Education and Opportunity

investmenttool.com Opinion

The people who carried out the terror on September 11 were middle class, well educated people. This does not discount however, the fact that they are backed by hundreds of thousands of vociferous supporters that come from the ranks of the poor, oppressed and uneducated. The Bush war on terrorism is hitting the right targets, however the long term war will not be won with bombs and combat. It will be won on the battlefield of education and opportunity.

Many of the terrorists and supporters in the Middle East come from the ranks of the Palestinians. It is not hard to figure out why. Of the four million refugees scattered across the entire Middle East, only those in Jordan have been granted citizenship and a chance at a good education.

In Lebanon, Palestinian refugees are not permitted to work in any way. They are denied an education. They are likely to be shot if they are caught outside their filthy camps. Is it any wonder why many choose to become terrorists?

In Kuwait and Saudi Arabia Palestinians are denied access to the education system that citizens get to use. Those that can afford an education are denied access to the army and government jobs. Of course these government's can't explain why their Palestinian citizens get involved with terror.

Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat has nearly half his population locked up in refugee camps. They were offered housing in 1967 when Israel occupied the West Bank in Gaza during the course of a defensive war. Mr. Arafat decided their cause would be helped more by images of refugees living in squalid camps than by housing and education. One wonders what progress has been done since the Palestinian Authority was established in 1994? Nothing. But all the government ministers got seaside villas built.

The fundamental problem is that the people do not run most of the governments in the region. Their leaders don't have to face the consequence of not delivering an education to their people.

The United States of America needs to deal with these issues on a long-term basis. It is possible for the people of the region to have self-determination, just like almost everywhere else, this side of China.

We don't need to overthrow governments or create instability that would threaten our economy and oil supply. The fact that for decades we have supported governments that don't care about their people makes people hate us. The reason for this, oil is sad. We can support democracy and still have our oil.

Jimmy Carter's human rights speeches in 1977 had no short-term effect. It did set in motion a wave that Ronald Reagan took advantage of. His arms race bankrupted the Soviet block economy and led to the fall of that block. But it was Carter's insistence on human rights that started the process in motion.

Isn't it about time we started to stand up for what we are defending at home?

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Shmuel Protter
investmenttool.com

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