From Al Jazeera
Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism.
by Robert Pape, Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago.
A surge in “suicide attacks” in Iraq and elsewhere around the world is a response to territorial occupation and has no direct link with “Islamic fundamentalism”, a political science professor has said.
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“Technicians, waitresses, security guards, ambulance drivers, paramedics … few are criminals. Most are volunteers whose first act of violence is their very own suicide attack,” Pape said.
A broad misunderstanding of the issue, he said, is taking the US-led war on terrorism in the wrong direction and could in fact be fueling an increase in what he calls suicide terrorism.
This is typical of the rhetoric put out by one side of the argument. There are many examples of precisely the opposite point being made.
I would also ask you to look at the videos that are made of suicide bombers prior to their carrying out their missions.
First of all, the video is made to compel the martyr to go through with the mission. It’s embarrassing to make such a video and the chicken out. But look at the symbolism in the videos too.
The issue in contentious. But it is my opinion that very few people would commit suicide unless they believed in a pleasant afterlife or a favorable reincarnation.
“has spent 25 years creating a database of such attacks”
I bet that there are as many motives as there are
participants in this type of terrorism/warfare.
I have seen many videos and was convinced that
they were making political acts under the cover
of religious fervour. The Palestinian bombers know
that the families that they leave behind will be
honored and in some cases financially compensated.
In Iraq there is evidence that some suicide bombers
are not taking their own lives, they are being
murdered with their hands and feet duct-taped to
the wheel and gas pedal of the cars.
But it is my opinion that very few people would
commit suicide unless they believed in a pleasant
afterlife or a favorable reincarnation.
That’s valid and it may be part of the motivation but
not all of it. And they don’t go to ‘the other world’
alone, they try to take as many people with them as
possible.
There is a danger to assume that religious fanaticism
is the basis of these acts or that it is the sole
motive. This gives the Bush administration additional
reason to deny the reality of Iraq. The administration
continually denies that the increase in suicide bombing
is due to despair and hatred of their occupation. They
dismiss it as sectarian conflict and religious
fanaticism.
That’s only a small part of it.
that religious fanaticism doesn’t explain the motives for a commander to utilize suicide missions. But it has a big part to play in the willingness of many people to volunteer for such missions.
I suppose I have a broader definition of fanaticism than the author of this study. I define anyone who is willing to blow themselves up as a fanatic. And I don’t see too many freethinkers blowing themselves up.
The recruits are usually told they will be rewarded in the hereafter, and they obviously believe it.
They are exceptions, of course. And some people obviously don’t see suicide as a fanatical tactic. I just disagree.
Suicide can be a rational choice when you feel you have nothing left to live for. But it is not rational if you think death will bring about an improvement in your affairs.
This is distinct from people who are willing to risk death for a cause greater than themselves, like the defense of their country. They are making a rational choice. They are sacrificing out of a love greater than their personal immortality, not to expedite their immortality.
I believe your last paragraph covers most of the bombers
in Iraq.
But we can’t know that for sure.
Many secular groups engage in suicide bombings. The Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka are mostly secular, and they are the most prolific.
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The Sociology and Psychology of Terrorism .pdf file
Oui – Liberté – Egalité – Fraternité