[Airbornelawyer]

Sheikh al-Qaradhawi is a Qatari. Qatari Muslims are overwhelmingly Wahhabi Sunnis. A minority in Iraq, Sunnis far outnumber Shi'ites in the rest of the Muslim World (Shi'ites are a majority in Iran and a plurality in Lebanon).

Sheikh Tantawi probably flip-flops because he holds Egyptian government-appointed positions. I would guess his true instincts are closer to the kill all infidels side, but this is occasionally embarassing to Mubarak, so Tantawi gets reined in from time to time.

BTW, I only linked to one, but I noted four studies: one of all Palestinian suicide bombers, one of PIJ and Hamas suicide bombers, one of Jewish terrorists and one of Lebanese Hizbullah fighters. Unfortunately, Palestinian terrorists are the best subject for studies like this because they present a rather large database.

I can't cite studies but my recollection is that a number of Western terrorist groups also fiot the profile of being more educated and wealthier than the population in general. The Weather Underground was almost entirely college kids and evolved out of a student group. Patty Hearst, noted earlier, was probably the only SLA member who wasn't a college-educated, white and middle class - she was a 19-year old white rich kid. Baader-Meinhof also fits the profile.

The only real point I had with all of this is that if you want to drain the swamp the terrorist recruiters swim in, political reform is probably more important than economic reform. In that sense, we are on the right track by pushing for democratic reform and greater openness. But nothing will ever eliminate all terrorism, so this is still about the best way to manage the problem. For me, the answer is pretty much threefold: (1) hunt down and kill every terrorist we can, (2) push for greater freedom in the Middle East to help cut off the recruiting network (a little DOL) and (3) demand greater Muslim accountability regarding the actions of those who claim to act in the name of Islam. In the long run, we need an Islamic Enlightenment, but I'm not holding my breath waiting for that.