What motivates suicide terrorism? E-Book

Mariya Grozdanova

• Herausgeber: GRIN Verlag
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016

Beschreibung

Essay from the year 2016 in the subject Politics - Topic: Peace and Conflict, Security, grade: First-class Honours, Royal Holloway, University of London, course: Terrorism and Counterterrorism, language: English, abstract: While in recent years suicide terrorism proved itself as one of the fastest growing threats to peace and security and a preferred weapon of choice of terrorists, there is a profound confusion as to why. Although suicide attacks have occurred during the course of history, they were often part of states’ military campaigns rather than the preferred modus operandi of violent non-state groups which during the period between 1982 and 2015 became responsible for 4,814 attacks in over 40 countries. As recently illustrated by the atrocities in Istanbul’s Sultanahmet district, Morocco’s coastal city of Casablanca, and Cameroon’s far north village of Bodo, the problem of suicide terrorism is gaining momentum and the insufficient knowledge that we have about the root causes of the phenomenon made it extremely difficult for policymakers to design effective counter-terrorist measures and adequately allocate attention and resources. Therefore, this study would try to shed light on this issue by arguing that suicide terrorism is motivated by the interaction between (1) psychologically traumatized individuals who are determined that death is the only salvation and desire to contribute to the fight against the injustice that generated their agony in the first place and (2) terrorist organizations which offer an outlet for these emotions and exploit personal emotional vulnerabilities in order to push through their political and/or religious ideological propaganda and advance their objectives. Nonetheless, what makes suicide terrorism resonant on both levels is arguably an enabling socio-political context which generates profound personal and communal grievances and provides suicide terrorism with a fertile ground to breed and expand. To support its argument, this study will firstly put the topic in its empirical context and briefly emphasize on the nature of suicide terrorism. Consequently, it will critically evaluate what drives individuals and terrorist organizations to engage in suicide terrorism and specifically focus on their ‘explosive’ interaction. Finally, this study will make its conclusions and identify areas for further research.

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Content

I. The Nature of Suicide Terror

II. The Interaction between Individual and Organizational motivating factors

III. Conclusion

Bibliography

While in recent years suicide terrorism proved itself as one of the fastest growing threats to peace and security and a preferred weapon of choice of terrorists, there is a profound confusion as to why. Although suicide attacks have occurred during the course of history, they were often part of states’ military campaigns rather than the preferred modus operandi of violent non-state groups which during the period between 1982 and 2015 became responsible for 4,814 attacks in over 40 countries.[1] As recently illustrated by the atrocities in Istanbul’s Sultanahmet district, Morocco’s coastal city of Casablanca, and Cameroon’s far north village of Bodo, the problem of suicide terrorism is gaining momentum and the insufficient knowledge that we have about the root causes of the phenomenon made it extremely difficult for policymakers to design effective counter-terrorist measures and adequately allocate attention and resources. Therefore, this study would try to shed light on this issue by arguing that suicide terrorism is motivated by the interaction between (1) psychologically traumatized individuals who are determined that death is the only salvation and desire to contribute to the fight with the injustice that generated their agony in the first place and (2) terrorist organizations which offer an outlet for these emotions andexploit personal emotional vulnerabilities in order to push through their political and/or religious ideological propaganda and advance their objectives. Nonetheless, what makes suicide terrorism resonant on both levels is arguably an enabling socio-political context which generates profound personal and communal grievances and provide suicide terrorism with a fertile ground to breed and expand. To support its argument, this study will firstly put the topic in its empirical context and briefly emphasize on the nature of suicide terrorism. Consequently, it will critically evaluate what drives individuals and terrorist organizations to engage in suicide terrorism and specifically focus on their ‘explosive’ interaction. Finally, this study will make its conclusions and identify areas for further research.

