When it comes to trying to explain why somebody would sacrifice their own life to kill their fellow human beings, we are presented with a bevy of possible reasons, ranging from economic deprivation to a ideology underpinned by blood lust. But Robert Pape, Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago, points the finger at something else: the occupation of a group’s territory. Building the first complete database on suicide terrorism since 1980, Pape studied examples from Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Chechnya, Kashmir, and the West Bank. He found a stark common factor: nearly all incidents have at their root a desire to force occupiers to leave what they consider their homeland.
He argues that religion is secondary. Remember, the world’s leading group specializing in suicide terrorism is the Tamil Tigers, a Hindu group based in Sri Lanka (that also kills a lot of Muslims, by the way). There were 41 suicide terrorists in Lebanon between 1982-86, of which only 8 were Islamic fundamentalists (3 were actually Christian). Pape also points out that Bin Laden’s great rallying cry was always the tens of thousands of American soldiers on the Arabian Peninsula. If it were Islamic fundamentalism, Pape argued that we should see more suicide terrorists from countries like Iran and Sudan. But we don’t. Iran supports Hezbollah, whose specific aim was the liberation of occupied territory from Israel. And Sudan has never been a major Al Qaeda recruiting center, despite the fundamentalist hue of its regime. So who are Al Qaeda suicide terrorists? Well, two thirds are from countries where the United States stationed troops. Note also that suicide terrorism was unknown in Iraq prior to the invasion.
The implication for Iraq is quite clear. The occupation of Iraq will only increase, not curb, terrorism. Interestingly, Bin Laden in 1996 was ranting about how the US was planning on invading and dividing Iraq into parts, giving a piece to Israel and to Saudi Arabia. It is quite staggering how often the current administration plays into this terror master’s hands.
Whenever people make these kinds of arguments, many will automatically accuse them of pandering to terrorists. Terrorism should be wiped out, they will say, not accommodated. But this moral indignation is surely misguided. It is rooted more in emotion than reason (just as vengeance rather than true retributive justice guides support for the death penalty). As Catholics, we are only too well aware of the reality of sin in the world, and we also know that we cannot perfect the world with guns, bombs, or democracy. To think otherwise is the great liberal delusion (and I use “liberal” in its true and classical sense). But we can focus on the common good of protecting innocent human life. There will always be terrorism, just as there will always be crime. An over-the-top response is bound to backfire.
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