Ya think?

URGUN, Afghanistan --With escalating violence threatening Afghanistan's future, the U.S. military has a new focus: employ as many of the poor as possible to rebuild schools and medical clinics so they don't join the Taliban or al-Qaida.

The U.S. military operational commander in Afghanistan, Maj. Gen. Jason Kamiya, believes that the more Afghans being put to work helps take away some of the enemies' ability to recruit.

"I'd rather have an Afghan national working on a road or helping build a clinic than getting three to five bucks or whatever the Taliban or al-Qaida-associated movement pays him to plant an IED (improvised explosive device)," he told The Associated Press on Saturday.

"We are hiring as many Afghans as we can."

They are just now figuring that out? You think that if a young man has some prospects for a future and a family, he might be less willing to blow himself up?

Jesus F'in Christ - has the entire world been hit with a giant stupid bat?

Think about how much money was spent to rain death and destruction down on Iraq. Hell, just consider the billions spent to put new spy satellites in orbit. Better yet, just consider the 6 billion that just simply -vanished- in Iraq.

Imagine what could be done with that money to give people a future.

I'm completely serious here - once people have a future, they will reject religious extremism. It's the same reason that religion is so much more pervasive in the south. Poor + ignorant = Bat-Shit Crazy!

via BTC News: