Radicalism cannot be defeated by the force of arms

A man reaching the stage where he is capable of killing another human being is not as easy as it sounds. Unless we are talking about a depraved mind, when a person sees targeting innocent people or killing women and children as some kind of victory, then it's impossible for that person to claim to have any conscience or fear of God whatsoever. However, no one is born as a terrorist. To be a terrorist they receive a specialised, and diabolical education. Before giving guns to youngsters, they are rigorously indoctrinated with a false belief that makes them a killer. Just as they can be made into monsters through false education, faith and knowledge, they can become the exact opposite through true education, faith and knowledge. If there are those capable of turning people into terrorists with false indoctrination, we can, in turn, challenge their false beliefs about the need to fight and kill. It is no secret that international policies of combating terrorism and radicalism have fallen short. In the past it was also presumed that military solutions would work, yet each and every time it was proven that wrong ideas and false beliefs will not be changed or eradicated with bombs or guns. This was because leaders of old often disregarded the importance of education of true religious teachings, or ignored the need of the influence of wise religious leaders in overcoming most of the problems of the day. Political leaders are responsible for the future of a country, but spiritual leaders can be influential in shaping people's souls and that is far more essential in solving social problems. The main resource that keeps so-called 'Islamic terrorism' alive are the radical groups that wish to use Islam as a rationale for their hunger for violence. When we look at their ideological background and how they were trained, we can clearly see that their leaders are under the influence of ostensibly Marxist, communist movements and that their followers are largely uneducated extremists. However anarchy and terror are an essential means employed by Marxism and communism. These words of Lenin’s make this perfectly clear: "We cannot reject terror, as it is the one form of military action which may be perfectly suitable or even essential at a definite juncture in battle." (V. I., Lenin: "Where to Begin", Collected Works, vol. 5, Moscow, 1961, p. 19) "... When people charge us with harshness we wonder how they can forget the rudiments of Marxism." (“Speech to the All-Russia Extraordinary Commission Staff,” Collected Works, vol. 28, pp. 169-170) The 'Arab Socialism' movement that deeply shook the Arabic world in 1950s and 60s was a movement that brought together an extreme form of nationalism and fanatical third world socialism. It combined a slightly diluted version of Soviet Communism with an intense Arab nationalism and generally followed the Marxist principles of conflicts and so-called dialectic development. And war never ends in dialectic thinking; according to this mindset there is constant conflict, constant struggle between opposites. Saddam Hussein in Iraq, George Habash in Palestine, General Gamal Abdel Nasser in Egypt, Ahmed Ben Bella in Algeria, Habib Bourguiba in Tunusia, and many others were to greater or lesser degrees Marxist leaders and many who came to power after them were still under the influence of Marxist ideologies and they mixed these atheistic teachings with the Islamic traditions of the region. After being combined with bigotry an impure form of Islam began to spread; however, it should be noted this is no longer Islam itself. Therefore unless an intellectual campaign is started against these ideologies that form the basis of their terrorism, killing the terrorists, or dropping bombs on them or jailing the leaders won't do any good. Indeed, over the decades we have seen this happen time and time again. Military campaigns or the polished world of international diplomacy simply doesn't work against terrorism. When education is separated from religion, and when religion is considered a foible of uneducated people, superstitions and radical ideas can easily flourish and people who come up with dubious religious notions which often stand in stark contrast to the religions they claim to represent, can be held in the highest esteem. An education based on true religion and an intellectual campaign against those atheistic ideologies that justify bloodshed will help rid the world of terrorism and other radical, cruel and violent ideologies. Much as salt dissolves in water, the terrorist mindset melts in the face of scientific discipline. Terrorism and radicalism cannot be defeated by the force of arms, no matter how technologically sophisticated or overwhelming it may be. Sinem Tezyapar is a political analyst. Follow @SinemTezyapar The views expressed by the author do not necessarily represent or reflect the editorial policy of Arabstoday.