Suicide Terrorists are Insane: True or False?

Courtesy: Dissidentvoice.org

Below is a paper written by moi addressing the assumption that suicide terrorists are rational actors. Kindly share your thoughts. Are they?

ASSUMPTION: SUICIDE TERRORISTS ARE RATIONAL ACTORS

Article by: Mojirayo Ogunlana-Nkanga

This assumption may be said to arise from the desire of governments, researchers and scholars to understand the mind of suicide terrorists and their driving force. It is rooted in the idea that terrorists’ have exhibited new techniques and tactics. That suicide terrorism is more effective and has brought about policy change. Brian Jenkins stated in 2006, “Terrorists want a lot of people watching and a lot of people dead”. It’s viewed by many that this has been achieved by suicide attacks. Examples, 9/11 events show that people around the world are more aware of their existence and their ability to achieve their goals.

Origin

Below are statements that point to the fact that suicide terrorists are rational actors.

Dr. Ramadan Shalah, Secretary- General of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad(1):

 "Our enemy possesses the most sophisticated weapons in the world and its army is trained to a very high standard.... We have nothing with which to repel killing and thuggery against us except the weapon of martyrdom. It is easy and costs us only our lives... human bombs cannot be defeated, not even by nuclear bombs."

Ehud Sprinzak(2)

“The prevalence of suicide terrorism during the last two decades testifies to its gruesome effectiveness... As early as the 11th century, the Assassins, Muslim fighters living in northern Persia, adopted suicide terrorism as a strategy to advance the cause of Islam... These perpetrators never perceived their deaths as suicide. Rather, they saw them as acts of martyrdom in the name of the community and for the glory of God.”(3)

“Martha Crenshaw(4),argues that the mindset of a suicide bomber is no different from those of Tibetan self-immolators, Irish political prisoners ready to die in a hunger strike,...”(5)

A cousin of noted rebel leader Arbi Barayev, had reportedly declared: "I am going willingly to my death in the name of Allah and the freedom of the Chechen people."(6)

Facts

October 23, 1983, Muslim extremists drove to the heart of the target area (barracks of the U.S. and French in Beirut, Lebanon), detonated bombs, killing 241 American servicemen and 58 French paratroopers.(7)

The Black Tigers suicide bombings in July 1987 and other 171 attacks in 13 years, on civilians and soldiers.(8)

The 9/11 attacks on the U.S.

Individuals in Iraq and Pakistan, who are willing and able to make more sophisticated weapons to use in suicide attacks(9).

Why It Is Important To Test This Assumption

If it’s true, we need to develop counterterrorism(CT) strategies to exploit the vulnerabilities of suicide bombers, measures that would specifically address their activities, serve as knowledge for the general public so that they are aware that they are not waging a war against a crazy mind but a rational mind; cause them to guard against fear. It will also allow CT experts to further research the motivations of suicide terrorists and groups, help them to develop specific approaches to tackling these persons rather than apply general CT measures.

According to Van Um(10) “If terrorists are perceived as instrumentally or boundedly rational actors, policies based on manipulating the utility function of terrorists may well work, while such policies will clearly be excluded when dealing with irrational terrorists (Moore, 2005: 4).”(10)

If this is false, then they can concentrate on other concepts, such as the ‘mentally’ challenged suicide bomber (if there are). Research other problems that would help Counterterrorism effectively.

Evidence

Robert Pape (11),studied suicide attacks from 1980-2003 and concluded that suicide is rational. He states: “What nearly all suicide terrorist attacks have in common is a specific secular and strategic goal: to compel modern democracies to withdraw military forces from territory that the terrorists consider to be their homeland.”(12) He also revealed that terrorist are better educated and are high income earners compared to the average individuals in their respective populations.

Eli Berman and David D. Laitin (13) “The suicide bomber is more upscale economically and more highly educated on average...”(14)

Robert Pape said “over the past two decades, suicide terrorism has been rising largely because terrorists have learned that it pays.”(15) Because of the “significant policy changes by the target state”(16). However Max Abrahms (17), contends this, “... Pape’s research appears to offer the strongest evidence that terrorist groups regularly accomplish their policy objectives, but on closer analysis his thesis is also empirically weak.”(18)“...terrorist groups achieved their main policy objectives only three out of forty-two times—a 7 percent success rate” which is “considered extremely low”(19).

The Pew Research Center reports, comparing with its 2002 polls, “In most majority-Muslim countries surveyed, support for suicide bombings and other acts of violence in defense of Islam has declined significantly,”(20)

Assumption true, partly true or false

In my opinion, this assumption is true based on terrorists’ activities above mentioned and the above listed scholarly empirical evidence.