I. The Nature of Suicide Terror

Modern day suicide terrorism began with the Beirut Barracks Bombings in 1983 and has since been employed as a tactic by a great amount and variety of terrorist organizations throughout the world from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in Sri Lanka to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. Despite the fact that academic research is plagued by uncertainty surrounding the exact definition of suicide terrorism, some academics believe that it denotes ‘a diversity of violent actions perpetrated by people who are aware that the odds they will return alive are close to zero.’[2] Nonetheless, the wording of such definition appears to be too broad to encompass the idea that an attack is successfully conducted once at least the perpetrator’s own death is ensured and chances to return alive are equal to zero which makes suicide bombing rather different as compared to high risk assault for instance.[3] Furthermore, it also fails to reflect perpetrators’ readiness to die in the name of political and/or religious cause while inflicting the greatest possible damage to the people in close proximity which distinguishes suicide bombing from ordinary suicide. For the purposes of this study, suicide terrorism shall then mean a violent, politically and/or religiously motivated attack, carried out in a deliberate state of awareness by an individual who personally delivers explosives and detonates them and in this way blows himself or herself up together with a chosen target.[4]

II. The Interaction between Individual and Organizational motivating factors

Due to the great variety of perpetrators and the fact that suicide terrorism have employed men and women of different age, education, marital status, and family background, the creation of a universal psychological profile of the suicide bomber continues to be problematic. Nonetheless, while some scholars believe that individuals who turn into self-sacrificial mode are ‘not depressed, impulsive, lonely, or helpless with a continuous history of being in situations of personal difficulty’[5], this study is going to argue that personal psychological traumatization is at the heart of one’s determination to follow such a self-destructive path and resonate to the ideological propaganda of terrorist organizations. Regardless of the fact that some depicted suicide bombers as not necessarily irrational[6], it is must be understood that the lack of underlying psychopathology does not directly imply for the lack of some psychic pain[7] capable of generating suicidal tendencies in behavior.[8]

As a number of empirical studies have demonstrated, the role of personal causes such aspsychological hardships,despair, feelings of humiliation, and aspirations for restored identity, familial honor, and revenge could be considered as key stimuli for individual engagement in suicide attacks.[9] In this sense, as opposed to the ideological statements of bombers serving as post hoc justifications, the motivation for suicide terrorists is in its essence frequently neither religious nor political, but rather psychological and personal.[10] For instance, if we think about 9/11 that had an enormous impact on our understandings of the problem of suicide terrorism, we can see that one of the perpetrators, Mohamed Ata, suffered from depression, social isolation, and hopelessness which more than everything determined the course of his behavior.[11] The other attackers may likewise have been motivated by some kind of personal frustration as their radicalization came prior to their religious and political indoctrination.[12] It is, thus, highly possible that the 9/11 perpetrators went to mosques in their desire for companionship which later contributed to the development of collective religious identity and shared political understandings.[13] The global Salafi jihad movement could be, therefore, regarded as a result of ‘loneliness, alienation, marginalization, underemployment, and exclusion from the highest status in the new or original society’[14] rather than as merely brainwashing religious propaganda as commonly misunderstood. Additionally, analyses of Tamil women raped by the Sinhalese military at checkpoints showed that the inescapable psychic pain they suffered made them willing to join the forces of the non-Islamic, Marxist-driven Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) terrorist organization as the ‘Birds of Freedom’ unit of female suicide bombers.[15] Therefore, suicide attackers are, prior to everything else, driven by feelings of revenge, humiliation, and, to a certain extent, altruism which can be generated or exacerbated by some deeply traumatizing catalyst event the individual cannot overcome.[16]

For instance,Merari et al. proved that among preemptively arrested Palestinian suicide bombers, 40 percent demonstrated symptoms of suicidality, 20 percent had post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and 13 percent attempted to commit a non-terrorism related suicide in the past.[17] Similarly, based on examination of 75 suicide terrorists, Lankford argued that they had classic psychological risk factors for suicide such as depression, PTSD, guilt or shame, hopelessness, and rage.[18] More specifically, these findings were reinforced by Saleh, who constructed profiles of 67 Palestinian suicide bombers and discovered that almost all had suffered a death of a relative caused by the Israeli Defense Force or have been injured or arrested.[19] For instance, after her brother and fiancé were murdered by Israeli security forces, the young Palestinian lawyer Hanadi Jarad was desperately committed to revenge for their death and to oppose the Israeli occupations which resulted in her suicide attack in Haifa in 2003 that killed 20 people.[20] Similarly, the twenty-four year old Arin has been arrested by Israeli law enforcement authorities as she intended to blow herself up after frequent humiliations at checkpoints, threatening encounters with security officials, and the death of her boyfriend which was the culmination of her suffering. In order to justify her actions, Arin recalled that she asked for the belt with explosives herself because: ‘I thought that my home will come in danger, that they [Israelis] can come and fight us. I thought this was the only way to carry out my responsibility to my nation, my family…My mind was stopped. My life was stopped. My thought was everything is black.’[21] In this sense, due to stress overload, Arin has become a suicide bomber willing to die in order to have control over her own death, escape the incapable psychic pain and exit the community with honor while sacrificing her own life for a mission greater than her own existence and survival.

