The Terrorists Can Be Beaten, But Not the Way We’re Trying
A Q&A with former State Department envoy Farah Pandith on ending the extremists’ appeal to young people.
Farah Pandith has a better plan.
Photographer: Michael Loccisano/Getty Images
Americans can all sleep a little easier knowing that across our government there are people who spend every waking moment thinking about how to stop global terrorism. But we’d sleep a lot easier if we knew they were thinking about it the right way.
In the nearly two decades since the Sept. 11 attacks, the U.S. and its allies have fought three wars and spent incalculable amounts of money and time — and all-to-calculable lives — to wipe out terror groups. How’s it going? Just ask a Sri Lankan. The big problem is that terrorists retain their most important weapon: a theology that can lure young men and women, and a recruiting machine to ensure it does.