That's not what I mean. Individual terrorists are still morally and legally at fault and should be punished, but just because all the blame rests with someone doesn't mean they are the only cause.
I perfectly realize this is your point, but the problem is in the moving from the moral "X stabbing Y is evil" to the amoral "X stabbed Y because X did not have enough protein in his diet" is, in the case of terrorism, self-defeating.
The reason is this. Let's say X really did stab Y, inter alia, because X did not have enough protein in his diet, his brain developed abnormality, and led to lack of control over his actions. It would still be right to punish X (although perhaps less severely) for his actions and at the same time make sure others (and him) have enough protein in their diet.
So far, we agree.
But X did not go out to stab Y IN ORDER to get more protein in his diet, nor did he justify his actions in terms of "I lacked protein". Therefore, in this case, it is not morally dangerous to satisfy his (and others) need for protein in their diet. Heck, it is quite possible that he would refuse, or dislike, this solution forthe root cause.
How would X justify the stabbing, then? More often than not, X would justify the stabbing in terms of other "root causes" he IMAGINES--or pretends--are the "real cause" of his action. If he is black he might say he felt an uncontrollable rage at the injustice between (say) black and white people and his stabbing of a white person was a way to "get back" at that injustice. People tend to find, as the "real" cause of their action, the cause that makes them out to be innocent victims--and their victims to be the "real criminals".
The idea that the "root cause" of crime is opression and poverty, and that therefore criminals should be treated and not punished, led--naturally--to an explosion of crime, as this self-serving excuse filtered down from the intellectuals to the lower class and replaced the idea of personal responsibility, let alone guilt. Apart from everything else wrong with it, it is deeply racist: combine "criminal behavior is the result of opression, the criminal cannot help himself" with the (true) "black people had suffered repression", and what do you get? "Black people must be criminals, they can't help themselves". But I digress.
So, moving on: would it be wise to listen to THE STABBER about what the "real causes" of his actions are and what "injustice" he is out to stop? Should the government, say, raise government help for black people in order to make sure there are no more such stabbings because that is why he SAYS he stabbed someone? Of course not; that is not a real investigation of the "root causes". It is merely a surrender to blackmail, which would almost certainly cause more, not less, stabbings.
I hope the analogy is clear.
To consider the root causes of terror is one thing. The real "root cause" of terror, however, is rather obvious: the nefarious, bigoted, chauvinistic, and violent ideology known as "radical Islam", "Wahhabi Islam", or sometimes "Islamism". That is the real root cause--the equivalence of lack of protein in the diet--and THAT is something to fight indeed. Yes, it is possible that other causes play a role, but this is the main one.
But almost invariably, those who speak about the "root causes" mean nothing of the sort of investigating the real root causes. What they usually means, alas, is to listen to what THE TERRORIST says are the "root causes" and obeying what THE TERRORIST demands in order to stop his terror and sayt that THAT is the "root cause" of terror.
This is not "looking for the root causes"--this is simply surrender to blackmail, giving the terrorist what he wants in the hope that he'll stop. And it does nothing but invite of more of the same, since the terrorist's description of the "root cause" would invariably make himself out to be the victim and those he blew up to be the "real criminals"--with the conseuqent "recommendation" that the "real criminals" should be punished.
I mean, imagine a marriage counselor who says: "Well, domestic violence usually has its root causes in interpresonal conflict between the couples. To get to the bottom of the root causes of this tragic event, tell me again, Sir, when exactly was it that the bitch refused to iron your shirt?"
