An Epidemiologist looks at Terrorism

I've not yet had the opportunity to meet Jessica Wilson, but I hope to remedy that sad fact someday. Her blog, For the Record, is a collection of the finest and most accessible thinking one can find on the internet. Today, she brings to our attention "Hatred is the virus, love is the vaccine", which highlights a speech by epidemiologist Larry Brilliant.

For those multitudes of Americans calling on our military to level Fallujah and the rest of Iraq, please think about his perspective:

The only thing that will prevent terrorism, if I may use a four letter word, is love.

I'm not speaking metaphysically about brotherly love. I am speaking practically. The Al Qaedas of the world cannot recruit and plot in secret in villages far away, if half the people love America or, better still, what America stands for. That is why it is so important for America to stand for something worthy of love.

Terrorism is like an epidemic. Hatred is a virus, love is the vaccine. A community immunized by love and tolerance can ward off occasional preachers of a message of violent hatred. When there is no one in the village who loves America, we lack eyes and ears and friends and the Al Qaeda's of the world have found fertile breeding and recruiting grounds.