[sapper740]

The overarching obstacle to fighting global Islamic terrorism is ending Moslem people's ignorance of Western values and culture and their government's fight to keep them uninformed.
I noticed this first hand after befriending several Syrians while serving in the Golan heights. Syria was, and is, even after the death of Hafez Assad, still very much a police state. Access to outside news and information is tightly controlled by the State to keep the Syrian people from being tainted by thoughts of personal liberty and democracy. In Damascus, there is a silver merchant who goes by the name of "Silver Mike". Any fellow Canadians who served with UNDOF will know him well. He was friendly and relatively knowledgeable of the world through his contacts with the many countries that have comprised UNDOF over the years. Syrian silversmiths are some of the best in the world and make a beautiful and intricate silver chain we called "Bird's nest" I wanted to import jewelry to Canada after my tour in the Middle East and Silver Mike was more than willing to join in a commercial venture that may see him greatly expand his sales. I noticed he had a computer and asked if he had Internet access. "Sadly, no," he responded. Mike told me he has applied to the government for Internet access and is still waiting for an answer. "How long since you applied?", I asked. "Two years ago!", came Mike's reply! I guess not even Baksheesh will get you Internet access in an Islamic police state! I kept Mike's address and attempted to contact him by Post after my return to Canada, but all letters were returned as "Undeliverable" I also made attempts to stay in touch with friends I made in Homs and Khan Arnabe, all unsuccessful after I finished my tour.
My time in the Middle East opened my eyes to the real hurdle to fighting terrorism. Ignorance! The more any Moslem in Syria knew about the West, the less he was likely to hate us. And I'm not just talikng about merchants who were hoping to fleece us of our money, I'm talking about the many soldiers, officers, school kids, waiters, Bedouins, government officials, fire fighters, and just plain folk I met on the streets in Syria.
Under the umbrella of the despotic governments in the Middle East, terrorism thrives. Hamas and Hezbollah et al carry on with government support. In a system that the Nazis would envy, Islamic fundamentalist schools, under the guise of providing education and meals for the children, keep a continous supply of martyrs available for the terrorists.
The only answer I see to ending the growth of Islamic terrorism is education. At least two or three generations of education. And how do we convince the governments of the Arab countries to allow free thought in their education system and daily lives of their citizens? We turf the bastards out by force, if necessary and institute democracies in all the countries of the world.