With enough guns and spies, the War on Terror can be won. Those may not be the exact words of U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, but they seem to summarize the Bush administration's approach to fighting terrorism. On Saturday, Rumsfeld told European defense officials:

It will take the cooperation of many nations to stop the proliferation of dangerous weapons... and it surely takes a community of nations to gather intelligence about extremist networks, to break up financial support lines, or to apprehend suspected terrorists.

These steps, though necessary, are only part of the solution. They ignore the causes, such as extreme poverty and a lack of basic human rights, that create a fertile breeding ground for terrorism. If addressing the causes is not an integral part of the War on Terror, then every time a terrorist is jailed or killed, another eager recruit will step forward to take his place.

To keep people from wanting to become terrorists, give them food and clean water. Give the children the chance to go to school. Give the adults the possibility to work to earn a decent living. Then they'll find more constructive ways to change their lives than by strapping on a vest loaded with explosives.