Suicide attack

World Trade Centers burn, the result of the suicide attacks of September 11, 2001

A suicide attack is an attack on a military or civilian target, in which an attacker intends to kill others, and knows that they will either certainly or most likely die in the process. The means of attack have included vehicles filled with explosives, passenger planes carrying large amounts of fuel, and individuals wearing vests filled with explosives. Synonyms include suicide-homicide bombing, martyrdom operations, and predatory martyrdom. Strictly speaking, an attack may not be considered a suicide attack if the attacker is not killed (although they might hope and plan to be), or if there is some question as to whether their intention is to be killed (even if the attack is certain to kill them).

Although use of suicide attacks has occurred throughout history — with Samson's suicidal destruction of a Philistine temple (as recounted in the Book of Judges), the legendary Swiss hero Arnold von Winkelried, and the Japanese kamikaze pilots of World War II — its main notoriety as a specific kind of attack has been in recent years following the success of a 1983 truck bombing of two barracks buildings in Beirut that killed 300 and helped drive American and French Multinational Force troops from Lebanon.

The first modern suicide bombing — involving explosives deliberately carried to the target either on the person or in a civilian vehicle and delivered by surprise—was in 1981. It was perfected by factions of the Lebanese Civil War; spread to insurgents groups like the Tamil Tigers of Sri Lanka, Palestinian groups, Al-Qaeda, and by 2005 to dozens of countries where a weaker power is fighting a stronger one. Particularly hard-hit have been military and civilian targets in Sri Lanka during Sri Lankan Civil War, Israeli targets in Israel since 1994, and Iraqis since the US-led invasion of that country in 2003. From 1980 to 2003, suicide attacks amounted to only three percent of all terrorist attacks but accounted for 48 percent of total deaths due to terrorism - this excluding 9/11 attacks.

The motivation of recent attack campaigns is a matter of much controversy, with one scholar, Robert Pape, attributing 95 percent of attacks in recent times to the same strategic goal: the withdrawal of the occupying forces from a disputed territory. World leaders, especially those of countries that experience suicide bombings, usually express resolve to continue on their previous course of affairs after such attacks. They denounce suicide bombings and sometimes vow not to let such bombings deter ordinary people from going about their everyday economic business.

Overview of suicide bombing

Contemporary suicide attacks almost always involve explosive materials such as a bomb (a "suicide bombing"), and are often carried out with the help of vehicles. The strategic rationale may be military, political, or both; the target may be military, in which case the bombing is usually classified as an act of war, or civilian, in which case it is usually considered terrorism.

Military historians classify suicide bombing as a form of armed violence, belonging to the tactics of asymmetric warfare — suicide bombings are only common when one side in a violent conflict lacks the means for effective, conventional attacks. The cost-benefit analysis, expressed here by al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, is simple: "The method of martyrdom operation [is] the most successful way of inflicting damage against the opponent and the least costly to the mujahidin in terms of casualties".

Advantages of suicide attacks include the ability to conceal weapons, make last-minute adjustments, increased ability to infiltrate heavily guarded targets, and the lack of need for escape plans and/or rescue teams. "Suicide attacks are an especially convincing way to signal the likelihood of more pain to come, because" if you are willing to kill yourself you are also willing to endure brutal retaliation. "... The element of suicide itself helps increase the credibility of future attacks because it suggests that attackers cannot be deterred."

Civilians are the favored targets, being easier to attack than fortified installations, armored vehicles, or armed and wary soldiers. The consistent targeting of civilians, however, may call into question the moral legitimacy of the bomber's cause (although in some of the perpetrating group's base population, it may be thought to enhance those qualities).

File:Londonbombing2.jpg

The 7th July 2005 London suicide bombers caught on CCTV at Luton train station at 07:21 BST on July 7, 2005. From left to right, Hasib Hussain, Germaine Lindsay, Mohammad Sidique Khan, and Shehzad Tanweer. (Image: Crown copyright)

According to Robert Pape, director of the Chicago Project on suicide terrorism and an expert on suicide bombers, 95 percent of suicide attacks in recent times have the same specific strategic goal: to cause an occupying state to withdraw forces from a disputed territory. Pape found the targeted countries were ones were the government was democratic and public opinion played a role in determining policy. Other characteristics Pape found were a difference in religion between the attackers and the occupiers and grassroots support for the attacks. Characteristics thought to be correlated to suicide bombing, and bombers Pape found lacking included: Islam, especially the influence of Salafi Islam; brutality and cruelty of the occupiers; competition among militant groups; and poverty, immaturity, poor education, past history of suicide attempts, or social maladjustment of the attackers.

Other researchers have argued that Pape's analysis of the data is fundamentally flawed, however, particularly his contention that democracies are the main targets of such attacks. Still others argue that perceived religious rewards in the hereafter are instrumental in encouraging some, especially Muslims, to commit suicide attacks.

