Heritage Florida Jewish News - Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry implied that the world would be better served if the media did not report about terrorism as often.

“Perhaps the media would do us all a service if they didn’t cover it quite as much. People wouldn’t know what’s going on,” Kerry said to the press during a meeting in Bangladesh.

“No country is immune from terrorism. It’s easy to terrorize. Government and law enforcement have to be correct 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. But if you decide one day you’re going to be a terrorist and you’re willing to kill yourself, you can go out and kill some people,” said Kerry, who spoke about how the U.S. will help Bangladesh achieve greater prosperity by tackling issues such as establishing security and fighting for worker rights.

Kerry said terror groups such as the Islamic State attack culture and history, and only seek to divide. Fighting them requires a different kind of battle and “will take a generation or more to solve.”

“It’s not just the battlefield; it’s the minds,” Kerry said. “And if we have too many young people who can’t go to school, or too many young people who are frustrated, or they can’t find a job—if we leave those minds out there for extremists to recruit, then it will continue and none of us would be doing our jobs if we allowed that to happen.”