Terrorism is an extremely sensitive concern for most Americans. After 9/11, every household had an opinion on foreign policy, and the consensus was that diplomacy was out of the question. Thus began the extensive war on terror.

Now that we have spent all of this time and money fighting terrorism, are we still unaware of the cause? Even after all of this, it continues to unnerve us because we still cannot comprehend what leads one to commit such acts of violence. 

The actual definition of terrorism makes it even more incomprehensible. Merriam-Webster describes it as “the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion.” The U.S. government has convuluted the understanding of terrorism even further, especially when it comes to ranking individuals on terror watch lists. For instance, Nelson Mandela, the man who became the epitome of global peace and progress, was only removed the list five years ago. It is difficult to comprehend how the list unjustly skews the definition of a terrorist to be “an enemy of the United State government’s interests and/or its allies.”  But real terrorism, the kind that has been committed for centuries, is only causbed by ignorance. Fundamental ideologues rely on gullible people whom they can teach to hate things they know nothing about. It was true of the Spanish inquisition and the conquistadors, and it’s true now of the Taliban and its training of suicide bombers. It is much easier to coerce an uneducated populace than an educated contingent. Consequently, in order to maintain a level of authority, Taliban-controlled areas in the Middle East have routinely shut off any form of education that does not conform to their organization’s agenda. The Taliban has accomplished this mainly through outlawing secular schools or by disallowing certain groups of people to become educated, particularly women.        

Malala Yousafzai grew up in one these areas in Swat, Pakistan. She experienced first hand the Taliban’s war against education, as they destroyed nearly 401 schools. Desperate for the chance to receive an education, she created a blog in the hope that the world would recognize such injustice. Unfortunately, the Taliban targeted her for her activism, and she was subsequently shot be a Taliban gunamn on her school bus. She miraculously survived the assassination attempt and was brave enough to explain to the UN and the world exactly why this atrocity occurred. “The extremists were, and they are, afraid of books and pens..” She went on to explain what needed tobe done to effectively thwart terror: “One child, one teacher, one pen and one book can change the world. Education is the only solution. Education first.” Malala makes a very astute point. In the Middle East, a great number of children are not receiving a primary education. And many of those who join terrorist organizations are illiterate. So when all you know is whatever the aforementioned terrorists force-feed you, your view of the world will certainly be skewed toward their fundamentalist-extremist agenda. This is exactly why formal education was oppressed in Malala’s homeland and why her intentions were seen as a threat to the Taliban. 

Furthermore, when one does not have access to education, joining a terrorist organization is a viable option to escape poverty and sustain survival. Terrorist organizations are well-aware of this and tend to recruit in impoverished areas that lack a formal educational structure. The promises of money, adventure, a heavenly afterlife or anything that can remove one from destitution can be convincing enough for someone to join.

Nevertheless, while ignorance in the Middle East remains at the issue’s core, enlightening individuals here in the U.S. is also vital in combating terrorism. 

As mentioned before, the U.S. government’s view on terrorism seems to be somewhat distorted. It is impossible to fight terror through drone strikes and to “support democracy” at the same time, when an overwhelming majority of citizens in the Middle East oppose them. The vicious cycle of terrorism will just continue if we remain focused on merely eliminating enemies of the state instead of benefiting the real physical needs of the Middle Eastern population. 

Yet, our foreign policy in the Middle East seems to suffer from historical amnesia and ignorance to the wishes of the average person. We should have learned from Iraq and Afghanistan that shock and awe policies only strengthen the cause and justification of terrorist groups, and they provide no long-term solution. 

For example, the better part of the Pakistani population opposes terrorist organizations such as the Taliban, while also opposing U.S. drone strikes in their country. Historically, we have supported corruption in the Pakistani government by making deals to eliminate both enemies of the Pakistani and U.S. government, thus, designating drone strikes as “legal,” though not necessarily democratic, and consequently causing our statements and actions to appear hypocritical. Instead of recognizing this and working with the Pakistani people to create a more transparent and less violent alternative, we continue to do the opposite of what they want, issuing the same ineffective policy and immorally ignoring the civilian casualties. 

In fact, in Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project, the U.S. Supreme Court basically made any nonviolent options obsolete when dealing with the U.S. definition of terrorism. The Humanitarian Law Project gave advice to groups, which included some that are on the U.S. State Department’s list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations, on how to pursue strategies of nonviolence. 

The Obama administration argued that this was “material support,” the same as weapons, and the Supreme Court agreed that it was indeed illegal. Thus, perpetuating the idea that the only solution is to fight violence with more violence.

We need to realize that on both sides of the coin, ignorance will never change anything. Progress against terrorism can only be achieved by promoting education, not by validating closed mindedness.

“Let us pick up our books and pens, they are most powerful weapons.”