When we read about the newest atrocity by the latest terrorist group on the block, an oft-asked question repeats itself in our minds. How can they do it? WHY do they do it? How can someone willingly murder another person for a vaguely defined “cause", the purpose of which won't even begin to be served by the kidnapping or murder of said individual? The answer is deeply rooted in the psyche of the individual committing the atrocity. To eradicate such evils, we must strike at the root. Terrorists, with a few exceptions, are brought up in a violent environment. They have suffered severe mental and in some cases, physical trauma. They are taught, from a very young age, to hate all those who are not followers of their own religion. These disbelievers are cast in the heinous roles of infidels, and it is considered a great service to the religion if these non-followers are eradicated.

Rarely does a day pass without a war being declared against the latest nation or person to anger the gods of the religion. America is effectively involved in a permanent Jihad, with President Bush often going on television to tell Americans about the " War on Terror ". There are a few television channels that make money exclusively by maintaining attachments with certain terrorist groups so that they get first call on any new grisly videos or speeches that the organization wishes the world to know. Terrorism, to these people at least, is a business.

A sad misconception by the world at large is, first and foremost, what a terrorist looks like. Mention the word terrorist to someone, and the image spontaneously, even involuntarily conjured up in that person's mind is a bearded person wearing a shabby white dress with a camouflage jacket, bombs around his waist and detonator in his hand. Admit it. That is, after all, the stereotypical image of a terrorist, or at least what he looks like. Let us tackle the fundamental problem in this tunnel-vision perception.

Timothy McVeigh. Ever heard of him? Every American has. He was the infamous, almost nationally reviled " Oklahama City Bomber ". His carefully planned and executed bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building claimed 168 lives, the deadliest case of domestic terrorism that the United States had ever witnessed. Many more victims were claimed by his attack than by the innumerable attacks that occur every day. Timothy McVeigh was a decorated U.S Army Veteran. Handsome, suave, and disarmingly charming. Not even close to the stereotype we discussed above, is it? The sooner we get this stereotype out of our heads, the more efficient the war on terror will become. Random people are stopped every day at airports simply because they have beards. So called " random checks " strangely seem to involve only bearded men. Perhaps if a universally and actually random search were to be instituted, countless more attacks would be stopped. Its a fact.

However, there is a truth amidst all this haziness surrounding terrorists. It is a fact that quite a few of them, though not all, match the above description. They belong to a fanatical creed, proclaiming themselves to be heroes of Islam when the very religion is actually a paragon of peace, with the Koran saying that killing and murdering innocents in cold blood is a crime. It denounces aimless destruction, and instead advocates scholarly pursuits and a peaceful life. The true architects of this fanaticism are the demagogues that run the madrassahs, the hard line " Koranic Teaching Institutes. " They brainwash the pupils, with the result that thousands of young men and even women grow up wanting nothing more than to kill " infidels " and go out of this world in a blaze of glory so that they may enter the gates of Paradise, or so they are told. Poor souls. Their entire lives are so hate-filled and concentrated on bloodshed that their lives but seem a sad waste, the tragic question of what might have been.

The purpose of this passage is not to condone the acts of terrorists. Not by a long margin. If they are caught, they deserve the full punishment of the law. But pause to think, because in a way, these are also people to be pitied. If you and I were brought up in the same way, we would have, in all probability, turned out no different.

They enjoy no music. No entertainment. They will not know the pleasure of a family, of raising children. Their entire lives are dictated by superiors who probably don't even know they exist. What a life indeed. If possible, the crimes of men like Timothy McVeigh, privileged individuals who were brought up in a safe and stable environment with no cause to rile against society, are even more dastardly.

But in the end, it all comes down to the same thing. When a building is leveled, it is leveled. It doesn't matter whether it was leveled by a Singaporean or an American. And that is the truth I am trying to bring out in this passage. The war on terror is, effectively, only a war on a particular segment of terrorism, the Muslim fanatical kind. Only if we expand this limited view will we actually progress in our quest to rid this world of the mindless bloodshed that is terrorism.

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