Suicide Bombing Robert J. Brym

The Lessons of Suicide Bombing: History of Suicide Bombing: Unfortunately, suicide bombing attacks have become a more commonly used terrorist attack over the last several decades. Examples: Suicide Bomb Attacks 1) October 1983 Attack on US Marine Barracks in Beirut Since 1983, the number of Suicide Bomb Attacks has exceeded 1000, and been concentrated in nine countries (Lebanon, Sir Lanka, Israel, Turkey, India, Russia, Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan.)

The Lessons of Suicide Bombing: Understanding Suicide Bombings: General Misunderstood Contemporary research on suicide bombings had alter many of our traditional assumptions about why such a terrorist tactics is used.

The Lessons of Suicide Bombing: Contemporary research on suicide bombings has revealed the following lessons: 1) Suicide Bombers Are Not Crazy 2) It Mainly About Politics, Not Religion 3) Sometimes Its Strategic 4) Sometimes Its Retaliatory 5) Repression is a Boomerang 6) Empathize With Your Enemy

The Lessons of Suicide Bombings: Lesson 1: Suicide Bombers Are Not Crazy Are suicide bombers insane? This was the conclusion of many after the 1983 Beirut bombing and he 9/11 attacks. Limited Evidence of Psychological Instability Research into the background of several successful and unsuccessful suicide bombers did not reveal any evidence (or pattern) of psychological instability. Terrorists Groups May Weed Out Recruits with Emotional Problems (296)

The Lessons of Suicide Bombings: Lessons 2: It Mainly About Politics, Not Religion What motivates suicide bombers? It is commonly believed that most suicide bomb attacks are religiously motivated. If religion has become a more common justification, this was less so in the past. Example: Palestinian Politics (296) Palestinian movements against the establishment of an Israel state were originally linked to Pan-Arabism (1950s), then various strands of Marxism, nationalism (1960s). References to Islamic fundamentalism date only to the late 1980s.

The Lessons of Suicide Bombings: Politics of Suicide Bombings Of 83% of suicide bombers between 1983 and 2003, only 43% were religious. Insurgency in Iraq: There were 443 suicide bombings in Iraq between Most were religiously inspired, but took place only after the US invasion.

The Lessons of Suicide Bombings: Lesson 3: Sometimes Its Strategic Suicide bombings can be used for strategic purposes. The most recent example was the wave of attacks that occurred in the late 1990s that were intended to derail Israel-Palestinian peace talks.

The Lessons of Suicide Bombings: Lesson 4: Sometimes Its Retaliatory But, to be sure, not all suicide attacks are either religious or political motivated. They also be purely retaliatory, or an act of revenge. Example: Hanadi Jaradat Hanadi was a 31 year lawyer who blow herself up in an Israeli café in retaliation for the death of her brother and finance by Israeli security forces.

The Lessons of Suicide Bombings: Lessons 5: Repression is a Boomerang How should a state (or military) targeted by suicide bombers seek to prevent future attacks? The initially reaction is frequently to use disproportionate force to eliminate the threat. But such a strategy can actually deepen the resolve of terrorists organizations. It may also encourage them to use more violent tactics (weapons of mass destruction).

The Lessons of Suicide Bombings: Lesson 6: Empathize With Your Enemy Try to understand how one’s enemy point of view is key to any effective counter-insurgency strategy. Israeli Examples: