From the Stop-the-Presses Department. Someone should alert Condi Rice to this. Will she listen if our friends and allies the Saudis say it? From Arab News, with thanks to Jeff Lastname:
JEDDAH, 10 February 2005 — Labor Minister Dr. Ghazi Al-Gosaibi thinks extremist teachings, not unemployment, are the root causes of terrorism in Saudi Arabia.Gosaibi blamed the spread of terrorism on the “indoctrination that teaches young people they can kill justifiably” and the training some extremists received in terror camps in Afghanistan.
“I don’t believe that terrorist movement has anything to do with unemployment,” the minister told reporters in Riyadh.
Unemployment has long been regarded as a major source of frustration in a region possessing one of the world’s youngest populations. Many also argue that economic hardships also drive young people from the region toward militancy.
“As you know Osama Bin Laden is a very rich man and all of his cronies are quite rich,” Gosaibi said.
I have pointed out Osama's riches in just those terms to many enlightened types who are still stuck in Marxist and post-Marxist analytical straitjackets, and thus cannot conceive that human beings could have any motivation other than economic. They thereupon labeled me an "Islamophobe." So I applaud Gosaibi's honesty. Nonetheless, I doubt Gosaibi will actually face the real causes of jihad violence in the Qur'an and Hadith.
“As you know Osama Bin Laden is a very rich man and all of his cronies are quite rich,” Gosaibi said.
Perhaps he should start up a pension fund for his henchmen.
Now let's hear him (and see him quoted in Arab newspapers) speak out against the state-run tv shows in his own country, that teach these things.
ah yes, the ol' economics-is-at-the-root theory. Do you realize that some otherwise sensible (and non-ideological) people still believe this, young and old?
Let's be honest--it's a copout for people who don't want to face the moral dimension of human actions. If you say it's economic, you both excuse them (making yourself look compassionate) while conveniently bashing the eternal enemy, the Powers That Be.
What a bore...
Nice of Labor Minister Dr. Ghazi Al-Gosaibi to acknowledge the role of extremist teaching and jihad, if not the Koran, but what about acknowledging who the supporters of the extremist teachers are, or is that just too risky?
Thank you! You have no idea how many people I have argued with over this. Poverty does not beget terrorism. Terrorism does in fact beget poverty.
Decreeing that even the poorest Muslim was superior to the richest Jew, Christian, Infidel, etc, is how the upper Arab classes have successfully solidified relations between the haves and the have-nots in the Muslim community. It was further consolidated through the dhimma so the upper Arab classes could keep support of the have-nots and retain their wealth and power. And even more so by teaching them at a young age that others wanted them exterminated blinding them to the true source of their oppression.
They've had it all wrapped up for centuries. It's going to take a while to undo centuries. Now is a good time to start.
In Holland, otherwise known as Marxist Heaven, they really do believe that if you give radical muslims a job they will lose their appetite for destruction. You just can't reason with these people, no matter how many facts you throw in their face.
Often, in searching for the cause to a certain problem, one could end up erroneously pointing to another one of its effects as the cause.
The repression in Islamic-terrorist-states results both in ill economic health, and the zealots of whose ilk we are familiar with.
I would certainly not ignore the role that poverty and unemployment plays in terrorism. If we look at Northern Ireland, plenty of young people become terrorists as it gave them a good living standard above what they could get in that community at that time, they got involved in protection rackets etc. and their annual income was far above what they could have earned in more gainful employment.
Poverty breeds ignorance and the ignorant are easily used by others, breaking that cycle seems to be the approach of the left and I have some agreement with this.
Islamic terrorism is especially potent because of these extremist teachings and the impact of such a backward system on Muslim countries economies in keeping them backward and of course the arrogance and contempt for others that the religion installs in the people.
If I focus on the potential enemy in our midst first, racism towards these people does impact their earning potential, but we should also bear in mind that the majority of Muslims in the UK are from villages and the poorer end of their original countries, so they have a particularly difficult time in developing within such a society adding to their alienation.
Add to that the hold that Islam is now exerting in the UK with backwards teachings and Islamic schools that do not prepare them for work and it becomes a self-perpetuating circle.
However there is only so much you can do and the bending over backwards by the UK and others will fail because the Mosques and other cultural centres are being used to re-inforce the fear that keeps people in line and regretfully a large poportion of the Muslims in the UK are especially un-employable.
The key to winning this struggle is weakening the system of mosques and controls put into place in Europe and the USA to perpetuate this ideology and by getting these people into proper work and properly educated. I have heard that of the 1.8m Muslims in the UK, around 200k have left Islam. I do not know if this is true, but if it is it is extremely heartening.
In all I would lean towards the extreme teaching and extreme nature of Islam is the main reason why the threat of Islamic terrorism is so real, but poverty and ignorance plays a very major part in this and should not be ignored.
A terrorist without a ready supply of canon-fodder is not especially effective. Maybe OBL will have to clean the rust of his own rifle...
"Labor Minister Dr. Ghazi Al-Gosaibi thinks extremist teachings, not unemployment, are the root causes of terrorism in Saudi Arabia."
That brings us back to the findings in the Freedom House report. If extremist teachings are indeed the root causes of terrorism, how does this effect Brandenberg vs. Ohio?
"Freedoms of speech and press do not permit a State to forbid advocacy of the use of force or of law violation except where such advocacy is directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and is likely to incite or produce such action."
Now if extremist teachings are the root causes of teaching, then is such advocacy "directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and is likely to incite or produce such action"?
Ooops. I meant:
Now if extremist teachings are the root causes of terrorism, then is such advocacy "directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and is likely to incite or produce such action"?
At least someone of middle eastern descent has spoken some true words, unfortunately he will probably be dead soon.
A Vet buddy told me their are a lot of drug addicts in the mid-east and I do remember something mentioned about the taliban and drug use, maybe this helps promote their superman mentality.
Rich or poor,all mohammedans adhere to the teaching and preaching of their delusional prophet
and the "words" of his evil twin allah. Their behaviior has nothing to do with economics!
If we want to win this war, we must read the root texts of this cult of hate. Know your enemy.
The koran, the hadith (of Bukhari, Muslim et al.) and the sira (the biography of mohammed)contain the pattern for all their beliefs and actions. They say and do nothing original.
See Catherine's posts, she knows her stuff.
BAN THE KORAN!
While I'm sure that education is an issue with many of those who actually strap on bomb belts, the theory that a lack of education sort of contradicts the fact that those who run the show are "quite" educated. They even get their education here in America and the UK. Many of them see the importance of it in order to fight their war effectively. Right now they just need warm bodies to fight. How long they'll stay warm is another issue, but they're not so stupid to think that their jihad will forever be fought this way. In order to remain a viable enemy they need education in matters like chemistry, engineering, etc. And they get it. They strive toward more sofisticated means all the time. Self-immolation won't be needed.
It's a good idea to push for education for those who are in non-Muslim countries to help them assimilate into a new culture as they will probably be less likely to pick up a gun then. But the thousands (maybe millions) who wish us dead in the middle east, living in their own element, are the ones we have to worry most about. And they're not stupid. They're completely brainwashed but not uneducated.
This is my fever, I am something agree with a saudi, it´s very bizarre