At the U.N. General Assembly meeting in New York, America’s key international allies in the war on terror have delivered addresses to the general body criticizing the U.S.’s approach. These heads of state observe that the U.S.’s over-emphasis on military solutions to the current problems in the region — at the expense of employing political, diplomatic, and intelligence efforts — has created more insecurity and spawned more extremism. Here are a few examples:

Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai:

Military action in Afghanistan alone, therefore, will not deliver our shared goal of eliminating terrorism. We must destroy terrorist sanctuaries beyond Afghanistan, dismantle the elaborate networks in the region that recruit, indoctrinate, train, finance, arm and deploy terrorists. We must ensure that political currents and entities in the region are not allowed to use extremism as an instrument of policy.

Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf:

While we confront terrorism, our strategy must seek to eliminate this phenomenon comprehensively. We cannot do so unless we understand and address the root causes of terrorism today. How are terrorists able to find willing recruits even among educated youth and democratic societies? The reasons are clear. Across the Muslim world, old conflicts and new campaigns of military intervention have spawned a deep sense of desperation and injustice. Each new battleground involving an Islamic state has served as a new breeding ground for extremists and terrorists. Indiscriminate bombings, civilian casualties, torture, human rights abuses, racial slurs and discrimination only add to the challenge of defeating terrorism.

Jordan’s King Abdullah:

There can be no just global order when aggression and occupation are permitted to take the place of international law. When these occur in a region as strategic as the Middle East the shockwaves run worldwide. Our youth are asking, where is the justice, where is the will of the global community? We must answer them by establishing a lasting peace, based on the international legality we have pledged to uphold.