Today, President Obama sent to Congress the White House’s plan for authorizing the fight against ISIS. The President’s proposal limits to three years the now-six-month-long campaign in Iraq and Syria, but it perpetuates the idea that war is the answer in the fight against terrorism. And that’s a big mistake.

We need a new strategy to fight terrorism, because the one we’re using right now just isn’t working. In fact, it’s only making things worse.

On The Guardian’s website right now, there’s an absolutely heartbreaking story about a 13-year-old Yemeni boy named Mohammed Saleh Tauiman. Mohammed was killed by an American drone strike on January 26, but before he was killed, he worked with Guardian journalists to produce a video about how his family was coping with the death of their father, who was also killed by a drone strike.

That video exposes in a really graphic way the failure of the War on Terror. Not only are Mohammed’s siblings angry at America for killing their father, but in the wake of his death they now also get financial support from Al-Qaeda.

Now, there’s no proof that Mohammed or his family supported Al-Qaeda, but what happened to them is a great example of what fuels terrorism and terrorist groups.

You see, President Obama was right when he said that ISIS and Al-Qaeda are “death cults." They prey on death and suffering, and like all death cults from the Nazis to the Khmer Rouge, they’re really just nihilists who are interested in one thing: perpetuating their own power through violence.

This has nothing to with Islam, by the way. ISIS and Al-Qaeda are about as Islamic as Hitler was Christian and Tojo, Japan’s military leader during World War II, was Shinto or Buddhist. But back to the bigger point about death cults. The thing about death cults is that there’s only one real way to defeat them. And that’s by helping the people who believe in them stop believing in them.

This is what we did after World War II in Germany and Japan. The people of Germany and the people of Japan were totally behind Hitler and Tojo because they bought into the death cult that both dictators presided over. Hitler said he was bringing about a 1,000 year Reich and the Germans believed him. In Japan, meanwhile, they believed the Emperor was literally a descendant of the sun god.

But after the war was over, we won the hearts and minds of the people and we convinced them that their death cult was wrong.

How did we do this?

Read more here.

-Thom

Tonight on The Big Picture on RT TV at 7pm and 10pm... Is Roundup Putting Butterflies at the Brink of Extinction? (check your local listings for stations or stream at RT or Free Speech TV, and catch past shows on Youtube)

Be sure to check out our new videos: CARBON, LAST HOURS & GREEN WORLD RISING - narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio

Big Picture Rumble:
- Jeff Stier, National Center for Public Policy Research
- Sam Sacks, The District Sentinel
- Scott Greer, The Daily Caller

Screwed: Is Roundup Putting Butterflies at the Brink of Extinction?
- Dr. Doug Gurian-Sherman, Center for Food Safety
- Larissa Walker, Center for Food Safety

Best of the Rest: Is Washington DC Close To Legalizing Marijuana?
- Sean Dunagan, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (L.E.A.P.)

Community Square

"Video: Earth Songs (2012), 1 hr"

Wednesday's Daily Stack

Article: "Obama Seeks Approval to Deploy Boots On The Ground in Islamic State War" by Sam Knight.

Article: "We dream about drones, said 13-year-old Yemeni before his death in a CIA strike" by Chavala Madlena, Hannah Patchett and Adel Shamsan.

Article: "At Heroin's Source, Taliban Do What 'Just Say No' Could Not" by Barry Bearak, May 24, 2001.

Book: "They Thought They Were Free" by Milton Mayer.

Book: "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany" by William L. Shirer.

Article: "A Summary View Of The Rights Of British America" by Thomas Jefferson.

Law: "Tea Act", 1773 (GB).

Article: "Fireside Chat. May 26, 1940" by Franklin D. Roosevelt. "Our present emergency and a common sense of decency make it imperative that no new group of war millionaires shall come into being in this nation as a result of the struggles abroad."

The good: "Jon Stewart rips pal Brian Williams over Iraq helicopter scandal " by Philip Caulfield.

The bad: "GOP Rep. Steve King Tweets Cartoon Depicting Obama In A Turban" by Brendan James.

The very, very ugly: "‘Retard, animals!’ New York principal caught on tape screaming abuse at special needs students" by David Ferguson.

Will America choose war...again?
- Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA, 13th District)

Article: "Amid Debate on ISIS War Bill, a Democrat Proposes Peace" by Julie Hirschfeld Davis.

Article: "Marshall Plan" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Scott Walker won't take questions from reporters during London trip following Chris Christie's disastrous performance last week" by David Martosko.

Book: The Thistle and the Drone: How America's War on Terror Became a Global War on Tribal Islam by Akbar S. Ahmed.

Article: "Bush Rejects Taliban Bin Laden Offer" by Kathy Gannon, 13 October 2001.

Article: "Everything you need to know about the Fair Elections Act" (Canada) by Josh Wingrove and Chris Hannay.

Article: "Nazi salute" by Wikipedia.

Geeky Pigeon Alert: "Little Kids Learn The Same Way Pigeons Do" by Carolyn Gregoire.

Article: "Tammany Hall" by Wikipedia.

Site: healthcare.gov.

Case: "Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission" (2010).

Article: "Roman Empire" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Ottoman Empire" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Seljuk Empire" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Muslim world" by Wikipedia.

Article: "The ISIS map of the world: Militants outline chilling five-year plan for global domination as they declare formation of caliphate - and change their name to the Islamic State" by John Hall.

