Bill Clinton Speaks Some Truth

In an interview with Tim Russert on Meet the Press this morning, former President Bill Clinton rendered a very clear and astute judgement about political Islam and terrorism.

My experience has been that most of these terrorists have political objectives which can be clearly defined, and then try to give them a religious overlay. Now, maybe some of the people they get to go do suicide bombings are in the grip of a religious fervor or have been convinced that God wanted them to do this, but religion has been used by people for political reasons, just the way Milosevic used ethnic differences in Bosnia. I still believe behind a lot of this is just cold-blooded power concerns and people fighting over land and resources and all the things people have fought over since the beginning of time.

If only George Bush were capable of making such a statement. It's nothing earth-shaking, mind you, but there are some key points and nuances worthy of noting. Clinton makes clear that bin Laden and his ilk are fundamentally disingenuous in their proclamations. They kill innocents not at the behest of Allah, but primarily out of self interest. And those that carry out martyrdom operations are nothing more than unfortunate pawns that a bin Laden uses to accrue wealth, power, resources and influence. They are a means to his personal end.

So for those who would have us believe that al Qaeda and other Islamic terrorists are simply reacting to the wrongs done them by American policy, a reality check and some perspective are in order. It is, and has always been, a question of haves vs. have-nots and the manipulation and exploitation of that divide. The hatred which is stirred has far less to do with America than it does with America's position in the world. Were it that Brazil were the global hegemon, I feel certain that bin Laden would be attacking Sao Paulo.