Suicide operatives are overwhelmingly male in most groups, but among the Chechen rebels and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) they form a majority. So too some groups use teams all or most of the time (Al-Qaeda and Chechen), and others infrequently or never (Palestinians, Lebanese, and PKK. The ritualistic communion of the extremist groups to which they belong ("lone wolf" suicide bombers are rare), in addition to their strongly-held beliefs, helps motivate their decision to commit suicide.

Responses and reactions to the suicide bombing are mixed, so that a full assessment of the action's impact — especially whether it helped or hindered the cause in whose name it was carried out — is difficult. The public response of politicians is usually one of determination and condemnation. Military and law enforcement are mobilized to disrupt or destroy the organization which planned the attack. The root cause of the violence is often obfuscated by the occupying power in order to avoid discussion of the military occupation that evokes the violent countermeasures. Often the bomber is portrayed as irrational and motivated by blind hatred.

Those who support the bomber's cause will often hold him up as a hero; for example, the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka, publish celebratory books containing the photos of those they regard as heroic freedom fighters; militant Islamist groups like Al Qaeda, for example, make use of religious language to lionize suicide bombers, calling the bomber Shahid, or "martyr."

The term dates back to the 1940s, when it was used in reference to certain German and Japanese battle tactics, but did not gain its present meaning until 1981. Various alternate terms have been used to frame the act differently: the Muslim use of shahid for the bomber or martyrdom operation for the bombing emphasizes the self-sacrificial aspects, while the term "homicide bombing" emphasizes the fact that the bomber kills others.

In the book, Dead for Good: Martyrdom and the Rise of the Suicide Bomber (Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers, 2007), Hugh Barlow describes a new development in the long history of martyrdom, describing it as "predatory martyrdom." Some individuals who now act alone are inspired by emails, radical books, the internet, various new electronic media, and a general public tolerance of extreme teachers and leaders with terrorist agendas.

Tactics

In the case of using explosives, a suicide attack does not require remote or delayed detonation. In the case of causing a crash, it allows human guidance of the weapon (carrying it, driving a car or boat, flying a plane, etc.) without the need for remote or automatic control as in a guided missile. Also, obviously, the attack plan does not require a plan on escaping to safety from the enemy after the attack.

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Kamikaze leader Lt (Chui) Yukio Seki wearing a life preserver.

Examples:

• Suicide attack on foot: explosive belt
• Attempted suicide attack with a plane as target: Richard Reid on American Airlines Flight 63
• Suicide car bomb: 1983 Beirut barracks bombing, Sri Lankan Central Bank bombing, numerous incidents in Iraq since 2003
• Suicide attack by a boat with explosives: USS Cole bombing, attacks in Sri Lanka by the LTTE Sea Tigers.
• Suicide attack by a submarine with explosives (human-steered torpedo): Kaiten, used by Japan in World War II
• Suicide attack by a plane with explosives: kamikaze
• Suicide attack by a hijacked plane with fuel: September 11, 2001 attacks, possibly Air France Flight 8969 and attempted by Samuel Byck
• Suicide attack by diverting a bus to an abyss: Tel Aviv Jerusalem bus 405 massacre
• Suicide attack with guns: Kashmiri insurgents on the Indian Parliament in December 2001 killing 15 people.

In some cases, an attack on a nuclear power may be considered a suicide attack in the wider sense, with the attacking country being sure or almost sure of suffering many fatalities in a retaliation.

Suicide attacks usually (but not always) target poorly guarded, non-military facilities and personnel. It can be either a military tactic, a political one, or a mixture of the two. It may qualify as terrorism when the intention is to kill, maim or terrorise a predominantly civilian target population, or fall within the definition of an act of war when it is committed against a military target under war conditions.

File:Explosive-belt01.jpg

Explosive belt of a Palestinian suicide bomber, captured by the Israeli police. Anti-terrorism intelligence claims such suicide bomber clothing is designed by a person they call The Tailor of Death.

Rationale

Use of suicied attacks against civilian targets has differing effects on their goals. Some economists suggest that this tactic goes beyond symbolism and is actually a response to commodified, controlled, or devalued lives, as the suicide attackers apparently consider family prestige and financial compensation from the community as compensation for their own lives. Whether such motivation is significant as compared to political or religious feeling remains unclear.

The doctrine of asymmetric warfare views suicide attacks as a result of an imbalance of power, in which groups with little significant power resort to suicide bombing as a convenient tactic to demoralize the targeted civilians or government leadership of their enemies. Suicide bombing may also take place as a perceived response to actions or policies of a group with greater power. Groups which have significant power have no need to resort to suicide bombing to achieve their aims; consequently, suicide bombing is overwhelmingly used by guerrilla, and other irregular fighting forces. Among many such groups, there are religious overtones to martyrdom: attackers and their supporters may believe that their sacrifice will be rewarded in an afterlife. Suicide attackers often believe that their actions are in accordance with moral or social standards because they are aimed at fighting forces and conditions that they perceive as unjust.

