Those of you who have been following events in Pakistan are probably aware of the situation with the educational system over there. The people are so poor, and public education is so scarce, that they are basically forced to send their children (mostly boys) to fundamentalist Islamic schools if they hope to educate them at all. These schools are free, like our own public schools here in the US. I believe they provide room and board as well.

The schools offer a curriculum consisting of some mathematics and science, however the majority of time seems to be geared towards memorization of the Koran (in Arabic, which these children neither speak nor understand), anti-American indoctrination, and a large amount of hateful rhetoric targeted at The West in general. Although these children do memorize the Koran, they do not understand what they are memorizing and therefore must rely on the clerics for explanation. The clerics are extremely biased, and use the Koran to instill hatred in the children. In essence, they are raising a new generation of future terrorists. It’s amazing to see such intense hatred in 7 year-olds eyes, but it’s there.

Some individuals I have spoken to feel it is virtually impossible to deprogram these children. The brainwashing begins so young, and is so intense, that they feel there is no hope to rehabilitate these children. It’s just a matter of time before they grow up and follow in the footsteps of the Taliban.

Here is my question: should we kill these children?

Replace Pakistan with America, and every time you write Islam or Koran, read "liberal agenda" and see what it sounds like.

Last time I checked, even the most liberal of us would not kill 6,000 innocent people.

I'm not disagreeing with you, it just struck me as familiar to a conversation I was having with a friend about our public education. As a matter of fact, I posted one here shortly after the attacks that stated I would not go to war unless we were gonna do what was necessary to win.And that includes bombing women and children if it needs to be done.Anti aircraft guns on hospitals and barracks in schools come to mind. BTW, if you dont think that some among us would not kill that many, post something about not liking abortion sometime and see what happens. Religion has as firm a hold over here in some sectors as it does over there.

Sorry, my mistake. I thought you were trying to make me look like a radical of some sort. :) I find this a very difficult question to answer, as I believe children are inherently innocent. Yet, they pose a substantial risk to our national security and to the lives of our own children. Obviously, I choose our children over theirs. What an ugly world we live in.

It is a hard choice,one I think we will have to make eventually, but it's good to know at least some people are bothered by it. While I'm no flower child, all the "kill em all let god sort em out" gets a little old.

We must make them so afraid that they will never think about attacking us again.I think the real enemy is CHINA has always been since WWII.Iraq,Iran and others will not stop till we are destroyed.Stop feeding them and their allies.Don't by their products and demand more from our gov to stop all this humaitarian aid .Sorry but doesn't the consitution prohibit aid and helping the enemy?Should we not as a nation let them starve and suffer for their evil ways.I'd rather ride a bike to work or take a train if it depleats their money.  

Easy for you to say, isn't NJ the train capital of the USA?[:D]
Seriously, you make a point that still bothers me. How will everybody like this "war on terrorism" when gas goes to ,oh I don't know, say 8.50 a gallon? Will we stick it out?

The Islamic schools are called "madrassas".  [url]http://www.jammu-kashmir.com/archives/archives2001/kashmir20010817r.html[/url]

The madrassas have played a crucial role in the rise of militant Islam and the Taliban.  In fact, the name "Taliban" is derived from "talib" which means "student"; the Taliban began as a group of students who saw Islam as a solution to the infighting and moral decay that followed the defeat of the Soviets in Afghanistan.  

There will be no long term victory in the "war on terrorism" unless the US can stop the madrassas from serving as incubators of evil.  But there are several reasons why we can't just wipe them out with a few B-52 sorties:

1) Many of them are located in Pakistan, our unstable yet indispensible ally.

2) Bombing schools and killing children is terrible PR.

3) The madrassas are funded by our other key allies in the coalition, the wealthy Arab oil sheikdoms.