If it is not one cohesive organization that is more evidence it is not driven by religious zealotry, but a cultural anomaly of the Arab world. We need to find and exploit its weakness, rather than deferring to the religion it is hiding behind. We need to publicly emphasize these terrorist/tyrants/killers are NOT Moslems, and we need the help of the world Moslem community to do it.
Terrrorist organizations learned a long time ago that having a top heavy central command structure was impossible to maintain. They disperse and compartmentalize the organization so that catching one leader doesn't compromise the the whole, or even greatly effect it. People have to understand that with an organization of this type, the only way to kill it is to kill the members. They won't be dissuaded, or reasoned with or deprogrammed. And as long as they're out there, a couple of them is enough to form a cell and commit a terrorist act.
Religion is a part of it because religious fervor is what creates the foot soldiers. Men with an inadequate grasp of their own Scriptures and a discontent over their life. If the US has failed anywhere over the last 50 years it was in supporting repressive regimes in the MidEast that suppressed any expression or freedom outside of the mosque. Western history has the same parallel; during the middle ages, if you weren't born into nobility the only place where you had any measure of intelletual freedom was the Church, and so the Church became a center or learning and knowledge, and controled that portion of the populace that the crown couldn't control by force through religion. When the knights got rambunctious, the priest concieved of chivalry. When there were too many knights, they were sent off on Crusades - better to have them a continent away killing infidels than running around Europe armed and hungry. Oil princes made the same deal, they gave imam's freedom in exchange for their promise to help them control the people they oppressed. Unfortunately, this ain't the 16th century, and so there was not gradual shift toward Reformation and Renaissance. It's too easy for those people to see they're living in a sh'thole compared to the rest of the world. Which is a hard concept to square witha belief that you're God's chosen. And then some guy comes along and tells you that the reason is
you, personally, have been picked by God to help correct that. That, that makes sense. Everyone knows that they were born to greatness. And that's how they recruit. You want to meet the most cynical, amoral, nonbelieving person on the planet? Talk to Osama. Religion is purely a tool, a means to an end for him.
So what has to happen is the hard cynical core, the ones who know the con, those guys need to die. And Islam needs a moderating movement, that pushes down to the lay believer the idea that violence isn't acceptable (as Christianity has moderated it's view on the use of violence). Arab countries need more opportunities for creative energies to be channeled into productive areas. And Arabs in general need more freedom and prosperity. One tends to mind it more when your neighbor's activities will get your house bombed if one actually owns the house.
