But suppose we (the victims) stop acting as though we are at war with a capable foe and start treating them with the sympathy we accord to any sick person. That changes the frame. An enemy needs you to act like an enemy or it ruins the entire game.Obviously we need to maintain all the military and defense systems we have in place, and improve them over time. But the way we talk about terrorism can change to a framework of mental health. A persuasive president with a good linguistic kill shot for terrorists could change the game.Trump famously suggested that we target the families of terrorists. Suppose we target them for shame instead of violence. Imagine a scene in which a terrorist does something bad and we know his name, so we can identify his family.Now imagine a fully-briefed President Trump talking about the losers in that terrorist’s family, by name. That’s world news. It would get back to them. Imagine Trump talking about how many cousins have inbred in that family. Imagine Trump humiliating the terrorist’s family in ways that only Trump can. Ordinary insults would have no impact. But the weapons-grade humiliation that Trump wields can definitely leave a mark. It might take some testing to find the most humiliating approach, but some form of persuasion would have a permanent impact on the family’s reputation, even coming from an enemy like Trump

Source: Using Persuasion to Solve Everything | Scott Adams Blog