While this could be regarded an act of self-sacrifice, it is worth noting that it is usually the case that suicide bombers are already determined to die under the poisonous influence of emotional traumas rather than in the name of a particular cause. As Lankford reasoned, ‘[suicide bombers] do not really care about collective goals, such as the terrorist organization’s strategic mission or political cause…’[22] Nonetheless, it is also true that suicide bombing unlike ordinary suicide could be to a certain extent regarded as an act of altruism where the psychologically traumatized individual believes that his or hers own sufferings are identical with the ones of the broader religious or national group and that in pursue of the collective interest, one’s life is less worthy. After all, if a person is determined that death is the only salvation, let it be a death which will contribute to the fight with the injustice that generated the agony in the first place. As the leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade in Jenin reasoned, individuals are too much in pain to find another solution and, thus, become obsessed with the idea to act in a way that is going to be beneficial to the interests of the community because‘…they get flashbacks all the time and for them death is a mercy…For the martyr all the cells in his mind are dead except for one [to die while defending the community]’.[23]Socially constructed beliefs could, therefore, be an essential part of the puzzle as if violent means of resistance are accepted and valued due to cultural characteristics and accumulated grievances, psychologically traumatized individuals could be easily persuaded in the purity of the act as well as in the glory and the rewards that will come later.[24] Nonetheless, the actual opportunity for martyrdom becomes ‘available’ through terrorist organizations that come to be seen as the only reliable platforms to combat the unfairness by providing an emotional, social, economic, and logistical support. As there have been insignificantly few cases of lone wolf suicide bombers, the role of terrorist organizations must not be overlooked.[25]

While essential motivation, psychological traumatization in itself cannot be sufficient to turn individuals into suicide terrorists, but it can make them vulnerable to the sieges of terrorist organizations who offer ‘first aid’ and exploit their condition to propagate ideologies that could, at least at a glance, address their inescapable suffering and give a significance to a desired death. In other words, emotionally suffering individuals will not become suicide bombers unless they identify with the grief of the broader community and decide to end their lives in a meaningful way that is going to make a difference and contribute to the fighting of the injustice. But what is ‘a meaningful way’ is often defined through the ideological propaganda of religiously and/or politically motivated terrorist groups that exploit the enabling socio-political context and ‘enlighten’ individuals with a direction and a sense of belonging to something greater than their own lives.[26] In this sense, ideology could be a strong motivating factor for suicide attacks as it identifies a discrepancy from an ideal state caused by the enemy and provides a way to remove it by a particular action in order to come closer to the ideal state.[27] As terrorist organizations recognize its power, they often marry their objectives with religious philosophies of serving a divine purpose and carrying out God’s will or with political philosophies of liberation of one’s land that are going to easily resonate on the individual level. [28]

On the one hand, terrorist organizations are often selectively interpreting religious texts and are employing religious propaganda in order to recruit new followers and cement the loyalty of members. According to the study of Henne, religion rather than structural conditions are determining the high level of violence and the severity of suicide attacks committed by religious terrorist groups that employ religion as a way to justify their struggle and gain public support.[29]Furthermore, as recognized by Atran, Islamist groups have been responsible for the majority of the 472 suicide attacks that occurred in 22 countries in the period between 2000 and 2004.[30] Many believe that extremist organizations such as Al-Qaeda are primarily motivated by religion as they aspire to establish a pan-Islamic caliphate and ‘wage a cosmic struggle against an unholy alliance of Christians and Jews’ that prevent them to do so.[31] In this light, the group is calling for jihad against the infidels and is representing suicide bombing as pure and virtuous Istishad-Martyrdom which will be the ultimate honor for the ones committing it and will bring them closer to their God who have sent them on a mission.[32] In exchange for their brave sacrifice, they are going to be rewarded in the afterlife by taking a special place in heaven along with 70 of their relatives and the company of 72 virgins.[33]

