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Raymond Ibrahim: CIA Says Muslims Join ISIS Because of … Economics

Mar 23, 2015 5:46 pm By Raymond Ibrahim

brennanSpeaking at the Council of Foreign Relations on March 13, CIA Director John Brennan said that “the Islamic State had ‘snowballed’ beyond Iraq and Syria, estimating that at least 20,000 fighters from more than 90 countries have gone to join the militant group, several thousand of them from Western nations, including the United States.”

“Left unchecked, the group would pose a serious danger not only to Syria and Iraq, but to the wider region and beyond, including the threat of attacks in the homelands of the United States and our partners,” said Brennan.

Left unclear in his speech is why the Islamic State—which Obama and his crew regularly insist has nothing to do with Islam—is “snowballing”; why 20,000 “fighters” (AKA “Muslims”) are joining it.

Almost one year ago to the day, however, at the same Council of Foreign Relations gathering, Brennan did explain what makes Muslims from all around the world join the Islamic jihad (then under the rubric of “Al-Qaeda”).   After assuring all in attendance that al-Qaeda’s ideology is “a perverse and very corrupt interpretation of the Qur’an”; that “al-Qaeda has hijacked” Islam; that “they have really distorted the teachings of Muhammad”—Brennan still confirmed that, even so “that ideology, that agenda of al-Qaeda has gained resonance and following in many parts of the world.”

When asked why such a “perverse and very corrupt” understanding of Islam—one that has “distorted the teachings of Muhammad”—so resonates among Muslims, the CIA responded by saying that it was being “fed a lot of times by, you know, political repression, by economic, you know, disenfranchisement, by, you know, lack of education and ignorance, so there—there are a number of phenomena right now that I think are fueling the fires of, you know, this ideology.”… Keep reading 

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Filed Under: CIA, Islamic State (aka ISIS, ISIL, Daesh), United States, Useful idiots Tagged With: John Brennan


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Comments

  1. Loretta Pienaar says

    Mar 23, 2015 at 5:56 pm

    Those conditions affect ALL, but only Islamists behead those of a different and real faith in a Loving, Merciful God – they behead innocent people, burn innocent people alive – plus many more atrocities. ZERO excuses or reasons for joining a belief like that. An ordinary citizen surely need not have to say this?

  2. Skippy says

    Mar 23, 2015 at 6:11 pm

    Commies think Islamists fight because of poverty, which is caused by Capitalism. The Islamist is the fellow warrior in the battle against Capitalism.

  3. thomas pellow says

    Mar 23, 2015 at 6:39 pm

    “Author Johnnie Moore:

    ISIS Declares Jihad on Christian Heritage”

    Read Latest Breaking News from Newsmax.com http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/isis-christianity-threat-johnnie/2015/03/23/id/631934/#ixzz3VFdLcLhY

  4. Mirren10 says

    Mar 23, 2015 at 10:07 pm

    ” … fed a lot of times by, you know, political repression, by economic, you know, disenfranchisement, by, you know, lack of education and ignorance … ”

    There are a lot of human beings across the globe who suffer under ‘political repression’, ‘economic disenfranchisement’, and ‘lack of education and ignorance’.

    How strange it’s only mohammedans who respond to these situations by murdering, raping, torturing, beheading, and crucifying.

    I’m just at a total loss as to how to explain it.

    • gravenimage says

      Mar 24, 2015 at 7:15 pm

      Absolutely, Mirren—non-Muslims are not decamping for the Islamic State, nor have Infidels created anything similar.

      And the idea that Muslims would desert economic powerhouses like the US, Australia and the UK for the Islamic State for “economic reasons” is just madness.

      Apart from oil, the only “economy” ISIS has is booty stolen from Christians and Yazidis, slave labor, and Zakat from Muslims funding violent JIhad.

      And the canard that these Muslims are leaving the free West because they have been so “discriminated” against here does not hold, either—some of these Jihadists had good careers as doctors or in high tech.

      The idea that there is more economic opportunity in a violent, chaotic Jihad killing zone makes absolutely no sense. It shows the complete bankruptcy of imagination—pun intended—of materialists who cannot conceive of anyone being driven by other than economic concerns.

      Decent people may have a hard time understanding the bloody violence of Islam, but it shouldn’t be because they are incapable of understanding the power of ideas—even horrifyingly destructive ones.

      This is, indeed, part of the reason so many of our “leaders” appear incapable of defending our *own* civilized values.

  5. gerard says

    Mar 23, 2015 at 10:40 pm

    Brennan is a Muslim.
    Nuf sed.

  6. mortimer says

    Mar 24, 2015 at 12:04 am

    RESIGN, BONEHEAD!

    Brennan’s disproved factors:

    “fed a lot of times by, you know……
    -political repression – Actually they want to overthrow democratic Tunisia
    -by economic, you know, disenfranchisement – Actually, most jihadists are from stable homes
    -by, you know, lack of education and ignorance – Actually,most jihadists are university grads
    – so there—there are a number of phenomena …. – Actually, there’s the ‘duty of jihad’!

    Brennan is an incompetent boneheaded FAILURE and should be asked to resign.

  7. Kasey says

    Mar 24, 2015 at 2:39 am

    Has this CIA chief become a mouth-piece for his boss Obama, to deflect again the real cause of all terrorist violence…..ie Islamic doctrine in all its forms?

  8. Martin Vink says

    Mar 24, 2015 at 3:10 am

    Enough hogwash already! They don’t even like hogs.

    We need to act in a way that makes politicians sit up. They always follow the people to get the votes.

    We either do it constitutionally or . .

    Take back one street at a time . . . one neighbourhood watch at a time . . . one community at a time . . . one district at a time . . . one state at a time . . . with or without police protection . . . until we get the military on our side . . . before the military is turned against us.

    If we do this in mass, the problem will have to be solved.

    Let us make the streets safe again. Let us use this challenge to unify our community and to return to God.

    Read or watch “In Broad Daylight”. Think of this on a massive scale across the USA.

  9. Peter says

    Mar 24, 2015 at 8:48 am

    When our government(s) consistently, persistently and deliberately lie to us, is it (are they) still ‘our’ government(s)?

  10. Prinz Eugen says

    Mar 24, 2015 at 9:08 am

    “Al Quds” Brennan is a hopelessly idiotic servant of sultan Barry Sotero. Religious wars for advancing the supremacy of islam have risen and fallen through the centuries. The Mahdi in the Sudan 1883-1885 did great when they won a few victories — when they started losing badly, the fervor evaporates.

    If the US and allies knock out isis and other terror groups, the present fervor and recruitment numbers will also dwindle. Note the decline of fervor amongst the Axis by 1945! But Sultan Barry is arming, funding, advocating and protecting islam, all the way. This alliance (deal?) with iran must be halted. Falujah and other centres must be flattened — we still have B-52 bombers, no? But do not expect sultan Barry to attack (much loess “defeat’) his islamical allies.

    • G. Hardy says

      Mar 24, 2015 at 10:32 am

      And what happened to the Mahdi? We cooked his goose at Omdurman. The British have an extraordinary record of handling Islam, considering that we ruled over half of all the world’s Muslims. How was it done? They felt the edge of British swords when they misbehaved (as in the Indian Mutiny), but for the most part they submitted to superior force and a higher civilisation.
      They do not respect the U.S.A., which attempts to rule them from afar and bombs them from the skies. They did respect us, because we went in and stayed, and took the risks. Half of all the problems with the Muslim world today are due to the British leaving too soon and abandoning their mission to enlighten the darkest corners of the world.

  11. cat says

    Mar 24, 2015 at 9:15 am

    It was interesting to me that the first few lines of Raymond Ibrahim ‘s article on CIA director John Brennan and his statement that the Islamic State had “snowballed” beyond Iraq and Syria, (due to Economics) used the word “snowballed”. Yes, they “snowballed” right into the state of Minnesota…! Which really is curious that the U.N. and it’s majority OIC countries would send Somali refugees to a very snowy state. Brrrr. What is Minnesota near… that .made it such a destination? The refugee programs have plotted out many counties in the WI and Minnesota. Yes I would say they “snowballed” beyond Syria and Iraq to spread the Caliphate…but Minnesota?c

    • gravenimage says

      Mar 24, 2015 at 7:46 pm

      Cat, the only reason so many Somalis have wound up in Minnesota is because of well-meaning but clueless Christian charities—especially Lutheran Social Services of Minnesota—that helped settle these “refugees”. Once the first few were in, the rest just followed the same path.

      These charitable Christians didn’t intend to import thousands of ravening Jihadists into this peaceful, low-crime state—they just didn’t know any better. And once they might have seen the results of their foolishness, they were too enmired in “political correctness” to be able to admit this has proven to be a deadly mistake.

