most terrorists are far from stupid

Submitted by Jeff (United States), Oct 14, 2005 at 17:46

The problem with this article is not that it provides useful advice to the enemy, as some have claimed, but rather that it encourages readers to underestimate our jihadist enemies by suggesting that they are often stupid. The sad fact is that human beings engaged in virtually any enterprise often make mistakes, including astonishingly dumb mistakes - need I mention the colossal series of blunders made by this administration in post-Saddam Iraq? - but acknowledging human imperfection and foolishness is scarcely a reason to conclude that they are not dangerous. Since most terrorist leaders and ideologues, and indeed many of their followers as well, stem from relatively privileged, well-educated segments of their societies, it would be very unwise indeed to assume that the blunders made by a few poorly-trained or careless militants are somehow representative.

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