by Ted Sherman

Created on: February 08, 2007   Last Updated: April 19, 2007

An impossibility. These murderous gangs in the Middle East, hiding behind the guise of religion, nationalism and blind hatred for outsiders, have been using terror as a way of life for at least 50 years. The religious extremists have been killing each other there for at least the past thousand years. As weapons got more sophisticated and easily available, and the gangs began to receive unlimited supplies, "volunteers" and encouragement from nearby rogue nations with their own anti-US agendas, the scenario for continued terror attacks was set.

As far as the US is concerned, the only policy to pursue to avoid future attacks is to follow President Teddy Roosevelt's admonition, "Speak softly, but carry a big stick." US diplomats must go to the source, and as unpleasant and frustrating as it will be, sit down with Middle East government officials who support terrorist organizations. The outlook for successful negotiations at this time is extremely poor, because their past record of dealings with the US is full of deceit and broken promises that were never real to begin with. However, the "speak softly" must be attempted for the sake of peace, even if it provides just a faint glimmer of hope that the US won't be forced to face another generation or more of violence.

If negotiations don't work or agreements are broken, it will be time to apply "the big stick." That could be the threat of anything from a full scale, no-holds-barred invasion of the offending terrorist areas, no matter where they are hiding, to nuclear attacks. This could be unthinkable to some Americans. But can they answer the question: Do you want the US to wait the few years we have left until the anti-US nations are able to launch their own nuclear weapons at us?

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