Obama and the ‘Causes’ of Terrorism

In Spain we have spent years fighting the theory of the “causes” of terrorism: the idea that if terrorists kill it is because there are certain causes like poverty, oppression or provocation. This is to look at external circumstances and not at the mere will of an individual who makes the decision to kill instead of opting for peaceful methods of protest, defense or resistance.

And now U.S. president Barack Obama makes a statement justifying the theory of the “causes” of terrorism. A few hours ago, on ABC, Obama said that the Koran burning promoted by the fanatical Terry Jones “is a recruitment bonanza for al-Qaida” and that it can lead to serious and violent incidents in several countries.

Obama’s subconscious, which is that of the Alliance of Civilizations, has played a dirty trick on him. He would never say that fanatical and extremist acts against Westerners and Christians in Muslim countries function either as a recruiting tool for anti-Muslim terrorists or as a reason for serious violence in the West, but he does believe that it happens the other way around. In other words, he says that al-Qaida is not just a group of bloodthirsty people but one that has “causes.”

If we accept Obama’s argument, we may conclude that terrorist groups will be created in the West in order to attack the provocations of Muslim extremists. Because, remember, the Muslim countries have a very high percentages of individuals with extremist and fanatic tendencies equaling those of Jones, although they go in the other direction (just have a look at the Pew Research Center surveys). But no, they do not create terrorists, but rather pacific, democratic condemnation and rejection, which Obama should well know.