Martyrs and Cowards – Suicidal Terrorism and Public Health

Niyi Awofeso

Wall

Spear

Snake

Tree

Fan

Rope

Life and Death

“…Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player

that struts and frets his hour upon the stageand then is heard no more; it is a taletold by an idiot, full of sound and fury,signifying… nothing”.

Shakespeare’s Macbeth Act V, scene III, 19-28

Heaven’s Gate

Chechnya Suicide Bombers

Terrorism

No single definition is universally acceptable. “Actions carried out for political or other social purposes by individuals or groups on military and civilian targets, with a primary aim of causing harm and panic in the populace, in order to undermine citizens’ support for the policies of their leaders.”

Suicidal Terrorism

The targeted use of self-destructing humans against specific populations to effect political change. Physical destruction of specific populations appears secondary to its use as a weapon of psychological warfare. Entails the paradox of a self aiming to abolish itself while simultaneously seeking self esteem, i.e aiming to accumulate ‘suicidal capital’

Brief Historical review

Zealots (Sicari) in Roman-Occupied Judea Assassins (Hashashin) during early Christian

crusades 1983 US Embassy Bombing (Beirut). Palestinian suicide bombings – 1985-date Tamil Tiger (Sri Lanka) bombings – 1987-2002

(Highlight – 21/5/1991 assassination of Rajiv Gandhi)

Afghanistan, Madrid, 9/11, Bali, 7/7, Iraq….

Four D’s of Suicidal Terrorism

Are they; Deprived? Deceived? Devout? Death Fetishists?

Deprivation Theories

‘Ridding society of poverty rids it of crime…hope is the answer to terror’ – George Bush.

‘Education is the way to eliminate terrorism’ – Dalai Lama

Deprivation caused by foreign occupation, especially by a ‘different civilization’, is the most important facilitator of suicidal terrorism – Daniel Pape

Relative loss of economic or social advantage might encourage support for suicidal terrorism

Deception Theories

New anti-terrorist Laws in UK outlaw the framing of suicide bombers as martyrs

Palestinian suicide bombing rituals (Steinberg) 9/11Suicide bombers : ‘evil cowards’ - Bush‘Brainwashing’? –Tamil Tigers; Palestinian Bombers;

Chechen ‘black widows’; Iraqi insurgents….Why do otherwise intelligent and non-pathological

individuals respond to novel situational factors in numbers sufficient for recruiting organizations to implement terrorist policies?

Devotion to ultra-religious or ultra-nationalist ideologies

While the apparent acceptance of the ultra-nationalist ideologies of leaders of the “Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam” resulted in most suicide bombings in the 1990s, the situation changed radically since late 1999, with most suicide bombings in the 2000-2005 period linked to Islamic extremists.

Death Fetishism

“The glorification of death experience, the extreme but perverted version of the heroic, warrior mentality, in which death is the critical moment of life, and the ultimate experience of human existence. Death fetishism converts death from the inevitable end of life into the meaning of life” (R. Solomon, 1998)

Death Fetishism

Death fetishists that threaten the public’s health are those that manipulate their apparent desire to die in other to harm others – “you love life, we love death” - and to magnify the psychological impact of their actions (‘terrere; cause to tremble’). E.g. 41 Chechen terrorists who held over 800 patrons at a Moscow theatre hostage in October 2002.

Death Fetishism

Factors that might precipitate death fetishism ideals in individuals relate to racism, social class polarization, socio-political marginalization, unresolved/unfairly resolved conflicts, ultra-nationalist brainwashing, and ultra-religious indoctrination. Contemporary terrorist groups actively seek individuals vulnerable to these factors.

Death Fetishism

The Amrozi paradox – a ‘smiling assassin’ unwilling to die. However, thoroughly indoctrinated death fetishists (e.g. Madrid train bombing suspects who blew themselves up to evade capture alive) are more exemplary of this death perspective. Their enthusiasm to die in order to kill and maim others in the course of their suicide add to the depth of the ‘psychological violence’ they inflict.

Death Fetishism case study – Chechen Suicide bombers

Since 2000 to date, there have been at least two dozen suicide attacks by Chechen separatists. Most involved military installations and government compounds, and attacks outside north Caucasus are uncommon. Terrorist motivations are homegrown, and religious extremism plays a minimal role. No evidence of financial rewards to suicide bombers.

Death Fetishism case study – Chechen Suicide bombers

Majority of suicide bombers (at least two-thirds) were women, whose families were victims of Russia’s ‘counter-terrorist operations’. Despair, hopelessness and injustice are the lowest common denominators precipitating suicide terrorism in Chechnya.

Suicidal Terrorism - Implications for community education

1) Encouragement of Social Explanation techniques in the analysis of suicidal terrorism (e.g. 9/11 Flight 93 – ‘I’ll rather kill you on my own terms and kill myself with you than be led to my death on your terms’). Social Explanation entails the threat of a humanized other. ‘Terrorism Exighophobia’ – Disregarding anyone wishing to know and inquire about the social conditions leading to terrorist acts – “Nothing ever justifies suicidal terrorism”; “They hate us because of our values”

Suicidal Terrorism - implications for community education

2) Working cooperatively to reform settings such as fundamentalist Islamic schools, refugee camps and prisons, from which death fetishist ideas have been propagated in the recent past.

3) Working with mainstream religious and political groups to discourage propagation of ideas that encourage death fetishism in (legal) community sites such as schools, churches, and mosques

Suicidal Terrorism - implications for community education

4) Public health advocacy against government policies and actions that might encourage vulnerable individuals victimized by such policies to propagate and/or actualize the perspectives of terrorist organizations.