  12. Westman says

    Mar 24, 2015 at 9:33 am

    I’m going to suggest that Mr. Brennan is mostly incorrect.

    The human mind is an infrormation processor so there is reason believe that it is susceptible to the equivalent of a computer virus or trojan.

    There ia phenomenon, an “earworm”, that can develop after hearing a song, where the song keeps playing in one’s mind. Islamic doctrine might be a “mindworm” that once implanted, is difficult to “forget”. There are good mindworms, patriotism, public service, religion, etc.

    Young people are idealistic and open to many social caused and movements. If they are not given a social cause and made a part of interactive society they are susceptible to being implanted by some other socially connected cause.

    The failure to keep kids away from Jihad, I believe, is actually the failure to implant Patriotism and social connection through beneficial causes. I highly dislike the term indoctrination, but that is what must be done to innoculate minds from the Islamic Jihad virus.

    That failure belongs to the government, school, and parents. The young people are innundated with media that implants no worthwhile objectives. Hedonism and consumerism does not make a strong citizen. A minset that creates terms like winners and losers does not create a cohesive national body and creates the loners who will be most suscepible to the implanting of Islamic Jihad.

    Mr. Brennan has it backwards – the problem is the youth have too much affluence with no effort to implant national ideals and lack of service to others. We made them into consuming machines.

    Islam is implanting in the fields we left fallow.

    • gravenimage says

      Mar 24, 2015 at 8:23 pm

      Westman, you make a lot of good points, but I believe you are off base in one important respect.

      Most of the “Western” Jihadists rushing off to join the Islamic State are *not* the valueless, superficial consumers you cite.

      Instead, most of these “youth” have indeed been indoctrinated—but they have been indoctrinated with vicious, supremacist Islam, usually from birth.

      And only a handful of “reverts” fit your profile—the “American Taliban” John Walker Lindh is one of the few. Instead, most converts are already violent, often criminal. This is why prisons are such breeding grounds for Da’wa in the West.

      But your flaky, unmoored, superficial Westerner more married to consumer goods than anything else *is* an important factor in all this—he is very unlikely to hold solid moral values, and even less likely to fight for them.

      These are the fools who are sleepwalking into dhimmitude, and will drag us down with them if we let them.

  13. Hummer says

    Mar 24, 2015 at 10:49 am

    If it were economics then they have brought that on themselves. It is plain that it is simply their belief that this barbarism exists not economics which is a result of this ideology. Truly elitists are blinded by political correctness which amounts to stupidity-a lack of common sense which is coming home to their undoing. Let us prepare for the worst and do something about it.

  14. Alarmed Pig Farmer says

    Mar 24, 2015 at 12:29 pm

    When asked why such a “perverse and very corrupt” understanding of Islam—one that has “distorted the teachings of Muhammad”—so resonates among Muslims, the CIA responded by saying that it was being “fed a lot of times by, you know, political repression, by economic, you know, disenfranchisement, by, you know, lack of education and ignorance, so there…

    … So there is what? What there is, is Brennan’s functional ignorance of Islam, got with an intentionally malign education about it. Hey, you read and speak Arabic fluently, John, so can you go into the specifics of how the activist understanding of Islam of perverse and corrupt? At the high level there can be bullshit, like that spouted by Brennan, conveniently kept devoid of the facts of the matter. He’s the expert, don’t ask questions. If you wanna disagree with him, do so by dividing by two from a value provided by him, the expert, to get the resultant quotient, a fictional answer based on a false assumption.

    Fictive reality persists by constant application of bad formulae, and worse equations. Brennan speaks Arabic, so what, he speaks total unmitigated pig manure when it comes to answering for the greatest single question on earth: what motivates Moslems to do what they inevitably and always do, sooner or later. They’re back in action now, and the worthless pompous Brennan is flapping his disgrace-to-the-Irish race jaws and flapping his poison tongue.

  15. jewdog says

    Mar 24, 2015 at 10:17 pm

    Rather ironic that this goof heads an agency with “intelligence” in the title. But maybe he just lacked economic opportunity growing up, so that he had, you know, lack of education or he was repressed by his crack-head mother. Being a pathetic loser, he found that being an Obama administration bureaucrat was the only way he could cope. Maybe we can get him a job at Burger King or Steak and Shake in some remote location where he can earn an honest living and do not harm to himself or others.

  16. rabrooks says

    Mar 25, 2015 at 11:21 pm

    But the biggest oil producing countries are the ones constantly pumping out more nutcases………

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