Civilization

Stepping back, it's really more a case that terrorism is actually an effort to tamper with the ultimate product itself- Civilization. Most people don't step back and look at the target selection for this effort- and few realize that the threats are limited. All terroristic threats are intended to shake our faith in the systems that allow us to live and work comfortably and safely.

Civilization is an exercise in shared trust- Trusting that others share enough values to "live and let live" and providing a structure within which we can cooperate and compete with each other for resources. Money, for instance, only has value because we believe someone else is willing to exchange goods and services in exchange for it- and they, in turn, must maintain the same faith.

Anarchy

Anarchy, being a goal of the twisted minds that can conceive (and carry out) attacks against the very underpinnings of human existence, has some serious problems.

Extinction being one of them. Yes, the "civilized world" can definately extinguish the human race as it dies out. We can kill off all those who embrace terrorism by killing off everybody.

The InterNet

We often hear threats against the InterNet but I doubt that any threat can exceed what we do to ourselves already (Spam, NIMDA, Code Red, Sircam and more) and, while the InterNet is somewhat anarchic as-is, it has it's own mechanisms of control (ad-hoc, I guess, but they are there).

Beyond this, no one will carry out a threat against InterNet resources since any "organized" threat would undermine their own ability to organize (and sustain) any attacks.

However, the InterNet itself, while capable of providing a path for messages to flow for attackers, may not have been actually used for the September 11th attacks since there is too high a probability of detection and interdiction. Even if high encryption has been used, the addresses to/from are still "in the clear" regardless of any efforts to obfuscate the traffic.

The InterNet, instead, has been of more use in educating and coordinating civilization itself; It is most attractive to those who value education, which places civilization one-up on those who do NOT value education.

Tampering with Islam

With Mosques outside of the Taliban's direct control choosing to support the "Murdering Muslim" by organizing protests, perhaps the various other Muslim sects (who are less motivated to commit murder) need to provide a reminder that approving of murder is not a good idea. (After all, if it's approved against non-Muslims, obviously they're surrendering all claims that it's wrong to kill them.) If other Muslim sects cannot talk sense into the Taliban, then they'd better find a way to divorce themselves from the Taliban to avoid contagion. Keeping one's own hands clean of innocent blood is a good start.

How many Muslims, if they thought about it, would willingly say to their religious leadership:

"Here are all my sons. May they all die childless to foster your political agendas!"

Unfortunately, too many have done this- and continue to do so.

I want my children to choose their own lives- and, with luck, have their own children. Maybe I'm selfish, but I'd like my children to outlive me. Why would anyone choose to have children, all so that some "person in authority" can choose to "use them up"? I find it appalling that there are people willing to do this.

I have a daughter in elementary school. Considering how girls and women are treated within the Taliban (and other restrictive sects), I cannot see how any man who loves his children could enforce such limits on his daughters.

So the very religion that has been twisted by a few politically ambitious "leaders" has itself been tampered with. This tampering, unfortunately, will be most evident in the more educated regions of the world.

Answers?