On the other hand, while usually employed as an instrument to recruit and motivate more people, religion is rarely the root cause behind terrorist organizations’ desire for suicide terrorism. Terrorist organizations such as Al-Qaeda are often using the rhetoric of religion in order to advance their truly political aspirations. For instance, Osama bin Laden wanted to push the Western crusaders out from the holy lands of Islam (the far enemy) and to eradicate the allegiance that many of the Arab and Muslim countries in the Middle East pledged to the US (the near enemy). In this sense, suicide attacks could be used as a strategy for national liberation of territories that are considered by terrorists as their homeland.[34] As recognized by Bruce and Pape, ‘some Middle Eastern groups which use suicide attacks are secular and not Islamic fundamentalists’[35] and there is little association between suicide terrorism and Islamic extremism or another religion as opposed to identifiable secular and strategic goals.[36] For example, the leading agent of suicide terrorism was the Tamil Tigers which is not an Islamic, but a secular group containing Marxist-Leninist elements which have committed more suicide bombings than either Hamas or the Islamic Jihad.[37] In a similar light, the PKK in Turkey was not motivated by religion, but rather by politics. Therefore, although ‘religion can remove the normal social, family and other worldly constraints and justify heavenly self-sacrifice…suicide attackers are not motivated purely by perceived heavenly rewards, but mainly by apparent political gains.’[38] Under a strong leadership and as a reaction to the daily humiliation and traumatization, politics could be as strong motivator as religion and attract a significant number of people that feel deep political grievances in places where according to them social justice can be achieved only through violence.[39]

In this sense, while there is an ongoing debate among academics on the exact proportion of religion and politics, as far as this study is concerned they must be both analyzed together as are in practice interlinked. Due to the humiliation of living under military occupation, many consider that they will find a better life in paradise and that they have a religious duty to oppose the enemy and achieve the aspired political changes in the name of God.[40] Hence, the psychological trauma in the life of the individual is addressed by an ideology that is giving meaning to the suicide which is now regarded as martyrdom, a ‘tax paid to redress the group's grievances and achieve both its religious and political objectives.’[41]

III. Conclusion

In summary, this study has argued that suicide terrorism is motivated by the interaction between (1) psychologically traumatized individuals who are determined that death is the only salvation and (2) terrorist organizations which exploit their condition in order to push through their political and/or religious ideological propaganda and attest themselves as the only reliable platforms to combat unfairness. As suicide terrorism is an extremely multifaceted phenomenon, it has been examined from different perspectives and on different levels ranging from the individual to the organizational which are interplaying in the dynamics of turbulent psycho-social context that is generating personal and communal grievances and is providing a breeding ground for suicide terrorism. Since the desire for transformation of Muslim societies proved counterproductive and we have witnessed a rise in suicide bombings in recent years, this study suggests that further research is needed in order to identify the source of these grievances and assist policymakers in designing adequate ways to address them as only then suicide terrorism will be deprived from the oxygen responsible for its flame.

Bibliography

1. Atran, S., 2006, The moral logic and growth of suicide terrorism, The Washington Quarterly, Vol.29, No.2, p.127-147.

2. Bloom, M., 2005, Dying to kill: the allure of suicide terror, New York: Columbia University Press.

3. Bloom, M., 2006, Dying to Kill: Motivations for Suicide Terrorism, in Root Causes of Suicide Terrorism The Globalization of Martyrdom, (ed.) Ami Padahzur, Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, p. 25-50.

4. Bruce, G., 2013, Intrinsic and External Factors and Influences on the Motivation of Suicide Attackers, Commentary, Vol.21, No.3, p.27-33.

5. Chicago Project on Security and Terrorism, 2015, Suicide Attack Database Results filtered by year: 1982-2015, Online available at: http://cpostdata.uchicago.edu/search_results_new.php, [Accessed on February 21th, 2016].

6. Cragin, R., K. and Daly, S., A., 2009, Women as Terrorists Mothers Recruiters and Martyrs, California: ABC-CLIO, LLC.

7. Crenshaw, M., 2007, Explaining Suicide Terrorism: A Review Essay, Security Studies, Vol.16, No.1, p. 133–162, Online available at: https://fsi.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/Crenshaw_Explaining_Suicide_Terrorism.pdf, [Accessed 20th February, 2016].

8. Gambetta, D., 2005, Can we make sense of suicide missions? Making Sense of Suicide Missions, Oxford University Press.

9. Ganor, B., 2001, Countering Suicide Terrorism: An International Conference, International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT) at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya.