bombs on people to defeat them and make them change their mind is an invention of Hitler. It did not work then, and , please God, it never will. Civilized society can never make progress that way. Remember the story of the Sun and the Wind. The man could not be forced by the Wind to take his coat off, but the Sun got him to do so freely. Violence begets violence. Peace begets peace.

We in the West have the best system of government, democracy, and we can use it to evolve the best form of economy. We have the wealth to alleviate all the worst aspects of global poverty from whence terrorists spring. All this we can export worldwide, with the internet, marmite and coca-cola, Shakespeare and Mickey Mouse.. .We are unlikely to achieve this fully unless we demobilize, stop exporting arms and inventing new and more outrageous weapons.

America urgently needs to spend money on bread not bullets. It needs to make a success of Afghanistan before embarking on any further military adventures. If it bombs places to smithereens and then walks away it cannot expect to be loved, and it is missing the great chance it now has to be the accepted leader of the free world. In general unless it is spending at least twice as much building up as it does in destroying and preparing to destroy it isn’t responsibly fulfilling its world leadership role. And yes, this is also the way to fight terrorists.