Quote:The question perhaps everybody is asking: how to stop it? It is now crystal clear that no amount of money, sermons, fire power and drones can solve the problem. Had it been the case, the United States with its matchless money, firepower and highly sophisticated intelligence network could have succeeded long time ago.

Just a reminder, the combined budget allocation for the Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security is over a trillion dollar (yes, $1,000 billion). A bulk of that money is designed to bolster security inside the US and crush religious extremism in and outside America.

What we’re noticing, with increasing fear, that the money and firepower have hardly made any progress toward achieving that twin purpose. Rather it appears to be rising with intensity and ever more horror. The recent mass shooting in an Orlando gay nightclub, which claimed 49 lives, is a case in point.

Frankly, the only people who appear to be benefiting most out of this huge expenditure are the so called security experts, analysts and defense contractors. I can bet that you’ll bump into one of these people if you happen to walk around Washington DC. Being a resident of the greater metropolitan Washington area for nearly 15 years, I can vouch for that. They have made millions by selling their so called expertise. According to a column I read a few years ago by Tom Friedman of The New York Times, the defense contractors made over $42 billion out of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And despite President Obama’s firm commitment to end the two wars, American soldiers are still there and will be for indefinite period. So are the defense contractors.

Quote:To be blunt, there’s no way the US and its allies both in the West and the Muslim world can win this battle. Frankly, it’s the US policy which is mostly responsible for the abetment and spread of militant Islam around the world.

Take, for instance, its Middle East policy. For over 60 years, America’s myopic, brazen backing of Israel vis-a vis the Palestinians have stoked anger, not only among Muslims but among sane, rational people around the world. Remember the TV footages you see about how Israeli forces respond with war planes and armored vehicles when Palestinians throw rocks and firebombs at them. People also often watch on TV that the United States is the only country that vetoes any resolution in the UN Security Council against Israel, condemning its atrocities on the hapless Palestinians.