Suicide bombers as political tacticians, not religious fanatics
By Phil Lawler ( bio - articles - email ) | Sep 22, 2003
Robert Pape, a U. of Chicago political scientist, has an interesting and somewhat disturbing op-ed column in today's New York Times.
His contention-- based on a careful study of nearly 200 incidents over 12 years-- is that suicide bombing is not usually the work of religious fanatics.
Rather, what nearly all suicide terrorist campaigns have in common is a specific secular and strategic goal: to compel liberal democracies to withdraw military forces from territory that the terrorists consider to be their homeland.
I don't know whether or not Pape is right. But the argument is worth considering.
Phil Lawler has been a Catholic journalist for more than 30 years. He has edited several Catholic magazines and written eight books. Founder of Catholic World News, he is the news director and lead analyst at CatholicCulture.org. See full bio.
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