A friend of mine, whom I consider a great historian, explained to me how to win the war on terror.

First of all, we must know that there are way more Arabs & Muslims out there who would prefer not to have a war than there are those who wish to see this war continue.

However, this majority cannot speak up. Sometimes they are silenced by oppressive governments such as Iran and Syria. But they are also globally silenced by something the West fails to understand: Honor.

Most Arab terrorists in Israel chose their fate as a means of reestablishing their honor in their community. Usually these people were involved in drugs, thievery, rape, or other crimes. This goes for female terrorists as well who were accused of adultery or collaborating with Israel. The radical Islamists latch on to such individuals and convince them that the only way - nay, the best way - to cleanse their reputation and reestablish their honor is to prove themselves by attacking Israeli civilians, American soldiers, British soldiers, etc.

Khaled Abu Toameh says of the recent bulldozer terrorists:

Dwayat, who carried out the first attack on July 2, had lived in his neighborhood with a Jewish woman even though he was never married to her. He was also known as a drug addict who had spent time in prison for rape.

Abu Tir, the bulldozer driver in Tuesday’s attack, also had a criminal record and was reputed to have been involved with drugs and theft.

According to the sources, both men apparently came under pressure from radical elements to do something to restore their “honor” and “cleanse” their reputations.

Ala Abu Dhaim, the man from the capital’s Jebl Mukaber neighborhood who went on a shooting spree at the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva in March, had also been dubbed by some of his neighbors as a “petty criminal.”

In the conservative Arab culture, when an individual is involved in a crime, he is often accused of having disgraced not only himself, but his entire clan. (jpost.com)

Toameh goes on to say that this is common for Arab terrorists in Israel.

So how can we use this theme to defeat the terrorists?
We must take a lesson from history.

World War two was ended by radical means. For the first time in history, humans used the nuclear bomb against other humans. Tens of thousands died in seconds, and many times more were harmed through long-term radiation.

However, the historical and military consensus is that the Japanese armed forces would have continued to fight the Americans until the point of utter defeat, and bloody defeat, costing millions of lives.

Why?

The Japanese armed forces were part of an honor based society.

There are only two options with honor based societies when it comes to war.
1) Complete, vast, bloody, crippling military defeat (which costs many more lives on both sides).
or,

2) Strike a blow(s) so powerful that the honor based society is “allowed” to surrender.

3) See footnote¹.

So with two nuclear bombs, suddenly surrender is no longer dishonorable. Rather, in the face of such force, the only honorable thing to do is surrender. It’s playing, and winning, by their rules.

And just because you win does not mean you cannot become partners and friends decades later, as America and Japan now are.

For the silent majority of Arabs and Muslims to be allowed to claim “surrender,” perhaps we, the West, must package such a claim as honorable.²