This is just a quick look at how other side thinks. Understanding the other guy gives you the means to beat him. In WWII Japan and Germany knew we were weak because they did not understand us. It wasn’t that they did not know what we could do it was that they could not believe we could do it.

There are four basic types but if you look at each type of terrorist they are ways to fight most types.

The first type is the uneducated fanatic, they are told all there life that all others are evil. They are the ones that blow themselves up to kill others. But if you can get them to question there beliefs by showing them good works, feeding the needy, medical care etc. it undercuts what they have been told. They are the hardest to reach in the first place but are the best converts. Going after the schools that teach (brainwash) them in the first would help stop new fanatics of this type.

The second type is the person that believes he is fighting for his people. They are the ones that want to kill you but do not want to die. Roadside bombs, hit and run attacks etc. are what they use. You need to convince them that your way is better for the people and at the same time convince the people that support them to turn them in mainly by giving the people better lives.

I think the U.S. could do a lot more by going after the minds of the first two types. A good Moslem helps the needy. So ask them why we are feeding the needy, why are we giving them medical care etc. Asking why we are doing what a good Moslem should do and they are not doing it puts questions in there minds. When you can point to the Koran and ask why they are not following what it says that put questions in there minds. We do not want to fight the religion just the way there are following it.

The third type is the person who does it for power. We have that type too. They will do almost anything if it will give them more power. They fear the U.S. because we take power away from them with the idea that people can rule themselves. Once people start thinking that they start asking too many questions of the people in power which is bad if you want to be “President for Life”. It doesn’t matter to them how many people get hurt or killed as long as they have and keep power. But they will also switch sides if they think it is the best thing for them. They are the easiest to corrupt but can never be trusted. A Radio Free Iran asking why the Koran is not being followed would be interesting.

The last is the educated fanatic. There are the most dangerous. They will do anything to win. They are the ones that would kill every non-believer because  non-believers are not human to them. That non-believers are worse then dogs because dogs can not chose and people can. To them if the whole world dies they win because all believers that die go to heaven. People often forget about that. About the only why to fight them is to kill them first.

"Stay Alert, Stay Alive"

Khat (also spelled Qat or Kat) is popular among some terrorists.  This drug played a role on 3 Oct. 1993 in Mogadishu, Somalia.  Some men in Somalia would start chewing khat, an amphetamine, around noon, and would be totally wired later in the day.  The Ranger and Delta soldiers, in what came to be known as Black Hawk Down, fast-roped into downtown Mogadishu in the late afternoon when many Somali men were jumpy and ready to fight, if not downright suicidal, because of the khat.  No doubt this contributed to the reason why so many Somalis turned out to ambush the Americans. 

"Stay Alert, Stay Alive"

I agree, the only way to fight some of the terrorists is to give them what they give you, death.  It seems to be something or the only thing they understand, kind of like the school bully, he will keep picking on you until you royally kick his ass and then he will leave you alone.  If you get the educated ones who believe that, their people are the only just ones in the world and do not want to see large numbers of deaths on their own side, they might give up. Start them asking why they are doing what they are doing, get them questioning their methods and it could do it.  Doing some good for them like building schools, teaching, building clinics might work as well.

   It seems apparent to me that there is a level of fanaticism that is instilled in these people when they are toddlers. This is in-grained hatred of all things western (American) is pracitcally impossible to reason with. People of western civilizations can talk until they are blue in the face, it will not do any good, the basic understanding and acceptance of different cultures is something that these people cannot grasp. Not only can the not grasp the concepts of our way of life they won't even try.   

   However, they will come to our country, take advantage of our governments' charitable programs, profess a peaceful existance, use our education systems which will not benefit us at all. They won't be a contributing members of our culture. This great country is being eaten from within.

   I believe that we should be agressively pro-active in weeding out this cancer, removing it, and monitor activities throughout the world that can affect our way of life. This sounds kind of radical, but the rest of the world needs tosee that we truly NEED other countries to exist. The United States of America CAN be self-sufficient, we just need to get off our lazy butts and take care of ourselves.

Islamic Fundamentalist beware...to quote an old adge "You can run, but you can't hide". You might strike at us, it will do nothing but strengthen our resolve to remove you, be it physically, mentally or metaphorically. WE WILL RISE ABOVE YOU AND DEFEAT YOU.

   A rhetorical questions...When was the last time other countries loaded up aircraft with supplies and sent them here when we've had catastrophic emergencies, like Mt. ST. Helens, the mudslides in California, the runaway forest fires out west, the out-of-control borders between us and our southern neighbors, the earthquakes that ravaged Califronia a few years back? None that I know of. We should subscribe to a level of assistance directly proportional to that countries ability to re-pay the United States. After all, it's our tax dollars that the government freely tosses around the globe without any thought of reclaimation.

God Bless America!

I have to disagree on a few points posted so far.