Talk Radio News Segment:
- Ellen Ratner, Bureau Chief

Article: "Alabama’s ‘Ten Commandments Judge’ Defies the Feds Over Gay Marriage" by Josh Sanburn.

Article: "Boehner Tells Senate Democrats To ‘Get Off Their A**’" by Midori Nishida.

Article: "Obama Asks Congress To Approve Military Force Against ISIS" by Nicholas Salazar.

Article: "Obama Calls For “Thoughtful And Dignified” AUMF Debate" by Justin Duckham.

Article: "White House: AUMF “Intentionally” Fuzzy" by Justin Duckham.

Article: "House, Senate Dems Want Clarity Obama’s War Proposal" by William McDonald.

Article: "Obama Urges Congressional Black Caucus To Seek Bipartisan Support For Reforms" by Jim Howard.

Article: "Pentagon: Marines Left Weapons, Vehicles In Yemen" by James Cullum.

Article: "Is peace possible in Ukraine? Key leaders meet to find out" by Laura Smith-Spark and Nic Robertson.

Article: "Elizabeth Warren For President Poll Claims She Could Beat Hillary Clinton In Iowa, New Hampshire" by Cristina Silva.

Article: "Obama Addresses Progress on Ebola Outbreak" by Midori Nishida.

Article: "Officials To Investigate Whether Murder Of 3 Muslim Students Was Hate Crime" by Catherine Thompson.

Article: "Bernie Sanders: Raise taxes on the wealthy to save Social Security" by Rebecca Shabad.

Site: "Goats for the old Goat".

Site: Governor Free Don Siegelman.

Article: "TRNS News Notes- 2/11" by Victoria Jones.

Article: "TRNS News Notes- 2/10" by Victoria Jones.

Article: "Hoping to create a new society, the Islamic State recruits entire families" by Kevin Sullivan and Karla Adam.

Movie: "Charlie Wilson's War".

Book: Death in the Pines: An Oakley Tyler Novel by Thom Hartmann.

Book: "The Crash of 2016: The Plot to Destroy America--and What We Can Do to Stop It" by Thom Hartmann.

Event: Wednesday, February 11th 2015, Washington, D.C "Dalai Lama Double Feature: Both ‘Dalai Lama Awakening’ & ‘Compassion in Action’ – with Director Q&A in Washington, D.C. at Angelika Pop-Up at Union Market".

Movie: "Dalai Lama Awakening".

Movie: "Compassion in Action (Dalai Lama Awakening Vol 2)".

Bible: "Joshua 8: Ai Destroyed".

Quote: "If it's a choice between a genuine Republican, and a Republican in Democratic clothing, the people will choose the genuine article, every time - Address at the National Convention Banquet of the Americans for Democratic Action" by Harry S. Truman, May 17, 1952.

Article: "Earthship" by Wikipedia.

Book: "All the World's a Stage" by Dennis Weaver.

Site: "Arcosanti".

Site: "Cal-Earth".

Thursday on The Thom Hartmann Program, 3-6pm ET

I'll be talking with America's Lawyer Mike Papantonio, Ring of Fire Radio about the issues of the day...

And, the best of the rest of the news along with your calls right here on...

The Thom Hartmann Program, Occupying The Media 3 hours a day 5 days a week" for "we the people"

And don't forget...Democracy is NOT a spectator sport...it begins with you...

Please support the Hunter School, a unique therapeutic boarding school for young children diagnosed with ADHD, Anxiety, Sensory, Mood and related conditions...

Should Monsanto's herbicide-resistant crops be outlawed in the U.S?

Vote here!

Leaked Files Reveal New Bankster Scam

The secret that could destroy Obamacare

Politics Panel - The Liberal Movement is Being Squelched

Uh oh...VERY bad news for people who binge watch TV

The Biggest Welfare Queens Of Them All

Slut Shaming in the Digital Age

The Good, The Bad, and the Very Very Argillaceously Ugly

What We Learned From Ferguson

What's More Dangerous Than Fukushima?

How Single-Payer Improves Obamacare

Full Show 2/10/2015: Crushing the last bastion of organized labor

In tonight’s politics panel, Thom talks about one GOP Governor who is trying to crush the last bastion of organized labor in his state. Marc Harrold, libertarian political analyst and author “Observations of White Noise”, Hughey Newsome of Project 21 Black Leadership Council, and Ben Cohen of The Daily Banter join Thom on set to discuss Illinois Gov. Rauner’s attack on unions and Sen. Sanders calling American a democracy no more.

Stephanie Mencimer of Mother Jones talks the King vs. Burwell Supreme Court case and how an estimated 8 million Americans could lose healthcare coverage under Obamacare.

Jay Heck of Common Cause talks Scott Walker and his efforts to destroy a Wisconsin state agency.

Thom gives his Daily Take – The New Bankster Scam, plus Geeky Science, and The Good, The Bad, and the Very Very Ugly.

Caller: Religious and Political Leaders call for Violence...

Caller: We Must Stop ISIS' Plan to Conquer Europe!

Will America Choose War...Again?

Here's How You Dismantle the ISIS Death Cult...

How do we Dismantle a 'Death Cult'?

Caller: Communitarianism will Save America, NOT Government...

More People Have Died from Lynching than on 9/11...

Whatever Happened to Radical Left-WIng Groups?

In China, Capitalism has it's Limits...

More Reasons why we NEED Net Neutrality...

Capitalism Works Best in an Authoritarian Environment...

A New bill to Protect American jobs...

Caller: Why do Government Workers Need Protection from Government?