The war against terrorism can be won only with books, not bullets.
If you doubt that, try reading a book called Three Cups Of Tea. It's been an uplifting part of my summer reading, and I highly recommend it.
It's the story of an American mountain climber, Greg Mortenson, who fails in an attempt to scale the world's second highest peak, K2, then staggers into a remote Pakistani mountain village, Korphe, feeling dehydrated, disoriented, cold, tired and hungry.
The villagers nurse him back to health.
During his recuperation he realises this remote, tiny community has no school. So before leaving, he promises to come back and help build one.
The big difference is, Mortenson actually does it.
Working night shifts back in the United States as an operating theatre nurse, he spends his spare time writing begging letters and imploring anyone who will listen to help him raise funds.
He reckons he can build a school for less than $13,000, given that the whole village will provide the manual labour.
Eventually, a rich mountain climber offers him the money.
Overcoming one setback after another, including shady dealers who cream off some of his building supplies, he builds a bridge - then gets all the materials up into the Karakoram Mountains and builds the school.
But that's only the start. Mortenson now has a life mission.
Very few children in the remote Pakistan/Afghanistan border region get an education. Funds from Islamabad trickle away before they reach them, so Mortenson sets about righting the situation.
He goes on to build 55 schools.
If this sounds straightforward, consider that many Americans are against it - because he is building Muslim schools - and many fundamentalist Muslims are against it because they do not believe girls should be educated.
And consider the greater educational battle for hearts and minds. Millions of Saudi dollars, meanwhile, are being pumped into madrassas, fundamentalist schools which are the breeding grounds of many a future jihadist.
Mortenson's belief in his cause, coupled with his refreshing naivete, are probably what get him through.
He ventures into situations that make you wince.
He gets captured by Taliban fighters and held captive for a week.
He has two fatwahs declared against him, stumbles into the crossfire between two opium gangs and wins the respect of all who come across his path, from warlords and mullahs to village chiefs and peasants.
It's amazing that one American's bricks and books can undo so much of the damage wrought by the bombs of another, George W Bush.
Mortenson is in Kabul at the time of the 9/11 bombings, but though he escapes, he continues returning to Pakistan and Afghanistan as head of the Central Asian Institute, which he runs with donated funds.
The book's title is drawn from the words of Haji Ali, the first village chief to help him: "Here we drink three cups of tea to do business: the first you are a stranger, the second you become a friend, the third you join our family, and for our family we are prepared to do anything - even die."
Some suggest Greg Mortenson should be awarded a Nobel Peace Prize. They'll get no argument from me.
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