The only viable strategy for confronting the threat of Islamic terrorism was, and continues to be, a search for agreement among Muslims, and among the leaders of Muslim nations, on the forms of mutual cooperation, including police cooperation, that are needed to isolate, weaken, or destroy the militants in their midst.
This is a long and difficult enterprise, but there remains no alternative.
Instead, the war metaphor continues to define the US response and that of several of the US' allies.
The attraction of this metaphor may be attributable to the excessive trust that Americans place not only in their army, which is understandable, but in force in general, which is much less understandable in the case of an intelligent people.
Whatever the case, casting the fight against terrorism as a war has led US policymakers to multiply violent military operations that have absolutely no chance of winning hearts and minds in the Muslim world and may in fact lead to opposite results.
Afghanistan was the only case where a military response was understandable: its government had, after all, given al-Qaeda a temporary territorial home.
But to implicate Iraq, which had nothing to do with al-Qaeda or the Sept. 11 attacks, was a huge mistake, one that has strengthened Islamic extremists and has probably helped them recruit terrorists. Moreover, the US response has strengthened Israel's belief in the effectiveness of military methods, leading to the recent war in Lebanon and the ongoing invasion of Gaza.
Powerless, the international community does nothing. The rigidity and brutality of US behavior -- resulting in many times more civilian deaths than occurred on Sept. 11 -- have blocked any useful intervention by countries such as Algeria, Morocco, Jordan, Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates.
Likewise, the appeal of war has ruled out the prospect of serious negotiations between Israel, Syria and Lebanon. By attacking one Muslim country after another, the US and its allies have created the impression that Islam itself is the enemy, leading inexorably to the so-called "clash of civilizations" that the US says it wants to avoid.
But the US' strategy has failed. Force simply cannot accomplish everything.
The international community must say clearly that Islam is not its enemy and that terrorism must be fought in other ways. Muslim leaders, for their part, should declare just as openly that terrorism is not their choice.
If both sides can stifle their murderous deviances, the hope of cultural and political reconciliation will be reborn.
Michel Rocard, former prime minister of France and leader of the Socialist Party, is a member of the European Parliament.
Copyright: Project Syndicate
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