The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Fighting terror doesnÕt always mean blasting away at it. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown showcased a kinder, gentler approach this week, on a visit to Pakistan. He pledged $11 million for education programs and material aimed at poor students. ItÕs not much, given the billions in military aid that the United States alone has poured into the Islamic republic of 165 million people. But it is welcome nonetheless. It is exactly the kind of investment in people that Canada and other allies must be prepared to increase, despite the current economic crisis, to help Òbreak the chain of terrorÓ that links PakistanÕs poor, lawless regions to violence in Mumbai, London, Kandahar and elsewhere. Some Pakistan extremists run madrassas, private religious schools, and recruit young people by offering free or cheap schooling in a jihadist environment. Programs that help Islamabad get out the democratic message and wean youths from violence are needed. So is more international support for closing down radical madrassas and upgrading the public schools. And development aid for tribal areas. Brown is no starry-eyed idealist. He also offered help with counterterror programs, bomb-detection and airport security. He urged President Asif Ali Zardari to crack down on extremism, while pointing out that in Britain, three in four serious terror plots have had links to Al Qaeda in Pakistan. ÒThe time has come for action and not words,Ó he warned. Yet Brown knows the Zardari government has been hobbled by the economic crisis and canÕt finance such reform alone. Last month Islamabad took a $7.6 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund. BrownÕs pledge recognizes that the nation needs help investing in its youth. Other donors should take their cue from him.
