Fighting Terrorism With Education

Problem: In many undeveloped Muslim countriesAfghanistan for the building of schools and athletic
education is not widely available to all citizens. Manyfacilities.
of the boys and young men in these countries getToday Greg Morton presides over the Central Asia
their education in small religious schools calledInstitute. The mission of the Central Asia Institute is:
madrasas that teach a strict fundamentalistTo promote and provide community-based education
interpretation of Islamic law to their students. Militantand literacy programs, especially for girls, in remote
Islamic extremists use these schools as a vehicle formountain regions of Central Asia. This year schools
recruiting potential terrorists.built by Greg Mortonsen and the CAI educated over
Solution: The citizens in these countries have shown20,000 children in the 55 schools that have been built
that they are open to new schools being built within the last 12 years. Nearly 50% of these students
funding and assistance provided by western nations.are girls. CAI makes sure than women are afforded
These schools encourage women to participate andaccess to this education by requiring that the
teach a well rounded curriculum free ofenrollment of girls be increased by 10% each year.
fundamentalist teachings. The resulting improvementThe curriculum at CAI schools is focused on math,
in literacy and understanding of the outside worldscience and languages. Students from CAI schools
creates a more moderate point of view, and reducesaveraged 72% on exams to qualify for middle school
poverty and overpopulation.last year. In comparison the national average in
Every year hundreds of wealthy Westerners flock toPakistan is less than 45%. In addition to building
the Himalayan Mountains in Asia hoping to conquerschools CAI has also developed over 15 water
some of the World's most challenging peaks. Most willprojects and built four women's vocational centers.
hire local villagers to guide them to the summit and toAll too frequently in these regions the only source of
carry their gear along the way. These villagers do theaid and support for these villagers comes from
lion's share of the work for what usually amounts toTaliban militants or extremist groups funded by
pennies.money from Saudi Arabia. These groups take full
In 1993 American climber Greg Mortonsen decided toadvantage of this dependency to suppress rights for
attempt to summit the notorious K2 in Pakistan, onewomen and herd young men and boys into the
of the World's highest and most dangerous peaks.madrassas when they can be indoctrinated with
While Mortonsen did not make it to the summit heextreme fundamentalist ideology, and later by
did learn a great deal about living conditions in thisrecruited for terrorism. The education provided by
wild and remote region. Mortonsen had becomethe CAI schools offers an alternative to this path,
separated from his group on the descent and endedand the opportunity to improve life in these villages
up stumbling down the mountain exhausted andwithout becoming beholden to warlords and religious
disoriented, and without shelter, food or water.extremists.
Fortunately, he managed to wander into a tinyWhen Mortonsen first began his mission to provide
mountain village where he was taken care of by theeducation and assistance to the folks in remote
locals until he could regain his strength. As hePakistan and Afghanistan he did not enjoy much
recovered from his climb he was shocked to see thesupport back at home. Even more daunting was the
rampant poverty and high infant mortality rates (overthreat posed by the local tribal chieftains and clergy.
30%) common to villages in this area.Several times Mortonsen nearly gave his life for his
When he realized that literacy had only beenmission when fatwas were issued for his death by
achieved by less than 3% of the inhabitantsangry mullahs suspicious that he was a spy for the
Mortonsen saw how he could most effectively giveUS government. Mortonsen once survived an armed
back to the people who had been so kind to him inkidnapping by escaping and hiding under a pile of
his hour of need. Mortonsen felt that education wasanimal carcasses as they were being transported out
the key to lowering poverty, reducing infantof town. Even in the face of danger Mortonsen
mortality, and slowing birth rates. He began raisingpersisted and continued building schools and
money to help build schools. One of his requirementsrelationships until his detractors were convinced of
for building a new school was that it had to allowthe value of his contributions.
women to attend. Mortonsen realized that educatingApparently, results speak loudly in these impoverished
the women was the key to making progress onregions. Saeed Abbas Risvi, the senior Shiite spiritual
poverty, infant mortality, and high birth rates.leader in Pakistan, was so impressed by Mortonsen's
Mortonsen was on to something. Studies have shownwork that he approached the Supreme Council of
that in countries where women have receivedAyatollahs in Iran and managed to obtain a very rare
increased education there are consistent results thatletter of recommendation for Mortonsen to help
improve the quality of life in that country. Povertyprotect him from the local mullahs and clergy. As
rates and infant mortality drop substantially asnews of his success traveled home Mortonsen
education increases. Economies grow and birthratesearned the respect of some prominent members of
drop as more women enter the workforce.Congress who are now in support of the work of
Mortonsen understood that poverty and ignorancethe Central Asia Institute.
are the motivating social factors that fuel religiousThere are many lessons to be learned from the
extremism. If he could reduce ignorance and povertysuccess of the Central Asia Institute and the respect
though education; especially education for women,Greg Mortonsen has earned from Muslim leaders. One
then he could reduce the incentive for the religiousof these is a lesson in economics. Mortonsen has
extremism that is used to recruit terrorists.shown that making an investment in reducing
When Mortonsen first began raising money he did notpoverty and ignorance may be the most cost
get much of a response from the famous andeffective solution to terrorism. He contents that, "If
wealthy people he attempted to contact. His bestwe could have the $1 million for the purchase of one
response came from American school children. ATomahawk cruise missile dropped on the Taliban
group of elementary kids in Wisconsin raised overconverted to education assistance, we could strike a
$600 in pennies to help support his cause. This gotserious blow on terrorism." Another lesson is that
the attention of adults who began taking Greg'seducating women may be the most effective way
mission more seriously, and was the beginning of ato combat poverty and ignorance. To quote
program called Pennies for Peace. Today, Pennies forMortonsen; "Girls education is a mighty sword in the
Peace educates American school children about life inwar on terrorism." It makes you wonder if much of
other countries and shows them how the penniesthe money spent on the war on terror might have
they raise can help to make the world a better placebeen better spent on educating women and reducing
for children in other countries. The money thesepoverty and ignorance in the places where terrorists
children raise is sent directly to Pakistan andare recruited.