ch: Advancing effective democracy_+

The long-term solution for winning the War on Terror is the advancement
of freedom and human dignity through effective democracy. Elections are
the most visible sign of a free society and can play a critical role in
advancing effective democracy. But elections alone are not enough.
Effective democracies honor and uphold basic human rights, including
freedom of religion, conscience, speech, assembly, association, and
press. They are responsive to their citizens, submitting to the will of
the people. Effective democracies exercise effective sovereignty and
maintain order within their own borders, address causes of conflict
peacefully, protect independent and impartial systems of justice,
punish crime, embrace the rule of law, and resist corruption. Effective
democracies also limit the reach of government, protecting the
institutions of civil society. In effective democracies, freedom is
indivisible. They are the long-term antidote to the ideology of
terrorism today. This is the battle of ideas.

To wage the battle of ideas effectively, we must recognize what does
and does not give rise to terrorism:

--Terrorism is not the inevitable by-product of poverty. Many of the
September 11 hijackers were from middle-class backgrounds, and many
terrorist leaders, like bin Laden, are from privileged upbringings.

--Terrorism is not simply a result of hostility to U.S. policy in Iraq.
The United States was attacked on September 11 and many years earlier,
well before we toppled the Saddam Hussein regime. Moreover, countries
that did not participate in Coalition efforts in Iraq have not been
spared from terror attacks.

--Terrorism is not simply a result of Israeli-Palestinian issues.
Al-Qaida plotting for the September 11 attacks began in the 1990s,
during an active period in the peace process.

--Terrorism is not simply a response to our efforts to prevent terror
attacks. The al-Qaida network targeted the United States long before
the United States targeted al-Qaida. Indeed, the terrorists are
emboldened more by perceptions of weakness than by demonstrations of
resolve. Terrorists lure recruits by telling them that we are decadent,
easily intimidated, and will retreat if attacked.

The terrorism we confront today springs from:

--+_Political alienation_+. Transnational terrorists are recruited from
populations with no voice in their own government and see no legitimate
way to promote chan