It was shortly after 9/11 while discussing the terrorism problem, a friend said; "we should kill them all". I dismissed it as an off the cuff remark of someone that was very distressed by 9/11. Since then I have, with increasing frequency, heard and read several similar comments that can not be merely dismissed as off the cuff remarks. If you have already come to the conclusion that I am Muslim or a terrorism sympathizer you are wrong. I am a proud born-in-the-USA American and was raised a Christian.

     Most people don't realize how many Muslims there are in the world. The following numbers breakdown the approximate population of the three major religions of the world.

       Millions          Religion

       1,300          Islam (Muslim)

       1,105          Christian (Roman Catholic)

          715          Christian (Protestant)

     Before we can think about a solution, we need to understand a little about some of the things that have led up to some Muslims becoming so frustrated that they have engaged in terrorism. After the discovery of oil in the Middle East the western oil companies, with the support of their governments, did whatever was necessary to get at the oil. Western government covert actions were used to ensure the country had a pro-western government. If oil was discovered in a populated area the people (usually Muslims) were told to leave with little, or no, compensation for their land. If they didn't leave voluntarily they would be forced out at gunpoint. If they resisted they would be killed.

     It has not been only the taking of their land and the killing of their people that has instilled hate and mistrust of the west. In the 1950's covert U.S. activity was largely responsible for ousting the Prime Minister of Iran and the return to power of a pro-western monarchy (the Shah of Iran). The Shah used a powerful secret police force (the SAVAK) to eliminate any opposition. He also allowed the introduction of western ways that were against the beliefs of the religious leaders. While you may not agree with the Muslim culture, they had been under strict religious controls for hundreds of years and the religious leaders, and many of the people, were very distraught at changes that resulted from the influence of the western world.

     For the last hundred years the west has been messing with the area that is now Iraq. During WWI the British invaded to protect the Anglo-Persian oil pipeline. The British formed Iraq from the Ottoman Empire in 1920 and imposed a monarchy on Iraq. In 1958 the Monarchy was overthrown by a group of military officers. A General ruled Iraq until 1963 when he was assassinated and the Baath party came into power. It has been reported that the CIA was instrumental in this assassination that paved the way for Saddam Hussein to become Iraq's head of state. From 1980 to 1988 Saddam fought a costly and deadly war with the Kurds and Iran. The United States supported Iraq in this war with military weapons and related support that included chemical warfare help. Iraq used chemical warfare to kill huge numbers of Kurds and Iranians. This could not have been accomplished without the help of the United States

     The United States operation Desert Storm that was initiated after Saddam invaded Kuwait and should never have happened. Iraq had a long-standing territorial dispute with Kuwait and accused Kuwait of violating the Iraqi border to secure oil resources. Saddam consulted with the USA ambassador to Iraq in 1990 and was told that the United States had no interest in their Kuwait border dispute. Saddam took this to mean the United States would not object to their invasion of Kuwait.

     Osama bin Laden is from Saudi Arabia and most of the 9/11 airline hijackers were from Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is named after the Saud family that seized control of the area and established a Saud Family monarchy. They did this by forming an alliance with a Muslim leader by the name of Abdul Wahhab. This resulted in the Wahhabism form of Islam and it is still the official religion in Saudi Arabia. Wahhabism is a much more radical version of Islam then the two major branches of Islam (Shiite and Sunni). Osama bin Laden is a product of Wahhabism.

     When Americans think of Muslims they generally think of the Middle East and Arabs. There are actually more Muslims in the Far East (Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Philippines, etc.) then there are in the Middle East. The Far East is another part of the world that the west has messed with for hundreds of years. England started conquering parts of the Indian sub-continent in the 1700's and by the mid 1800's ruled most of the sub-continent including what is now India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. England ruled this area until 1947. From the 1600's up to WWII the Dutch ruled most of what is now Indonesia. The west has exploited these countries with little regard for their culture and religion.

     Most people don't think of the African continent as having a lot of Muslims but he number of Muslims in Africa is about the same as in the Middle East. So far the North Africa countries of Egypt and Libya have been the only ones where anti-west terrorism has been a problem. That could easily change if Muslims from all parts of the world join those that feel their religion is endangered by the west.

     Very few Americans or Europeans feel that the war on terrorism is a war on the Muslim religion but how we feel does not matter. What counts is how the Muslims feel. The vast majority of Muslims do not believe that the western countries are against the Muslim religion but it only takes a few radicals to cause trouble and turn other Muslims against the west. Using military means to fight terrorism will not work. Every time the war on terrorism results in the death of a of innocent civilian some of their friends and relatives join the ranks of those that hate the west.

     Using military force to overthrow a government can be very successful. But if religion is involved it is a whole different ball game. Overthrowing Saddam's government was a piece of cake. What was not taken into consideration was the two warring religious branches of Islam in Iraq - the Shiites and the Sunnis. The majority of the people in Iraq are Shiites but Saddam was a Sunni and his rule included the suppression and persecution of the Shiites. Now the United States has helped engineer the installation of a Shiite president who has demonstrated no interest in allowing any significant government involvement of the Sunnis. Most Middle Eastern countries have never lived under government rule that did not include significant religious influence. You can not change the culture of a country overnight. It is unlikely that the Sunnis and Shiites in Iraq will be able to come to an agreement on how to rule the country. It now appears that the interim Iraqi government wants the western troops out of Iraq so they can take control of the country and suppress and persecute the Sunnis just like Saddam did to them. An anti-west Iran type government may very likely evolve.

     This military approach will only prolong the war on terrorism indefinitely. France lived with almost daily car bombings and other terrorist acts for years because they refused to end their colonial rule of Algeria. The terrorism in France did not end until they finally gave Algeria their independence. That doesn't mean the terrorism by the Algerians was right but it existed and the correct solution was to stop doing what caused the Terrorism. President Bush has said many times that he will not let the terrorists win. Which is better, years and years of continued terrorism or removing the cause of the terrorism so it ends.

     We can't change the history of what western governments have done. What they can do is admit that they are part of the problem and want to do what is necessary to resolve the conflict. Many world leaders have said that they will not negotiate with the terrorists. It isn't a matter of negotiating. It is a matter of communicating to find a mutually agreeable solution. Apprehension and punishment of terrorists is not the important issue, the important issue is coming up with a solution that will end the terrorism.

     Western governments need to stop doing things in other countries that are done primarily to support the interests of western companies in other countries. We need to stop economic blockades of other countries. Our economic blockade of Iraq resulted in the starvation deaths of thousands of children and only strengthened Saddam's control of the country. Our long blockade of Cuba has served no purpose. After the overthrow of the corrupt USA supported monarchy in Iran we should have accepted the results even if we strongly disagreed with the outcome. That would have avoided the long Iran hostage ordeal and we would have a good relationship with them like we now have with Vietnam. The eight-year Iraq-Iran war would likely not have happened and more than a million people would not have been killed. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan was wrong but our covert aid to the resistance fighters that resulted in the Russian army withdrawal was also wrong. What we succeeded in doing was putting the Taliban in power and that allowed Bin Laden to establish terrorist training bases in Afghanistan.

     The United States and other western governments need to let the rest of the world know that they have wrongly interfered in the affairs of other countries and that they are not going to do so in the future.