An
Anatomy of a Terrorist’s MindAnalysis and Comments
By Jacob Thomas
2005/08/20
There is no dearth of articles in newspapers, news
magazines, and learned journals that deal with the growing problem of global
terrorism. Needless to say, after
9/11/2001
and
7/7/2005
, our world has become a scary place. We would like to know why so many men, and
even some women, engage in such destructive acts that cost them their lives as
well as the lives of countless innocent people.
Specifically, I would like to ask: why is the Muslim world
in turmoil, and why have most of the killer-terrorists of today, whether
residents of Dar-al-Islam, or of the Western world, continue to commit such
hideous acts? Lately, some general answers have been offered by such well-known
experts as Bernard Lewis. You may like to consult his book,
“What Went Wrong? Western Impact and Middle Eastern
Response.” It was
published by Oxford University Press in 2002)
However, if we want to know what drives some Muslims to
engage in terrorist acts, and what goes on in their minds as they prepare to
perpetrate their crimes, we should listen to what some Arab Muslim writers are
saying. This is very important since all discussions of this subject that go on
in foreign languages have very little impact on the ever growing Arab and Muslim
masses. As I glance daily at the content of some Arabic newspapers on the web,
my attention was drawn to an eye-catching title that appeared on August 10, in
the London-based Al-Sharq al-Awsat. It read: “Tashrih al-‘Aql al-Irhabi”
“An Anatomy of a Terrorist’s Mind.”
Having read it over several times, I could not help but
admire the honesty and boldness of the author who chose to deal with this
difficult topic. I wish more such writings would appear in the dailies of the
Arab world, from
Kuwait
to
Casablanca
. I plan to give a brief analysis of the article and then add a few of my own
comments.
The author began to deal with this disturbing phenomenon by
referring to some recent terrorist attacks that were still in the minds of his
readers. He wanted them to realize that these acts of mass and indiscriminate
murder have a ripple effect that impacts the entire world. He is trying to draw
to the attention of his readers in the Arab World that acts of terror,
perpetrated by Muslims, end up by giving a very bad impression of Islam:
“Every time a terrorist attack occurs, we are faced
with several questions. They don’t seem to change, even after the suicide
attacks at Sharm el-Sheikh, following the terrorist bombings in
London
, or the abduction and murder of the Egyptian ambassador, Dr. Ihab al-Sharif, in
Baghdad
. Unless and until the Arab mind faces up to these questions and deals with
them, the current situation dominated by such topics as terrorism, Islam, and
Muslims, will add to strained international relations, and will continue to be
extremely unsettling.”
“Why do some people engage in suicide attacks, killing
themselves and countless human beings? The question remains very perplexing,
especially when the killer makes no specific demands on society or the state.
All we Arabs get is a list of general grievances, such as calling people
apostates, or pro-Jewish, or pro-Christian! So we will never know what is
required of us in order to satisfy their demands and convince them that the rest
of us are [true] believers; or in what way we should conduct our international
relations in order to win their approval!”
It is interesting to note that the writer is deploring an
almost pathological condition that affects not only the terrorists, but many
within Islam. He refers to the habit of regarding any conciliatory move toward
the other (i.e. the non-Muslim) as out of the question. So all who would
initiate such an action must be considered “as [being] apostates,
or pro-Jewish, or pro-Christian.” He goes on to explode any lame
excuse that would attempt to give a rational answer to terrorist acts:
“Thus far, all the answers we have received boil down
to the following: ‘we face angry young men who point the finger to occupied
Palestine
where the Israelis commit atrocities against the Palestinians. They are angry
because America occupies Iraq, and their anger has grown into a rage after the
revelations of the mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib, and the
insults that have been hurled at Arabs and Muslims in Guantanamo.’ The list of
grievances keeps on growing and stretches all the way back to the days of
Western colonialism, as well as to the present situation in
Afghanistan
, the
Philippines
, and
Chechnya
.”
Our writer goes on to show that such excuses are
unconvincing:
“These answers remain unconvincing. For example, why
don’t all angry Muslims, (numbering more than a billion,) engage in killing
[others?] Why don’t others as well, who number by the billions, and who have
gone through similar experiences (as Arabs and Muslims) throughout their own
history, engage in acts of terrorism?!”
Not only are such lame answers unconvincing, but they are
actually very dangerous. So, he proceeds to expound his thesis and demonstrates
the absurdity of the line of reasoning offered by those who have pointed to the
‘grievances’ as grounds or motives for terrorism.
“Actually, such answers that we have mentioned reveal
that any attempt to explain ‘the motives’ for these acts of terrorism end up
providing excuses for such crimes. This is so because in order to deal
rationally with these motives or root causes that legitimize their fury, one
would have to ask such simple questions: ‘what was the relation of the people
who were in Sharm el-Sheikh, or London, or Riyadh, or Cairo, with what was going
on in Palestine or Iraq? It is certain that none of the [Egyptian] workers or
[Arab and European] tourists at Hotel Ghazala [in Sharm el-Sheikh} had ever
worked at Abu Ghraib prison! [So why did they become the target for
terrorists?]”
“Thus to approach our problem by searching for the
‘motives’ of terrorism may give comfort to those who want to glorify
terrorism by showing that terrorists are actually engaged in the defense of the
Umma. [We are told that] while their means are rather disturbing and quite
improper, nevertheless their motives are noble. Others who are sympathetic to
terrorism want us to stop doing anything about this phenomenon, or dealing with
it by asking such questions. They claim that terrorism is linked to the policies
of the
United States
and
Israel
, so we can do nothing but fight them. And should we decide not to fight the
US
and
Israel
, we would then deserve the terrorists’ curse.”
“Anyhow, the theory of ‘motives’ or ‘root
causes’ does not solve our problem with terrorism, or our duty to protect
people from getting killed; a responsibility that is based on all revealed and
unrevealed laws. Our question retains its urgency regarding the psychological,
emotional, and rational condition of a specific person who undergoes such a
radical change of mind. His transformation makes a normal person an abnormal
one, ready to kill himself with tens or even hundreds of other human beings. One
of the first changes that takes place in the mind of a would-be terrorist is an
absolute belief that nowadays, Muslims the world over, are in a state of siege.
They are besieged by Westerners, and Indians, and Buddhists, and Christians, and
Jews, and Russians, and Serbs. Furthermore, he claims that the [rest] of the
world is unconcerned about the tragedies that have befallen the household of
Islam; and if there are signs for concern for the needs of Muslims, they have
come too late. Thus his feeling of utter loneliness and of being the target of
some oppressive global forces, form the terrorist’s state of mind. It makes
him feel as an outsider vis-à-vis a humanity that has neither recognized nor
accepted him.”
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