UNITED NATIONS (AP) Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair says the solution to terrorism will require a major commitment to education so extremists can't exploit the ignorance and frustrations of jobless youth.
Blair tells the U.N. Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate that "the soil in which they plant the seeds of hate, is the soil of ignorance, of warped thinking producing warped minds and in particular of a distorted and false view of religion."
"That is why in the 21st Century education is a security issue, and not any education but education specifically that opens young minds to 'the other,' those who are culturally and religiously different; and shows them how the only future that works is one in which people are respected as equals whatever their faith or culture."