More on the roots of terrorism

Poverty and injustice are the root cause of terrorism, we are told, time and again. Why then this?

Riedel also focused attention on the fact that the LeT's greatest strength comes from the Pakistani diaspora, particularly in the UK and the UAE. "This group has extremely close links and is very active in the Pakistani diaspora in the UK. Some 800,000 strong. And, in the Persian Gulf, almost 2 million strong, where it raises much of its funding," Riedel said....

"This is a group that was founded in the late 1980s and early 1990s with the assistance of the ISI and with the assistance of Osama bin Laden, who was an important early fundraiser for the group. Osama's then spiritual mentor, a Palestinian named Abdullah Azam, was one of the charter members in the creation of the LeT. It was formally announced as an organization in Afghanistan's Kunar province, long a stronghold of Al Qaeda."