Pentagon Chief : To Fight Terrorism, Fight Poverty

For some time now, right-winger have been telling me (here and here) that it is nonsense to think that terrorism has anything to do with poverty or social/economic injustice. And the only way to fight terrorism, they say, is with military force. Do I have that right, Howie?

Well, the United States Department of Defense, also known as the Pentagon, disagrees with you, right-wingers. Speaking at an Asian security conference in Singapore today, Robert Gates said that military action alone is not sufficient to end terrorism.

Gates declined to say who was winning the U.S.-led war on terror when asked during a question-and-answer session at an Asian security conference in Singapore.

But he said it was crucial to do more to address the root causes of terrorism, such as poverty and the rule by despotic regimes, which often leads those affected to turn to extremist groups.

Is reality finally seeping into Pentagon thinking? Will the Bush administration be moved by the force of logic? Will Dick Cheney's heart be thawed by his daughter and daughter-in-law's new baby?

Nah.

It is, perhaps, Bob Gates's "momentary lapse of reason."