Gates of Vienna has a piece by the Norwegian blogger, Fjordman, which destroys the favorite talking points of people like John Kerry and other apologists that involvement in organizations like ISIS is a result of young Muslims being denied some mythical opportunity. It is really about ideology.
Let us stop deluding ourselves. The real cause of Islamist terrorism is not poverty or oppression. Militant, supremacist Islamism, or whatever you want to call it is the ideology. That ideology infects both rich and poor, both educated and uneducated. There are sound bases for that ideology. They are the Koran, the hadith, the examples of the life of Mohammad and his recorded statements.
The sad fact is that Muslim killers come from the whole range of background and education just as Muslim moderates do. The question that non-Muslims must confront is who among Muslims are practicing true Islam and who are not.
As for Fjordman, he is an educated observer who was studying in Cairo at the time of 9-11 and was shocked by the positive reaction to that event he observed.
To blame it on "poverty" is simplistic. There are reasons that impoverished Muslims turn to jihad -- although no all do. There are reasons that educated middle class frustrated nationalist Muslims turn to jihad, although not all do. There are tactical responses that makes things worse and tactical responses that make things better. We need to think carefully about what actually works.
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