So al-Quada has probably managed to kill about forty Brits and several million starving African children who have absolutely no connection with the Western involvement in the Arab world.
No connection?! Of course they're connected. The very conditions on which Al Qaeda thrives to recruit into the longer term are those of squalid poverty and despair. Whilst the initial focus on fighting poverty is in Africa, it would have undoubtedly spread given time. Further, there are certainly pockets of Muslims throughout Africa, and they provide an immediate source of recruits.
What I meant was that the Africans who may ultimately be the victims of this attack are in no way
responsible for the activities of the Western world. So while al-Qaeda might be able to "justify" attacks on American or British civilians as supporters of an imperialist government, they can't really make this claim with respect to starving Africans.
But you have a point...if the best thing we can do to prevent terrorism is to prevent poverty, then al-Qaeda will have advanced their ability to recruit by distracting the G8 from their mission, thereby keeping more people in poverty.
