[A Quiet Boom]

I believe as does the President that centuries of oppression and an almost total lack of freedom breeds radicals with nothing to lose. Liberty is a very reasonable solution because it breaks that particular incentive. I am not naive however and I think the incentive to attack us goes farther than that. We've had a long history of christians battling muslims and I believe many muslims see terrorism as merely a continuation of that battle. The key here is for us to SUPPORT moderate muslims and give them to freedom to practice their religeon, no matter what it may be. The muslim world has many factions that try to oppress one another, Saddam and the Sunni's oppressing the Kurds and Shiites is only one example. The war on terror will last at least our lifetime IMO because it is a war of ideology. Normally that wouldn't be a wise war to fight but when the other side wants to destroy us at any cost we must fight it. If Iraq can become a nation of free and tolerant people, I believe the entire muslim world will benefit. Freedom of religion is one of the most important rights we have in this country, separation of church and state is a very important practice. The US was formed by religeous people being persecuted in Europe and our constitution reflects our desire to keep religion out of politics because after all it is a personal issue. We fought for our freedom from the British and became a great nation. It is not only in our best interest, it is also a duty for the US to at least attempt to give people in other countries the same freedoms we enjoy, especially when they are not strong enough to free themselves. Now that Afghanistan is free and has held elections it democracy will grow and the people will decide the role they want govenment to play in theree lives. At some point the Afghans and eventually the Iraqis will totally reject terror because it will threaten the very freedom they have come to enjoy. The Afghan's already have learned this and the Iraqis' have not. To them we are occupiers and to a large degree they are right but they must be constantly and openly reminded that we will leave once they can protect there country and their new government. Once they understand this basic fact they will rise up and put down the terrorists who threaten the very freedom they are just starting to enjoy.

In the modern era many in the ME see the west as meddlers and to some degree they are right, but they need to know that our reasons for being there will benefit them more in the long run than they can ever imagine. It takes time to get people to understand something they have never known in their lives and the US and our allies need to be steadfast and optimistic. They need to realize the possiblities facing them.