1.  The four types of terrorists.  Most of what historynut listed is what is falsely believed.  The moment we start categorizing individuals who are involved in terrorist groups into profiled roles such as listed, then we are in trouble.  Yes, they can be guidelines, but not concrete.  For instance, listing the first type of terrorist as uneducated fanatics being the main source of suicide bombers is not entirely accurate.  If you were to look at the majority of the hijackers of the airliners on 9-11, the majority of them had college level educations and some even possessed degrees.  Mohamed Atta possessed a degree in engineering.  Several were law students.

2.  Define educated.  Are you going to apply western standards of education to depict these individuals?  Let's not make that mistake.  Remember, in a good portion of the countries in the middle east an educated person is one considered to have been educated in the Islamic traditions and Koranic laws. 

The key to defeating terrorists groups is in understanding what their motivations are,,beyond the rhetoric.  Ace you quoted Sheurer: " 

Force 1

"Freedom is the sure possession only for those with the courage to defend it."

Acetachyon & Force 1, on the money here.

Know your enemy.

Understanding their motivations and eliminating these motivating factors (the real enemy here) will be the only way to win the war on terror. Otherwise we’re only attacking the shadow of the beast.

All the hubris about our 'resolve' and will-to-win won't win the war on terror… or any war. If anything it distracts us into thinking we're invincible... a dangerously arrogant position get ourselves in. It seems like people are more interested in the rhetoric and minor details (donkey bombs…) or even what kind of rifle or knife work best on terrorists instead of trying to figure the situation out.

If we are going to be serious about terrorism we all must ask, WHY are they so damn mad? This isn’t an answer we can risk getting wrong by guessing at, or coming up with some vague left-field answer like “they hate freedom”. This is far too serious and there’s far too much at risk here for guesses and assumptions about their motives.

Why don’t we cut out the BS and go straight to the source. Ask the terrorists why they want to attack us. Got a few hundred of em sitting around handy in Cuba, why not ask them. Ignore the ones that rant about god’s will or other crap and focus on the ones that have real world complaints. One serious grievance might be about the night of August 20 1998 in Sudan. If we dig deeper there's probably more…

If you believe yourself to be patriotic, then you would only want the best understanding of the situation possible, for the sake and safety of your country.

I agree Hatter.  But the idea that they "hate freedom" isn't really a vague statement out of left field.  It just hasn't been supported by those who make it.  Also, I have to disagree with Scheuer on "they hate us for what we do and not what we think or who we are" approach.  There are too many historical facts that supports it.

The Islamic extremists and terrorists do hate us for who we are, what we represent, and the way we think and they hate freedom.  But you have to remember, this is the terrorists, not modern Muslims as a whole.  You have to keep in mind that for the Islamic extremists/terrorists their main motivation/justification is their religion with the goal of dominating the world under their version of Islam.  I'll support this as we go along.

I think I may have covered this in another post under a different topic, or possibly in my earlier post here.  I noticed some of it was missing and didn't make it into the post.  Beyond all of the rhetoric Bin Laden spouts for his reasons for targeting the U.S. and the West, he has revealed his true intentions in his own statements he issued to the Islamic circles.  I paraphrase this quote since I don't have my reference at hand for the exact wording "I urge all Muslims to make harija (pilgramage) to this land for it is from this land that we will dispatch our armies all over the world to smash all kuffar (infidels) all over the world and to spread al-Islam." 

Now with that in mind, here are other things to consider:  Bin Laden and Al-Qa'ida claim responsibility for the downfall of the Soviet Union.  You didn't hear a whole lot about this in the press at the time.  They honestly believe that their defeat of the Soviets in Afghanistan (which by the way the U.S. helped them achieve) directly led to and was responsible for the Soviet Union's downfall.  Now, the next stumbling block to achieving their desired goals would be the next big dog on the block, the United States.

Further reasoning why the Islamic extremists/terrorists do actually hate us for who we are and what we think:  One of the most revered Islamists today by members of the Islamic extremists/terrorist is Mohammed Qutb.  He wrote a book entitle "Signposts along the Road" detailing the decadence of the West (in his views) after having stayed in the U.S. for three years.  He was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, and was its leading theoretician.  The Muslim Brotherhood was and is a heavy influencing factor on the development of Islamic extremists groups.  Qutb was imprisoned and executed in Egypt in 1966.

Now back to the world domination part and the issue of them "hating freedom".  Terrorist groups real goal is the acquisition of power.  This applies to any terrorist group, not just Islamic groups.  They wish to obtain the power to have the say so over governments and people in order to force and enforce their views and idealogies upon those entities.  For the Islamic groups, the concept of freedom for the people, government run by the people (by the people, of the people, and for the people - Lincoln) runs contradictory to their goals.  The biggest threat to a theocratic government is the concept of a democratic government.  The United States, being the main defender and proponent of freedom and democracy, directly conflicts with them being able to achieve their goal.  Plus our demonstrated willingness and ability to oppose them.

The truth of the matter is, Scheuer is partially right.  All of these reasons, both what he has stated and what I outlined here, are the reasons we are hated and targeted.  You can't ignore one side.  In order for us to be successful we have to see the whole picture and address the problem as a whole.

Force 1

"Freedom is the sure possession only for those with the courage to defend it."