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Close Topic OptionsMost suicide bombers have three things in common
Most Suicide Bombers Common - Politics, Business, Civil, History - Posted: 15th Oct, 2009 - 10:58pm
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Most suicide bombers have three things in common
According to a new study there are three things that most suicide bombers have in common:
QUOTE New studies of suicide bombers say that most have three important qualities in common: testosterone, a narrative fantasy, and a desire to make theater.
First of all, there's testosterone. The ranks of terrorists are full of young males fascinated by the idea of action. As Georgetown University scholar Bruce Hoffman notes in a draft of his paper "The Changing Nature of Combatants: Who Fights?"-soon to be published by Oxford University Press-women played important roles in earlier terrorist movements, but when we are talking about people "doing jihad," the overwhelming majority are young men, even boys. As Hoffman notes, the average age of the 19 September 11 hijackers was 24, while that of Palestinian suicide bombers is 21. To cite only the most recent examples: the suicide bomber in Riyadh, Abdullah Hassan Tali Assiri, was 24; Najibullah Zazi is also 24; Finton is 29; Smadi is only 19.
Second, there's what we might call "narrative," which is a little different-and much more accessible to a young terrorist's mind-than theological exegesis or, in the old days, dialectical materialism. The common thread is that the terrorist identifies with people-or more often, a people-suffering repression by some outside force: the Irish under Britain a century ago, the Jews in Palestine before 1948, the Palestinians under Israel since then, the Tamils under the Sinhalese, Latin American peasants under oligarchs. The list was long even before Osama bin Laden identified the more generic oppression of all Muslims by "Jews and crusaders" and Iraqis and Afghans came under American-led occupation.
The would-be terrorist doesn't have to be a victim of the suffering himself; often, he is not. As the venerable scholar of insurgency Walter Laqueur has pointed out for decades, those attracted to terrorism tend to be relatively well educated, gainfully employed, and sometimes come from quite affluent backgrounds. They convince themselves that they are righting epic wrongs, and many believe that their sacrifice (their "martyrdom") is not only heroic but even chivalric. The seminal work of Al Qaeda ideology, written before 9/11 by Ayman al-Zawahiri, is called Knights Under the Prophet's Banner.
And finally, there's what we'll call theater. Terrorism is all about spectacle and always has been. Almost a thousand years ago, the cult of the assassins set out to terrorize their enemies by proving they could strike them in places where they thought they were secure. Assiri, the guy with the bomb in his gut, was certainly in that tradition. But for many other terrorists in recent years, Hollywood movies like the disaster epics of Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, Godzilla) were a source of inspiration. The alleged conspirators in the synagogue bomb plot in the Bronx last spring reportedly were "disappointed" that the best target, the World Trade Center, had already been hit. One bluntly said he wanted to see the destruction on television and be able to say, "I'm the one who did that."
First of all, there's testosterone. The ranks of terrorists are full of young males fascinated by the idea of action. As Georgetown University scholar Bruce Hoffman notes in a draft of his paper "The Changing Nature of Combatants: Who Fights?"-soon to be published by Oxford University Press-women played important roles in earlier terrorist movements, but when we are talking about people "doing jihad," the overwhelming majority are young men, even boys. As Hoffman notes, the average age of the 19 September 11 hijackers was 24, while that of Palestinian suicide bombers is 21. To cite only the most recent examples: the suicide bomber in Riyadh, Abdullah Hassan Tali Assiri, was 24; Najibullah Zazi is also 24; Finton is 29; Smadi is only 19.
Second, there's what we might call "narrative," which is a little different-and much more accessible to a young terrorist's mind-than theological exegesis or, in the old days, dialectical materialism. The common thread is that the terrorist identifies with people-or more often, a people-suffering repression by some outside force: the Irish under Britain a century ago, the Jews in Palestine before 1948, the Palestinians under Israel since then, the Tamils under the Sinhalese, Latin American peasants under oligarchs. The list was long even before Osama bin Laden identified the more generic oppression of all Muslims by "Jews and crusaders" and Iraqis and Afghans came under American-led occupation.
The would-be terrorist doesn't have to be a victim of the suffering himself; often, he is not. As the venerable scholar of insurgency Walter Laqueur has pointed out for decades, those attracted to terrorism tend to be relatively well educated, gainfully employed, and sometimes come from quite affluent backgrounds. They convince themselves that they are righting epic wrongs, and many believe that their sacrifice (their "martyrdom") is not only heroic but even chivalric. The seminal work of Al Qaeda ideology, written before 9/11 by Ayman al-Zawahiri, is called Knights Under the Prophet's Banner.
And finally, there's what we'll call theater. Terrorism is all about spectacle and always has been. Almost a thousand years ago, the cult of the assassins set out to terrorize their enemies by proving they could strike them in places where they thought they were secure. Assiri, the guy with the bomb in his gut, was certainly in that tradition. But for many other terrorists in recent years, Hollywood movies like the disaster epics of Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, Godzilla) were a source of inspiration. The alleged conspirators in the synagogue bomb plot in the Bronx last spring reportedly were "disappointed" that the best target, the World Trade Center, had already been hit. One bluntly said he wanted to see the destruction on television and be able to say, "I'm the one who did that."
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QUOTE (LDS_forver)New studies of suicide bombers say that most have three important qualities in common: testosterone, a narrative fantasy, and a desire to make theater
I'm surprised that "fanatical religious belief" is not one of the three, or perhaps the 'fantasy' narrative is the religious part?
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Post Date: 15th Oct, 2009 - 10:58pm / Post ID: #
Most suicide bombers have three things in common History & Civil Business Politics
Name: Zac
Comments: I think that there own beliefs brain washed them, because they are told they are a dominate Religion and that when they kill people of the "wrong religion" the get smiled on by God.
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