Can you negotiate with terrorists ?

Do you believe that if we just negotiate/talk to terrorists and radicals, we can make a good enough argument to persuade them the have been wrong all along - change their ways (beheadings, bombings, murder, etc) and get them to actually honor a...

negotiated treaty ?

One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter.

What we basically have is:

The religious Muslim conservatives in the MIddle East think the Christian conservatives in the US are the essence of evil.

The religious Christian conservatives in the US think the Muslim conservatives in the Middle East are the essence of evil.

Do you see a pattern here?

Both sides refuse to view their counterparts as human beings, but rather the embodiment of evil.

There are moderates on both sides but their voices are largely silenced through intimidation of more pious voices.

Sooner or later we are going to have to talk to "the other side" so we can start viewing each other as brothers and human beings rather than evil to be exterminated.

Isreal just negotiated peace with Syria. Who knows how fragile this peace will be or how long it will last but it is a step in the right direction.

No, because they believe their way is right and we are wrong. I don't think that you can negotiate with anyone who won't hesitate to blow themselves up just to kill anyone opposed to their beliefs. That's why they are called terrorists. There's no trying to talk sense to these people.

of course, but they want respect, as do we.
as long as there is a peaceful negotiation where neither side is unwilling to give and take , it is quite possible. I think that there will always be the radicals who go against everything...but no one can change that.
and honestly, they believe what they're doing is right...you can't just go over and be like ,"Hey your entire way of life is wrong...so um, change or we'll blow you up,"
then it'd sound like we're turning into them?
well, we are.

yes, not with everyone of course
because you cant change everyone
but some people are just a little lost in there life
if someone talked to one of them
that person might stop what hes doing
some poeple just need to realise that trying to kill people isnt the answer
and a lot of people who think like this probably had bad childhood expiriences and things
theres usually a reason for what there doing, and one that can be changed
but then again, a lot of people are stubbourne
and will stop at nothing to get what they want

The only way to do that is to bow to all their wants, which would not be good because they would see that we lost our backbone like Clinton and Somalia. . . Right now all the terrorist are waiting for is for us to walk away so they can come do it again. . . So No you can't negotiate with living terrorists and win. . . Negotiating with a terrorist regime is why we still have troops in Korea after almost 50 years.

 
No! How do you negotiate with people who aren't after peace but instead are after a way of life that forces everyone to believe as they do? They aren't open to negotiations. They seek total domination and actually believe that God is on their side and that the sacrifice of their lives will get them rewards in heaven.

The only successful negotiation with terrorists is one in which they are expedited to their heavenly reward.

the only negotiating we should be allowing is via a 5.56mm nato, taken internally, preferably in the brain stem.

I think that they will have too much ego to listen, especially since they see us as enemies and they probably want us to listen to THEM, thats why they're being terrorists in the first place right?

"How do you negotiate with people who aren't after peace but instead are after a way of life that forces everyone to believe as they do? They aren't open to negotiations. They seek total domination and actually believe that God is on their side and that the sacrifice of their lives will get them rewards in heaven."

which side are you talking about? you've basically described both sides...

 
Americans aren't trying to force any religious belief on anyone. The only thing that America tries to "force" upon others is their freedom to be free and to have the right of choice. And, even then, it isn't "forced" upon any cultures that don't want it.
 

Wasnt removing Sadaam Hussein a way of spreading democracy? The Bush administration said (after they discovered a lack of WMDs) that he needed to go because he was a dictator... The Iraqis didnt ask for it?

How about the wars in Korea and Vietnam?

I would agree with Michael Cera's character on the comedy film "Superbad" that you cannot negotiate with video game terrorists. You tend to lose points, and it defeats the purpose of obtaining cool weapon systems that can kill people with far worse aim than you.

Now, if you're talking about real life, it's not the terrorists you want to negotiate with. You want to negotiate with the moderates in their cultures, many of whom are losing legitimacy by waiting for us to negotiate with them.

How in the world do you "force freedom" ???

also, americans don't understand why they do that obviously.
they do it because that is theyir religious beliefs
im sure some people on this site are so religious, they'd do anything they think god would tell them
well thats what the 'terrorists' do too.
you have to UNDERSTAND them to be able to negotiate
honestly, a lot of people are being ignorant on this chain
there are reasons behind actions and yes, of course we can negotiate
but blowing people up and changing their way of life is not negotiating
its imperialism.

That depends on what their motives are. If they are motivated by religious zealotry, then negotiation is probably hopeless, but it might still be worth trying, since war is so much more expensive than negotiation. And regardless of how tilted the odds are in your favor, the outcome of war is almost never what it was predicted to be.

If they are motivated by some sense of injustice, then yes, it is possible to negotiate with them

" The only thing that America tries to 'force' upon others is their freedom to be free and to have the right of choice."

Unless those others choose a government that isn't friendly to US interests.

You can't negotiate with terrorists whilst they are threatening or carrying out terrorist action. To do so is to legitimise their activities. There may be some possibilities for negotiating with them if they are prepared to hold a ceasefire - the IRA certainly did that because they had actual political aims (despite an evil way of trying to reach them). Perhaps modern terrorists are not interested in political aims, so that type of negotiation is not an issue. I like mjax1979's second point best.

foxxy18146 - Simple: if they want respect (terrorists) they have to treat others with respect - forcing others to believe as they do or face death is hardly respect - killing innocents - caring less about collateral damage - beheading is not torture - is hardly respect - can't believe you can even attempt to justify that - so you believe this is right, no this is EVIL - my God addressed this matter in is Word: 'Thou shalt not kill' !! - I will never understand so-called warriors that only 'sucker-punch' - seems if they are so very brave, they would take on armies, I say again, armies (not civilians) face to face, not hit and run, run, run - setting second bombs to ensure responding rescue workers are killed and maimed also, unbelieveable - I read an article where one of the men? said: 'Every morning, beat your wife, if you don't know why, she does' - you might try to UNDERSTAND yourself - this is my opinion to which I am entitled addressing the terrorists issue, as you are yours...Take care !!

In the case of the current situation with terrorists they are practising what they call jihad, not sure if I spelled that right. Not all Muslims believe the west is the enemy, but those who are practising jihad certainly do, and no negotioation will ever change what they want, which is to rid the world of us. I don't believe negotiation is the right answer, because with extreemests, the only thing they will want is the ultimate surrender of the west.

You wont see e waving a white flag anytime soon. Sorry!

amblessed, thats YOUR god, not theirs.
they think thats what their god is saying.
there are other beliefs beside christianity out there you know.
I disagree with the terrorist actions, and I disagree with the US response to them also.
you can't negotiate with them if you go over and expect EVERYTHING to be handed over to your side.
its unreasonable.
why don't you put yourself in their skin for more than 5 minutes and realize that they believe what they're doing is right

To negotiate is useless when the other party's stated intent going in, is your elimination off the face of the earth - you can put yourself in their skin if you like - I certainly have no desire figuratively or literally - we'll agree to disagree on coddling terrorists...Take care !!