Core Issue (6) - Does Terrorism work?

Cartoons are so insightful in trying to understand another perspective ;).  I'm deviating a bit from the 'Core Issues' discussion... but the question was asked, does terrorism actually work?   Consider this:  Since 9/11 and the resulting 'War on Terror' anti American sentiment has reached quite a fervor in the Miiddle East.  The number of global terror attacks increased three fold in 2004, the year after Iraq's invasion.  The Muslim world and the West are at complete odds, suspicion and hatred on either side.  Muslims have been forced to choose sides, of course defaulting loyally to their Islamic communities as the world polarizes 'them and us'. 

The US has significantly tightened visa and security restrictions on Middle Easterners, issuing 30% or more less visas to Arab Muslims and denying entrance to many.  Trade has been disrupted as companies delay regional investment due to 'instability', and the Western evangelical church is paralyzed with fear.  In one Christianity Today article I was interviewed for, the boycotting of tourism by evangelicals to the Middle East was proposed, as if that would have a positive effect.

Look back at the goals of fundamentalist radicals I posted here.  Have any of these goals been achieved by the actions of terrorists?  It is easy to see the decline of interaction between West and East, the removal of Western influence, and the appearance of a 'cleansing' of Muslim lands as the West disengages. Muslims have rallied and unified, even if only due to sympathy, against the plights of the suffering in Iraq, Palestine, and Afghanistan.  They have rallied against America, caring not about the security interests of the US and her reasons for military action, but the human suffering as US soldiers (perceived Christians) beat up on Muslims.   

Judge for yourself to what degree terrorists are accomplishing their goals.  They'd really like it if you hated them even more, because it would add fuel to the coals of a monumental global shift of power that has been slowly gaining momentum.  The polarization of West and East has accelerated in recent years, and is on a dangerous trajectory.  See this entry comparing the current geo-political situation to pre WWI events.  The author posits that WWI was ignited by a single act of terror, not unlike recent events in the Middle East.

You can make a difference, maybe not on a global scale, unless you have the privledge of serving the state, but with individuals you know.  Don't further the polarization and distrust.  The real conflict is not of West and East, Muslim and Christian, Iraq or Palestine.  The real battle being waged is over the hearts and souls of individuals created in God's image.  People, Muslims and Christians alike, are hungry for truth, for stability, and for peace.  Who better to mediate conflict than sons and daughters of the Prince of Peace?