The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism by Pape, Bloom, and Horowitz

Another element of the strategy is untwisting the “spiral of violence”. The classic mechanism, which assume the existence of cycles of suicide terrorism activity in a “action-repression-reaction” it is aimed at lowering the public support for the government, and increase it for the terrorists. By curried out the suicide terrorism attacks, the intension and aim of the terrorists is to hit the repressive actions of the authorities not only in themselves but also in the group indentified with them and/or their supporters (a specified ethnic group, religious, social or the entire society). As a result, this process has lead to massive social explosion directed against the government. Such a model of strategy for terrorism has been used by most of the leftist groups in Europe in the nineteenth century, and in the

“Terrorism's particularly heinous but highly attractive means to achieve political objectives or even radically restructure political foundations is manifest within societies in all reaches of the world. While the practical application of terrorist methodologies comes across as a relatively straightforward craft, the conceptual and ideological understanding, and subsequent evaluation of its socio-political influence, implementation, and psychological impacts present difficult questions, and in some cases conceivably insurmountable obstacles” (Romaniuk 2014, para

The second Part of Jonathan R. White’s ninth edition Terrorism and Homeland Security deals with the national and ethnic movements of international terrorism, their emergence as well as well as motifs. Ideological terrorist and ethnic separatists are hard to differentiate since they use the same procedures and tactics to get their demands. Although both fall under the definition of terrorism, there is a difference in the definition of their goals and demands. While separatists have defined, achievable goal, religious terrorists have a nihilistic ideology that are from a rational point of view not feasible. Therefore, it is impossible for satisfactorily negotiation

Additionally, John Mueller lambasts what he labels as the socially constructed ‘terrorist industry,’ which he attacks for artificially inflating concerns over terrorist attacks. Instead, Mueller confirms that the damage caused by terrorism is not materially significant but stems primarily from the fear that it creates. Violent retaliation is viewed as a form of ‘self-flagellation’ that provides the terrorists with exactly what they want. As mentioned, realist definitions of power, self-interest and rationality lack explanatory prowess when non-state actors are able to subvert states thanks largely in part to the use of suicide-terrorism. The proliferation of terrorist groups and their use of suicide-tactics in many ways defies realist expectations and conclusions.

Thus, he emphasizes how terrorist organization in turn assess their targets. Targeting democracies at a certain time in policy debate lead Pape to conclude that the coercive nature of the suicide terrorist attacks is what make them successful in achieving their goals. The author uses two key examples to explain his findings. He emphasis the success of coercion with policy decisions. Israel’s withdraw from Gaza, “Israeli concessions increased their confidence in coercive effectiveness of suicide attack” The Crucial Case of Hamas “examinations of the crucial cases demonstrates that terrorist groups came to the conclusion that suicide attack accelerated Israeli’s withdraw in both cases” (). Pape concludes that viewing the increasing success of terrorist attacks to coerce governments it actuality it is not successful as often as terrorist wants.

During the Iraq war, Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), the United States was introduced to suicide terrorism, which was used to threaten and exterminate the Iraqi security forces and to start a civil war amongst the Shi’i and Sunni Muslims (Hafez 2006). To dictate when a suicide attack is approaching, there are two developments that are involved: one is on the battlefield and the other in the political arena (Hafez 2006). On the battlefield, insurgents want to show their enemies and supporting audience they will not be intimidated, nor will they surrender their motives in the face of repression (Hafez 2006). In the public arena, suicidal terrorism arose “after the January 2005 elections for an assembly to draft a new Iraqi constitution, endorsement

In 2003, a warning by the Israeli government noted that female participation in terrorism in Palestine is increasing and that “the terrorist organizations behind the attacks want to exploit the advantages of dispatching females to perpetuate them … under the assumption that a female is thought of as a soft, gentle, and innocent and therefore will arouse less suspicion that a man.” (Sjoberg and Gentry, p.1, 2011). In addition, the Israeli government outlines the roles women have played in attacks by different levels. The highest level is the suicide bomber, or the female who attempts a suicide bombing and failed. Lower level would be those females who have performed as facilitators, in both planning and perpetuating terrorist attacks. (Sjoberg,