Profile of a bomber

A common reaction to a suicide bomber is to assume that he or she was motivated by despair, and probably came from a poor, neglected segment of society. Both President George W. Bush and the Dalai Lama have made this claim. However, anthropologist Scott Atran found in a 2003 study that this is not a justifiable conclusion. A recently published paper by Harvard University Professor of Public Policy Alberto Abadie "cast[s] doubt on the widely held belief that terrorism stems from poverty, finding instead that terrorist violence is related to a nation's level of political freedom." More specifically this is due to the transition of countries towards democratic freedoms. "Intermediate levels of political freedom are often experienced during times of political transitions, when governments are weak, political instability is elevated, so conditions are favorable for the appearance of terrorism".

Some suicide bombers are educated, with college or university experience, and come from middle-class homes. Most suicide bombers do not show signs of psychopathology. Indeed, leaders of the groups who perpetrate these attacks search for individuals who can be trusted to carry out the mission; those with mental illnesses are not ideal candidates.

Usage of `Suicide Bombing'

The usage of the term "suicide bombing" dates back to at least 1940. An August 10, 1940 New York Times article mentions the term in relation to German tactics. A March 4, 1942 article refers to a Japanese attempt at a "suicide bombing" on an American carrier. The Times (London) of April 15, 1947, page 2, refers to a new pilotless, radio-controlled rocket missile thus: "Designed originally as a counter-measure to the Japanese "suicide-bomber," it is now a potent weapon for defence or offence." The quotes are in the original and suggest that the phrase was an existing one. An earlier article (August 21, 1945, page 6) refers to a kamikaze plane as a "suicide-bomb."

The term with the meaning "an attacker blowing up himself or a vehicle to kill others" appeared in 1981 when it was used in an Associated Press article to describe the bombing of the Iraqi Embassy in Beirut.

In order to assign either a more positive or negative connotation to the act, suicide bombing is sometimes referred to by different terms. Islamists often call the act a isshtahad ("martyrdom operation"), and the suicide bomber a shahid (pl. shuhada, literally "witness," and usually translated as "martyr"). The term denotes one who died in order to testify his faith in God (Allah), for example those who die while waging jihad bis saif; it is applied to suicide bombers by the Palestinian Authority, among others, in part to overcome Islamic strictures against suicide.

This term has been embraced by Hamas, Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, Fatah, and other Palestinian factions engaging in suicide bombings. (The title is by no means restricted to suicide bombers and can be used for a wide range of people, including innocent victims; Muhammad al-Durra, for example, is among the most famous shuhada of the Intifada, and even a few non-Palestinians such as Tom Hurndall and Rachel Corrie, have been called shahid.)

`Homicide bombing'

Some effort has been made to replace the term "suicide bombing" with the term "homicide bombing." The first such use was by White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer in April 2002. The Fox News Channel and the New York Post, both owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, are two media organizations that have adopted the term. Fox News began using the term after it was suggested by former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu during an interview.

Supporters of the term "homicide bombing" argue that since the primary purpose of such a bombing is to kill other people rather than merely to end one's own life, the term "homicide" is a more accurate description than "suicide." Others argue that "homicide bombing" is a less useful term, since it fails to capture the distinctive feature of suicide bombings, namely the bombers' use of means which they are aware will inevitably bring about their own deaths. For instance, Timothy McVeigh and Theodore Kaczynski could both ostensibly be called "homicide bombers," but neither could be called a "suicide bomber." To this extent, it has also been argued that most bombings are "homicide bombings," as loss of life is their inherent aim.

"Genocide bombing"

Another attempted replacement is "genocide bombing." The term was coined in 2002 by Canadian member of parliament Irwin Cotler, in an effort to replace the term "homicide bomber" as a substitute for "suicide bomber." The intention was to focus attention on the alleged intention of genocide by militant Palestinians in their calls to "Wipe Israel off the map."

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Barlow, Hugh. Dead for Good: Martyrdom and the Rise of the Suicide Bomber, Paradigm Publishers, 2007. ISBN 1-59451-324-4
• Bloom, Mia. Dying to Kill: The Allure of Suicide Terror, Columbia University Press, 2005. ISBN 0-231-13320-0
• Hudson, Rex. Who Becomes a Terrorist and Why: The 1999 Government Report on Profiling Terrorists, Lyons Press, 2002. ISBN 1-58574-754-8
• Pape, Robert. Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism, Random House, 2005. ISBN 1-4000-6317-5
• Skaine, Rosemarie. Female Suicide Bombers, McFarland Publishers, 2006. ISBN 0-7864-2615-2

External links

• Channel 4's Cult of the Suicide Bomber
• What makes suicide bombers tick? - Suicide bomber profile and info
• The Culture of Martyrdom How suicide bombing became not just a means but an end by David Brooks in The Atlantic Monthly June 2002
• Erased In A Moment Suicide Bombing Attacks Against Israeli Civilians [Human Rights Watch]
• History of use of the phrase "suicide bomber"
• How a laser device can detect a suicide bomber's explosives belt or chemical weapons from dozens of meters away - A web article
• short clip showing the victims of Palestinian suicide bombing Warning: Graphic Images
  • IMAGINE Flash, images of bombings
• Few Muslims Back Suicide Bombs

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