Sept. 6, 2002

“Killing in the Name of God”

No Successful Military Campaign, No Peace Accord, Will Stop the Boiling Cauldron of Hatred and Resentment

By Dr. Jerrold Post

A year ago, on Sept. 11, 2001, the world as we know it changed. It was a seismic shift. The coordinated attacks by al Qaeda suicidal hijackers on targets in New York City and Washington, DC, were designed to strike at the core symbols of American power — the World Trade Center, the symbol of American economic might; and the Pentagon, the symbol of American military might. Had the fourth plane succeeded in attacking the White House or the US Capitol, symbols of American political might, and the third leg of American power, the effects on the national psyche would have been even more devastating. As it was, the successful attack by radical Islamist terrorists forever shattered American feelings of invulnerability and insular complacency that “it can’t happen here.” A week after the attacks, in a speech to Congress, President Bush gave voice to a question that has perplexed many American citizens, “Why do they hate us?”

How could this small group of terrorists bring the most powerful nation on earth, the sole remaining superpower, to its knees? How could it be that there was so much hatred targeted at the United States that these “true believers” were willing to sacrifice their lives as they took thousands of casualties, “killing in the name of God?” What manner of men are these, living in American society, for years in some cases, aiming to kill thousands while dying in the process? Surely, one would think, they must be crazed psychotics; no normal person could do such a thing. But in fact, the al Qaeda terrorists were psychologically “normal.” By no means were they psychologically disturbed. Indeed, terrorist groups expel emotionally disturbed individuals — they represent a security risk.

In many ways, these new terrorists shatter the profile of suicidal terrorists developed in Israel. Ranging from 17 to 22 in age, uneducated, unemployed, unmarried, the Israeli suicide bombers were dispirited unformed youth, looking forward to a bleak future, when they were recruited, sometimes only hours before the bombing. The group members psychologically manipulated the new recruits, persuading them, psychologically manipulating them, “brainwashing” them to believe that by carrying out a suicide bombing, they would find an honored place in the corridor of martyrs, and their lives would be meaningful; moreover, their parents would win status and would be financially rewarded. From the time they were recruited, the group members never left their sides, leaving them no opportunity of backing down from their fatal choice.

The values communicated to the recruits by the commanders are revealed in their answers to questions posed in a series of interviews of 35 incarcerated Middle Eastern terrorists, who agreed to be interviewed in Israeli and Palestinian prisons. Twenty of the terrorists belonged to radical Islamic terrorist groups — Hamas, Hizballah, and Islamic Jihad. The psychologically oriented interviews attempted to understand the life history, socialization, and recruitment. They were asked to explain their attitudes towards suicide, which the Koran proscribes, and whether they had any moral red lines in terms of the numbers of casualties and the extent of destruction. Their answers are revealing.

One interviewed terrorist took umbrage at the term ‘suicide.’ “This is not suicide. Suicide is selfish, it is weak, it reflects mental illness. This is istishad” (martyrdom or self-sacrifice in the service of Allah). One of the commanders interviewed was Hassan Salame, commander of the suicide bombers who carried out the wave of bombing in 1996 that precipitated the defeat of Prime Minister Shimon Peres and the election of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Forty-six Israelis died in the bombings. Salame is sentenced to 46 consecutive life sentences. Concerning suicidal terrorism, he said, “A suicide bombing is the highest level of jihad, and highlights the depth of our faith. The bombers are holy fighters who carry out one of the more important articles of faith.” Another commander asserted, “It is suicide attacks which earn the most respect and elevate the bombers to the highest possible level of martyrdom.”

The attitudes reflected in these statements characterize radical Islamic terrorists in general. But there is a striking contrast between the suicide bombers in Israel and the 19 terrorists who carried out the attacks of Sept. 11, an unprecedented act of mass casualty terrorism. They had lived in western society, in some cases for many years, exposed to its freedom and opportunities. Many were older, in the mid-30s or late -20s. Several received higher education. The ringleader, Muhamad Atta, for example, had received a master’s degree from the technological university in Hamburg, where he lived and studied with two of the other terrorists. Several came from financially comfortable middle-class families in Saudi Arabia and Egypt. They blended in with society, eschewing the dress, customs, and personal grooming of transitional Muslims. And yet, on the appointed day, like the Manchurian candidate, they carried out their mission to hijack four airliners, and give their lives while killing more than 3,000.

As I have come to understand them, these terrorists differ strikingly from the suicide bombers in Israel. Fully formed adults, they have internalized their values. They are “true believers” who have subordinated their individuality to the group. They have uncritically accepted the direction of the destructive charismatic leader of the organization, Osama bin Laden, and what he declares is moral is moral, indeed is a sacred obligation.

While President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair have taken pains to clarify this is not a war against Muslims, but a war against terrorism, seeking to frame this as a religious war, bin Laden has now laid claim to the title of commander in chief of the Islamic world, opposing the commander in chief of the Western world, President Bush. Alienated Arab youth find resonance in his statements, and see him as a hero. We see Muslim children, educated in radical madrassahs, their bitterness focused in radical mosques, raising their fists, shouting, “Jihad, jihad, kill the infidels,” expressive their wish to be martyrs.

And this is the real challenge. When hatred has been bred in the bone, no successful military campaign, no peace accord, will stop the boiling cauldron of hatred and resentment. Osama bin Laden may be eliminated and the al Qaeda network rolled up, but the path of anti-Western radical Islamist extremism is increasingly attractive to alienated Islamic youth.

Terrorism at heart is a vicious species of psychological warfare; it is violence as communication. Smart bombs and missiles will not win this war. The only way to counter psychological warfare is with psychological warfare, countering the distorted extremist rhetoric of Osama bin Laden and radical Islamist clerics, that rationalizes violence with verses from the Koran. This will be a long struggle. And key goals in this struggle are to inhibit alienated Muslim youth from joining the ranks of extremism, to not see violence as the only pathway. Most importantly, support for this dangerous movement must be reduced, so that radical Islamic extremism is marginalized, its leaders delegitimated.


Jerrold M. Post, MD, is professor of the practice of political psychology and international affairs, of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, and of engineering management.

 

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