Over a decade has gone by since Sep.11, 2001, and Islamic terrorism has gone quiet in the United States. Other than the 2001 anthrax attacks, which claimed five lives, and the 2002 Beltway sniper attacks which two men waging Jihad claimed ten lives, there have been no major incidences of terrorism since the World Trade Center towers fell. Isolated Jihadist terrorism-related violence has occurred since then, but none of these incidences claimed more than one life. Yet the United States has spent nearly $1.5 billion dollars combating terrorism during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Not only are the financial costs of the war on terror great, but 6,664 American troops have been killed in combat during the course of the war. Looking back, was seeking vengeance after 9/11 really worth it? Hasn’t all the collateral damage America has caused just bred more hate?

The fact is terrorism isn’t a problem for America anymore. But it cripples the rest of the world. Since 9/11, terrorist attacks have killed more than 35,000 people in Pakistan. That is ten times as many people who were killed in on Sep.11th. And the United States is not helping. While the Obama administration’s increase of drone attacks has kept American troops from coming home in boxes, drones have killed over 800 civilians, 176 of whom were children. How does an Afghani or a Pakistani see the benefits of American democracy and western culture when the United States was responsible for the death of their child? What is to stop them from waging violent Jihad with new found hate in their heart?

So how does the United States deal with terrorism? The answer is to treat it as a human condition, and to not delegate it to a single group of people. Terrorism is just hate disguised with ideology. The shootings in Aurora, CO.., and Newtown, Conn. which claimed 12, and 26 lives, respectively, didn’t have a motive. They were just acts of pure hatred. Terrorism is no different. The perpetrators just cloak their hate with their convoluted ideology and religion as justification. So why wage war on entire countries when so few are responsible? Isn’t the cycle of hatred just fueled and strengthened?

It is human nature to place blame elsewhere. Revenge is a natural thing to want. But if terrorism is to come to an end, more violence is not the answer. America will not spread its ideals of democracy by propagating itself as a war machine. But there is hope.With the Iraq War over, and the Obama administration planning to remove all troops from Afghanistan by 2014, a more peaceful future is attainable. If America can lead by example, and not by force, terrorism may very well see an end.