A lot of people are passing around this amazing testimony before Congress two weeks back by former CIA analyst Michael Scheuer, in which he says that the reason that Muslims want to become jihadis is not who we are but our foreign policy.

Americans need to have a debate at last about whether supporting Israel is essential to US security, or having troops in Muslim countries is essential, or supporting Saudi Arabia is essential, Scheuer argues. If the people want to believe that, “fine.” But they should know that “costs come with that.”

Notice Peter King lands on Scheuer with doctrinaire statements about supporting Israel, and Scheuer responds:

“If it was up to me, I’d dump the Israelis tomorrow. All I worry about is that continuing preaching of American politicians to the American people that our relationship with the Israelis doesn’t cause us to have dead Americans and extraordinary expenses in fighting the Muslim world.”

The politicians want us to believe we’re fighting a bunch of longhaired bearded goat eating madmen who don’t want us to have women in the workplace, Scheuer says. But that’s not why they’re attacking us. It’s because we’re trying to impose our political culture on them.

“Who’s winning today? We’re done like dinner… We’ve had two military defeats overseas.”

The exchange grows more and more heated till Scheuer calls “bullshit” on Chris Stewart of Utah. The hearing took place on October 9, 2013, before the Homeland Security Committee. It focused on Somalia and the problem of more and more Westerners joining the jihad and returning home.