(Washington Times) Mike Hayden - When at the CIA, I was fond of saying that many jihadis join the movement for the same reasons that young Americans join the Crips and the Bloods: youthful alienation, the need to belong to something greater than self, the search for meaningful identity. But it also matters what gang you join. And this gang, at its senior levels, espouses horrific violence through references to the holy Koran. So this is a struggle over ideas, and unfortunately it is a struggle over which we have only limited influence. We can try to set the conditions for success, working to empower and protect moderate voices. We also have to look to our own safety by resorting to force to kill or capture those already committed to doing us harm. Gen. Michael Hayden is a former director of the CIA and the National Security Agency.
2015-04-02 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive