ACLJ: "Mr. President, America is Fighting a War on Jihadists, Not Poverty"

ACLJ: "Mr. President, America is Fighting a War on Jihadists, Not Poverty".(Fox).

Now we know why apocalyptic jihadists rule vast stretches of the Middle East, beheading and burning alive all who oppose them.

                                Because it’s too hard to start a business in Syria.

At least that’s the verdict of State Department spokesperson Marie Harf, who declared earlier this week that fighting the Islamic State terror group, or ISIS, means focusing on “root causes,” like economic conditions that make it easier for young Muslim men to “pick up an AK-47 instead of trying to start a business.”

She was roundly mocked for this statement, but was only giving voice to the president’s own ideology. Writing in the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday, President Obama declared:

Efforts to counter violent extremism will only succeed if citizens can address legitimate grievances through the democratic process and express themselves through strong civil societies. Those efforts must be matched by economic, educational and entrepreneurial development so people have hope for a life of dignity.

This is the language of an anti-poverty program – more suitable for the war on poverty launched in the 1960’s by then-President Lyndon B. Johnson.

This is not the language of war.

And it betrays willful ignorance of the facts and of the nature of our enemy. Read the full story here.


Jay Sekulow is Chief Counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), which focuses on constitutional law.