Originally posted by: guru
You can't compare western democratic nations with dictatorships in the middle east. The poorest nations in the west is about as wealthy as the riches nations in the Middle east. And in the middle east there is a huge difference in wealth between the people. This makes the average person extremely poor by western standards. And it is much harder to make a living out of crime since there isn't that much wealth and valuables to steal. And don't forget that the punishments are much harder. Torture and dismembering is not that unusual.
How is this relevant? I'm sure that if you go back hundreds and thousands of years you'll find simialr cases.
In Pakistan for example most children have only two choices, work or go to terrorist school since most families can't afford an education for their children.
Ah, so somebody has to fund those religious schools -- money comes into play; besides, what do those kids learn? to memorize the Koran? It would be the same things if they went out and worked.
I studied some political science and most professors in political science are agreeing that a certain wealth is essential to create a stable and democratic nation. And most nations in the middle east have plenty of people below that line.
I think a certain level of intelligence is necessary, rather than wealth; after all, democracy is the rule of the people, and if people are stupid..... speaking of stupid, memorizing the Koran doesn't make you any smarter, so the usefuleness of those religious schools is neglible; they merely allow those who run them to extends their influence over the children and increase their power.
When people are under oppression or in poverty they will use extreme actions to try and solve the situation. Many also seek to religion to ease their mind. This combination is what has created a large part of the situation in the Middle East.
This is what happened in Iran during between 1953 and 1979.
I appreciate the history, but as I've said in the past: children aren't born with knowledge of all that transpired 100 years ago, they have to be told -- and in Iran they do much more than that: they feed them hatered, as can be seen on the recordings at MemriTV.
After all, the US government blocked two very interesting tapes from Bin Laden, sent to western media shortly after 9/11... If you are interested I can tell you what those tapes said. I can give you a hint: It's something the US government didn't want you to hear.
So, what are these tapes? The way you describe it -- and the fact that you don't include actual info -- makes it sound like a conspiracy bit, just like the assertion that no Jew showed up to work on 9/11.