The Logic and Strategy of Suicide Terrorism

[Cute Wolf]

suicide attacks shouldn't be seen as normal terrorism apparently. Quite the destinction, and it's worthy of some discussion some more if someone cuts of the dead weight.

Suicide attack is not only used by Islamists or religion - based terrorists, it was historically used by almost all "suicidal-minded" groups of terrorists, while the bombing parts was just a recent invention due to explosives available, (and in medieval times, we could see soldiers carrying explosives and explode that in hope of running before that thingies explode - which often cause them to dead as well), suicide charges and suicidal ambush are used against far superrior troops, and this does constitute "suicide terrorism" on the eyes of the "victim's faction"

EDIT : Correct me if I was playing Age of Empires too much...

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Suicide attack is not only used by Islamists or religion - based terrorists, it was historically used by almost all "suicidal-minded" groups of terrorists, while the bombing parts was just a recent invention due to explosives available, (and in medieval times, we could see soldiers carrying explosives and explode that in hope of running before that thingies explode - which often cause them to dead as well), suicide charges and suicidal ambush are used against far superrior troops, and this does constitute "suicide terrorism" on the eyes of the "victim's faction"

EDIT : Correct me if I was playing Age of Empires too much...

Case A: My woefully over-powered force, faced by a vastly superior enemy, fixes bayonets and does the David Niven forward into the mists of glory. They know they're dead, so they take as many with them as they can. Suicidal? Yes. Terrorism? No.

Case B: Jannie is filled with the spirit. He knows that those loathsome Portugese are oppressing his noble dutch family, friends, neighbors etc. He also knows that the Dutch military would be mopped up by the dreaded and effecient Portos. He decides to avoid attacking such difficult military targets in favor of blowing up hundreds of Portugese civilians -- this will horrify and punish the Portugese. Checking security, he decides that planting a bomb for remote detonation or even placing it near enough to the target would be difficult and likely not to succeed. Being true to his beliefs, he decides to strap the bomb to himself, knowing that he can probably get most of the way through security once -- but would never get back out even if he did plant a bomb -- and that he cannot be prevented from detonating it. Suicidal? Yes. Terrorism? Yes.

Terrorism is attacking un-armed civilians in order to horrify members of that polity and related individuals. The goal is to make the oposing nation/group so sick of the situation that they quit or, failing that, punish them as harshly as possible. It presumes that there are no innocents, and that ANY person from the opposing group is an appropriate target (a.k.a. "The only good injun is a dead injun." and "Nits grow into lice.").

Suicidal tactics can provide a force multiplier in combat -- eschewing survival allows for all of a limited resource to be devoted to offense -- but that it true irrespective of whether it is used against an opposing military or against the innocent.

[The Wizard]

Those damned Portuguese had it coming!

AFAIK the first suicide bombers were Black Tigers, the suicide brigade of the Tamil Tigers (or LTTE). The first time the West encountered terrorism was Hizballah's 1983 Beirut barracks bombing -- which, ironically enough, was not an act of terrorism.

EDIT: Oops, wait, the Tamil Tigers were the first to use them on a large scale. The 1983 attack was the first instance.

[Hax]

The Wizard is quite right. Both suicide terrorism as well as Islamic fundamentalism have only quite recently (±50 years) become popular. Before the Iranian revolution and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, it wasn't really such a big deal.

[Fragony]

Not true t http://www.amazon.com/Jihad-Politica.../dp/0674010906 <- best book on the subject I know

Did get more prominent though

[The Wizard]

The Wizard is quite right. Both suicide terrorism as well as Islamic fundamentalism have only quite recently (±50 years) become popular. Before the Iranian revolution and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, it wasn't really such a big deal.

Shi'a/Sufi militant groups like the Hashshashin pioneered it way back in the 12th century, though...

[Fragony]

Hashashin were sufi? That is new to me

[The Wizard]

The distinction between the two, when it comes to medieval religious orders/groups, is less clear-cut than it may seem. Take for example the Safavids, who began life as a Sufi order, became militant, conquered a country and instituted Shi'a Islam because it separated the monarch from the plebs 'cause it made him special. The country (Iran), until then overwhelmingly Sunni, then converted to Shi'a Islam en masse.

[al Roumi]

The first time the West encountered suicide terrorism was Hizballah's 1983 Beirut barracks bombing -- which, ironically enough, was not an act of terrorism.

Fixed.