Tuesday, January 27, 2009

BARACK OBAMA

Obama Points Out al-Qaeda's Failures in Education, Health Care

President Obama, speaking to al-Arabiya:

Q How concerned are you and — because people sense that you have a different political discourse. And I think, judging by (inaudible) and Zawahiri and Osama bin Laden and all these, you know—a chorus—

THE PRESIDENT: Yes, I noticed this. They seem nervous.

Q They seem very nervous, exactly. Now, tell me why they should be more nervous?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I think that when you look at the rhetoric that they've been using against me before I even took office—

Q I know, I know.

THE PRESIDENT: —what that tells me is that their ideas are bankrupt. There's no actions that they've taken that say a child in the Muslim world is getting a better education because of them, or has better health care because of them.

I want the President to succeed in the war on terror. But I fear he's making the error of mirroring, of thinking that those with very different cultures, backgrounds, and beliefs share the same drives, motivations, and goals as those of the average American. The members of the Muslim world who follow Osama bin Laden and Zawahiri do not do so because they think these guys can deliver better education or health care. They follow them for a lot of reasons—because they want to fight the infidel, to avenge past humiliations, because they just want to kill people—but nobody signs on to al-Qaeda for the health-care plan and tuition benefits.

Obama continues:

In my inauguration speech, I spoke about: You will be judged on what you've built, not what you've destroyed. And what they've been doing is destroying things. And over time, I think the Muslim world has recognized that that path is leading no place, except more death and destruction.

If people only followed leaders based on what they could build instead of what they could destroy, al-Qaeda would never have had any followers. In fact, the history of humanity would have no wars. The fact is, some people do want leaders who are good at destroying things.

01/27 09:23 AMShare