Why Obama really thinks al-Qaida terrorizes

WND/ By Aaron Klein

Editor’s note: In 2008, WND thoroughly vetted President Obama’s radical background. Many of those original exclusive reports, almost entirely ignored by the establishment news media, currently are being utilized four years later by some media outlets in the lead up to this year’s presidential election. From now until Election Day, WND will present original investigations into Obama and his radical ties with bonus updates.------------------------------

The 9/11 attacks were carried out because of a lack of “empathy” for others’ suffering on the part of al-Qaida, whose terrorist ideology “grows out of a climate of poverty and ignorance, helplessness and despair,” President Obama once explained in largely unreported comments eight days after the mega-terror attacks that rocked the nation.

Obama, then an Illinois state senator, went on to imply the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks were in part, a result of U.S. policy, lecturing the American military to minimize civilian casualties in the Middle East and urging action opposing “bigotry or discrimination directed against neighbors and friends of Middle-Eastern descent.”

“Even as I hope for some measure of peace and comfort to the bereaved families, I must also hope that we, as a nation, draw some measure of wisdom from this tragedy,” Obama wrote in a piece about 9/11 published on Sept. 19, 2001, in Chicago’s Hyde Park Herald.

He continued: “Certain immediate lessons are clear, and we must act upon those lessons decisively. We need to step up security at our airports. We must re-examine the effectiveness of our intelligence networks and we must be resolute in identifying the perpetrators of these heinous acts and dismantling their organizations of destruction,” wrote Obama.

“We must also engage, however, in the more difficult task of understanding the sources of such madness. The essence of this tragedy, it seems to me, derives from a fundamental absence of empathy on the part of the attackers: an inability to imagine, or connect with, the humanity or suffering of others. Such a failure of empathy, such numbness to the pain of a child or the desperation of a parent is not innate; nor, history tells us, is it unique to a particular culture, religion or ethnicity. It may find expression in a particular brand of violence, it may be channeled by particular demagogues or fanatics.

“Most often, though, it grows out a climate of poverty and ignorance, helplessness and despair.

“We will have to make sure, despite our rage, that any U.S. military action takes into account the lives of innocent civilians abroad. We will have to be unwavering in opposing bigotry or discrimination directed against neighbors and friends of Middle-Eastern descent. Finally, we will have to devote far more attention to the monumental task of raising the hopes and prospects of embittered children across the globe – children not just in the Middle East, but also in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and within our own shores.”

Obama’s piece gained little notice outside the Hyde Park Herald, which covered Obama’s state Senate district. The Hyde Park area on Chicago’s South Side is heavily influenced by the Nation of Islam.

Obama’s remarks gained more attention after WND and Internet blogs publicized his piece during the 2008 presidential campaign.

Obama’s notion that terrorists act out of desperation and poor living conditions was directly contradicted in a WND interview in 2007 with a recruited Palestinian suicide bomber.

The recruited bomber said he is driven to carry out a suicide operation to “satisfy Allah and his instructions. No money interests, nothing. No brainwash, no pressure; it is my decision.”

“[My idea of suicide martyrdom] became stronger when I understood what status I will have in heaven if I sacrifice myself for Allah.”

Asked about media reports portraying Palestinian suicide attackers as acting in response to the Israeli occupation or poor living conditions, the recruited bomber called the claims “lies” and “Israeli propaganda.”