Alleviating hunger and poverty won’t end jihad terrorism. The Pope here is repeating the oft-refuted notion that poverty causes terrorism. CNS News noted in September 2013 that “according to a Rand Corporation report on counterterrorism, prepared for the Office of the Secretary of Defense in 2009, ‘Terrorists are not particularly impoverished, uneducated, or afflicted by mental disease. Demographically, their most important characteristic is normalcy (within their environment). Terrorist leaders actually tend to come from relatively privileged backgrounds.’ One of the authors of the RAND report, Darcy Noricks, also found that according to a number of academic studies, ‘Terrorists turn out to be more rather than less educated than the general population.’”
Also, does the Pope of Rome really think that alleviating material distress will solve a conflict that obviously has a major spiritual component? The jihadists believe they are doing the will of Allah in fighting against the Infidel. Does he really think that spiritual imperative will suddenly lose its appeal if they have a nice meal, a comfortable place to sleep, and a good job at the WalMart? The Pope, of all people, should be aware that satisfying material needs doesn’t solve spiritual hungers.
And if he thinks that “dialogue” will solve the problem of jihad terrorism, will he travel to Mosul and offer to open up a “dialogue” with the caliph Ibrahim, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi? And if not, why does he believe that “dialogue” will solve this problem at all?
“Pope Francis calls for inter-faith dialogue to stop terrorism during visit to Turkey,” ABC.net.au, November 28, 2014:
Pope Francis has called for inter-faith dialogue to help end fundamentalism and terrorism during his first visit to Turkey.
He said fighting hunger and poverty, rather than military intervention alone, were also key to stopping Islamist militants carrying out “grave persecutions” in Syria and Iraq.
Speaking at the start of a three-day trip to Turkey, Pope Francis said “terrorist violence” showed no sign of abating in Turkey’s southern neighbours, where Islamist insurgents had declared a caliphate and persecuted Shiite Muslims, Christians and others who do not share their ultra-radical brand of Sunni Islam.
“It is licit, while always respecting international law, to stop an unjust aggressor,” the leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Roman Catholics said in reference to the Islamic State militants after a meeting with Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan.
“What is required is a concerted commitment on the part of all … [to] enable resources to be directed, not to weaponry, but to the other noble battles worthy of man: the fight against hunger and sickness.”…
“It is essential that all citizens – Muslim, Jewish and Christian – both in the provision and practice of the law, enjoy the same rights and respect the same duties,” Pope Francis said….