SAY WHAT?

"We must also engage, however, in the more difficult task of understanding the sources of such madness. The essence of this tragedy, it seems to me, derives from a fundamental absence of empathy on the part of the attackers: an inability to imagine, or connect with, the humanity and suffering of others. Such a failure of empathy, such numbness to the pain of a child or the desperation of a parent, is not innate; nor, history tells us, is it unique to a particular culture, religion, or ethnicity. It may find expression in a particular brand of violence, and may be channeled by particular demagogues or fanatics. Most often, though, it grows out of a climate of poverty and ignorance, helplessness and despair."

Say what? That was Barack Obama's solution for stopping jihad. It was published in a Chicago newspaper eight days after 9/11 and quoted again in the July 21, 2008 issue of the New Yorker, the one with the satirical cartoon on its cover depicting "President" Obama in the Oval Office dressed as a Muslim fist-bumping Michelle, an assault rifle and bandolier draped over her shoulder, an American flag burning in the fireplace and a portrait of Osama bin Laden over the mantelpiece.

Obama's explanation of how to stop Jihad, is typical intellectual gobbledygook. Michelle Malkin called it "a self-parody of blind, deaf and dumb Kumbaya liberalism." Whatever. Obama attributes the 9/11 attacks to a climate of poverty, ignorance, helplessness and despair. Say what? Osama bin Laden is a member of a wealthy Saudi family and attended Oxford. Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama's second-in-command, comes from a wealthy Egyptian family and has a medical degree in surgery.

Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the instigator and prime organizer of the 9/11 attacks, received a degree in mechanical engineering from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. Mohammed Atta, one of the 9/11 hijackers, came from a wealthy Egyptian family, received a degree in architecture from Cairo University and studied urban planning at the Technical University of Hamburg-Harburg in Germany. Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, the beheader of journalist Daniel Pearl was born to a wealthy family in England and attended the London School of Economics, where he studied Applied Mathematics and Economics. And then there were those seven Muslim physicians who participated in the 2007 London and Glasgow bombings.

So much for poverty, ignorance, helplessness and despair. When you look at the terrorists either with or linked to al-Qaeda, and at the leadership of Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad and other Palestinian terrorist organizations, you will find that their leaders and operatives come from upper-middle class or wealthy families and are well educated. And that makes Obama's solution for stopping jihad sound like the musings of an educated idiot.

For those, like Obama, who don't seem to get why 9/11 happened, let me paraphrase Bill Clinton: It's the age-old struggle of the Islamic faithful against Western civilization, stupid!