Everyday many people lose their own lives, are critically injured, or lose loved ones to a suicide bomber. Many of these people ask themselves, from that horrific day forward, what makes a person do such an evil act. Many factors actually pertain to this matter. The research on the creation of a suicide bomber may intrigue you more than you think. Because of the prevailing warfare and terrorism in middle eastern countries, more suicide bombers are created by their corrupt society and the concealment of their own inner demons.

Initially, Gordon H. McCormick and Lindsay Fritz, introduce Hanadi Jaradat and her suicide attack during the Second Intifada (140). Jaradat was a law student with great potential however she resorted to detonating 22 pounds of explosives in an Israeli dinner. Her drive to do this heinous act was later explained to be retaliatory, her ”brother and fiance had been shot by an Israeli assassination squad” (145). This introduces that terrorism can be used in two strategic ways, political coercion and political mobilization, the intifada being an example of the latter. In the first, the audience being the state, terrorism is used to enter negotiations. In the second, the audience being constituents, terrorism is used to rally popular support.

Although there is no one single fingerprint that defines the psychological makeup of a terrorist, there are several broad characteristics that indicate a person’s vulnerability toward radicalization. Terrorists willing to carrying out a suicide operation, as a subset of the larger radicalized group, are certainly no exception. Indeed, dedication to the point of self-extermination requires a deeper degree of radicalization than to merely fight for one’s chosen cause.

Acts of terrorism come in many forms, using guns, bombs and even human beings as weapons of mass destruction. This paper will focus on the last one, the use of human beings as a weapon, otherwise known as suicide bombers. It will look into who they are, why they are used, how they are trained and the devastation they can cause by their actions. Everyone remembers September 11 and the massive destruction and the tragic loss of so many lives that fateful day in New York city, the Pentagon, and an empty field in Pennsylvania when three planes were taken over by suicide bombers, as an act of terrorism on the American people.

Brym and Hamlin (2009), argues that reasonable choice of its own cannot explain suicide terrorism, they argue that the culture is playing massive role in the process. Opposite to the argument that culture is a controlling

Suicide terrorism has become increasingly popular because many terrorists are confident in their ability to carry out the attack. The act of suicide bombing is more secure for the organization as a whole, than any other method. Instead of having to create and intricate escape plan and risk the bomber being captured, the bomber will simply perish with all the information they know.

An attack, in which the attacker intends to cause harm or kill others and in the process, knows he or she is going to lose his or her life, is a suicide attack. The last two decade has witnessed significant suicide attacks, out of which 90 percent of the attacks have occurred in Israel, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka and comprises 4 percent of the terrorist attacks. From history, it is evident that suicide attacks have occurred throughout history. Although suicide attacks were conducted in World War II by kamikaze pilots of Japan, however, suicide attacks started during the eighties and concentrated on using bombs and explosives to kill the target and in the process, the attacker dies as well. During the eighties, two barrack buildings were attacked by trucks and it killed more than three hundred people. This tactic was used to remove American and French troops from Lebanon. This tactic soon gained significance and was utilized by Islamist groups in different countries.

How many suicide bombings take place every day in the world? Keeping in mind the war on terrorism, as people have named it, which has been going on for more then a decade now, is still at the top of many countries’ agenda. This issue, however, is affiliated with the religion of Islam that was once viewed by many as a peaceful religion. Islamic fundamentalism is the term used to describe religious beliefs seen as counseling a return to the “fundamentals” of Islam: the Quran and the Sunnah. Even though people think it is a waste of time to deal with the problem, the issue of Islamic fundamentalism should be approached with a strategic plan because these fundamentalists are causing the world to think that Islam is a corrupt religion and