What’s worse, the Administration seems to think that this problem can be solved through community organizing, subsidies, and a jobs program. But there’s not much evidence that the “social program” initiatives have been successful. European social democracies and several US states and major cities have bent over backwards, often for years, to welcome Muslim immigrants, often rewarding them with extra accommodations for their religion beyond the usual "welfare state." Far from being forced to assimilate into western society, they have been allowed to retain their identity, to remain in cultural enclaves, and often to live to the greatest extent possible as if they were still in their homelands. America has told them they don’t have to be like us (in the sense of 'similar'), but has this made them "like us" (in the sense of 'affection')? Not hardly - Violent attacks in Europe have come in places where Muslim immigrants are welcomed and encouraged to stay, even to the point where they are not expected to assimilate, but can keep their own identity and often obey their own rules. It seems that social benefits, rather than making the jihadis grow fond of their new homelands, encourage them to treat western society with contempt. Whether this comes from a misplaced sense of entitlement or a snobbery and distrust for those in positions of power we can't say - but the Islamic radicals hate America and western civilization despite reaping the benefits of the welfare state and experiencing freedoms no one has any hope of attaining in the countries they left; and we haven't mentioned the many hundreds of jihadi terrorists who were educated in top western universities yet try to destroy the institutions and economies that provided all those material benefits and freedoms.
Take this as a fact: the killers of ISIS or al Qaeda are not poor; they do not lack jobs; they are not thrashing out at random targets. ISIS and al Qaeda are wealthy; its leaders are wealthy and well-educated (as noted above, frequently in American or European institutions) and they chose their victims because they are Christian or Jewish or non-Jihadi Moslems, or are working in security forces or militaries that are trying to defeat them.
One more point – even if ISIS was poor and its soldiers were motivated by a lack of jobs – that would not justify their behavior. One does not behead people (even at random) because one lacks money or a job, and any Pentagon or State Department or White House spokesperson who suggests that so-called motivation is normal should be immediately dismissed.
The President assures us that whatever it is that motivates the ISIS killers, it is not Islam - but a perversion of Islam. We should not, the President’s people tell us, “dignify” or “elevate” their crimes by describing them as Islamic. When we hear them say that “it is not true Islam” that inspires the killers, it reminds us of how the Progressive, academic left treated Communism during the Cold War. When they were compelled to concede that the Soviet Union and other Communist states were oppressive places, they would soften the blow by saying “what is practiced in the USSR is not ‘true Communism.' That pro-Communist mentality of forty years ago is not too far removed from the “see no evil” outlook of the Administration when it comes to radical Islam. Yes, there are tens of millions of Muslims who reject radicalism, and that is the most distressful aspect of the Obama administration’s failure – they did not give support to the non-radicals. Perhaps 20,000 US or coalition troops, retained in Iraq, could have stifled the rise of ISIS in the first place. The Administration didn’t want to make the effort, and turned its back on the peace-loving Muslims, the non-Muslim minorities, the westernized Iraqis, and the military and police forces, and, on America’s interests as well.
The rise of ISIS did not merely occur “on President Obama’s watch,” his policies threw away whatever success there was in Iraq and his refusal to take prompt action enabled ISIS to gain traction. It is not too late to recover, but the longer we dither, the more difficult it will be to attain victory.