Counter-Terrorism: We Like Them Ignorant

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September 6, 2006: The problem with the Iraqi Army not recruiting illiterates is that some tribes, those with the highest rates of illiteracy, are feeling "slighted" that their boys are not getting a piece of the action. Since illiteracy is particularly prevalent in Anbar province (western Iraq), it means these tribes may be more prone to support al Qaeda, which apparently has been spreading cash around like mad. Since the government uses jobs in the army and police as a form of patronage, the terrorists have an edge in areas where there is high illiteracy. But this has always been the case. While the college educated terrorists get the most publicity, the mass of al Qaeda supporters tend to be from the other end of the educational scale. The terrorists prefer it this way, because most of the opposition to Islamic terrorism in the Moslem world comes from the more educated.

 


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