Obama administration says economic freedom will reduce terrorism. The facts say otherwise.

State Department spokesperson Marie Harf is taking some heat over comments made this week to MSNBC’s Chris Matthews about the need for soft power in the fight against terrorism.

“We cannot kill our way out of this war,” she said. “We need in the medium to longer term to go after the root causes that lead people to join these groups, whether it’s a lack of opportunity for jobs….”

Matthews countered that this isn’t a viable strategy since “There’s always going to be poor Muslims, and as long as there are poor Muslims, the trumpet’s blowing and they’ll join,” to which Harf replied that “We can work with countries around the world to help improve their governance. We can help them build their economies so they can have job opportunities for these people.”


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