“The Madrassa Myth"

The importance of madrassas in graduating terrorists is one of the greatest assumptions of the war on terrorism. Statements by Colin Powell or Donald Rumsfeld backed this theory. Yet, while these schools may breed fundamentalists, they do not teach the technical skills to be a terrorist. Indeed there is little evidence that madrassas produce terrorists capable of attacking the West.
If we examine the backgrounds of the 75 terrorists identified as the perpetrators of the bombing against the World Trade Center in 1993, the attacks on the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, the 9/11 attacks in 2001, and the Bali bombings in 2002, we would find out that 53% had a college degree. Only 52% of the Americans have been to college. Some of the terrorists had even gone to school in the United States. It is known today that poverty does not drive terrorism, and it should also be acknowledged that madrassas have a role to play. Besides, such schools train much fewer Pakistani students, since only 1% of the people attend the said schools.
Madrassas should not be considered a threat to the United States.