Create Comprehensive Plan, Get to Root Causes

Muslim leaders and scholars in the U.S. have issued an open letter refuting the ideology championed by Islamic State.

This is a short but crucial clip that the Wall Street Journal posted on September 25th.  I have had the privilege and pleasure of traveling to, and living in, the Middle East over the past decade:  first, as a management consultant, then as a Dubai resident in the United Arab Emirates.  I can tell you that Islam is a religion of peace and kindness.  I shared the clip on Google+ with the note:

Any extreme or radical group can commandeer any religion to serve its destructive purpose. 

Therein lies the issue, I believe, with the Islamic State.  I greatly appreciate what Ahmed Bedier and his fellow leaders and scholars relay, which I reiterate here: (a) The plan to resolve conflict must be comprehensive.  Singular, destructive approaches, such as bombings and killings, will ultimately not work, whether by the Islamic State or coalition forces.  The plan must mirror the complexity and depth of the conflict, and thereby adopt a multidimensional tact.  (b) This comprehensive plan must adequately address root causes.  What are the fundamental grievances of people in the Islamic State movement and in segments of the Muslim world?  How well can we understand these grievances, and what do we need to do to resolve them effectively?

It is a simple rule of gardening, that I learned from my mother and my wife: That to eradicate weeds, I must get to their root and remove it.