“The events of September 11, 2001, taught us that weak states, like Afghanistan, can pose as great a danger to our national interests as strong states. Poverty does not make poor people into terrorists and murderers. Yet poverty, weak institutions, and corruption can make weak states vulnerable to terrorist networks and drug cartels within their borders.”
“The events of September 11, 2001, taught us that weak states, like Afghanistan, can pose as great a danger to our national interests as strong states. Poverty does not make poor people into terrorists and murderers. Yet poverty, weak institutions, and corruption can make weak states vulnerable to terrorist networks and drug cartels within their borders.”
— The National Security Strategy of the United States of America, Sept. 17, 2002
Which just might help explain why, when a rich Nigerian banker’s son who could buy his suits on Jermyn Street and his mp3 player from Apple needed to buy some stuff to set an airliner on fire, he had to go to Yemen.