St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church

There is a way to end terrorism. Give people something else to do.

This acknowledges that there will always be some sources of extreme, pointless violence against the innocent. These will shock the system, but they are not any worse, in my view, than ignoring the daily suffering of children who can't get clean water.

What should the terrorists do? Well, currently they are growing opium. I don't think this is a bad thing, except that right now they finance their small time operations against our army, and feed our drug addiction. Instead, we should encourage their production and buy it from them. If we offer a lot of money, they will spend more time farming. And less time killing.

Social capitalists like Adam Smith understood that wealth - to a point - changes people. It makes them less likely to engage in violence. But such a policy would require we end the drug war and treat addicts like patients rather than like criminals. We distract the Taliban by supporting them - and other farmers. We continue to support the blossoming of women's education in Afghanistan, work with Indian and Iranian (yes - with!) intelligence to isolate rogue elements within the country. Make the Taliban into a political party, incorporate them into an integrated army.

End the drug war. End it now.