Fight Of Our Lives

By Ben Chase

Terrorism has existed for nearly two thousand years, and since the dawn of the organized state there have always been those groups who are bent on sabotaging government or killing innocent people for their cause. Yet, for those two millennia terrorism has followed a relatively predictable path of existence as centralized terrorist states or separate and distinct militias. And while history has demonstrated that these rogue groups

can't be wiped out, for the most part, they can be managed.

In the past ten years, however, the world has become a victim of the resurgence of suicide terrorism, a tactic that historically has been the hardest form of terrorism to control. "What we are now seeing are a people whose culture has become acclimated to this notion of martyrdom," explained Bruce Hoffman, a senior vice president and terrorism expert at the Rand Corporation, which does regional analysis for government agencies like the C.I.A. "What most societies regard as heinous and unacceptable-to see one's children offering themselves up as human bombs-has become accepted as the only way to fight against a more powerful enemy. It has become glorified."

The level of legitimacy that suicide bombing has attained in certain parts of the Middle East is staggering. Throughout the Gaza Strip and other areas, children barter with trading cards featuring the Tamal Tigers, and although the group may sound like a baseball team, it is a Palestinian terrorist organization responsible for the death of hundreds of civilians.

"There is a social imprimatur attached to this kind of violence," said Hoffman. "Society is saying these are the most venerated figures coming from our community." What's more, the financial support attached to self-sacrificial terrorism doesn't hurt. Saddam Hussein was said to have given each of the families of Palestinian bombers $25,000.

The truly remarkable fact about suicide terrorism is that it has socially diversified its background. What was once thought to be the desperate last breath of the incredibly poor and despondent, suicide terrorism has essentially moved up from the poverty of refugee camps to the highest echelons of Arab society. "What's happening now is that people aren't being recruited to be martyrs-they are volunteering from all walks of life," Hoffman said. "Two of the Palestinian suicide bombers this year have been sons of millionaires."

While suicide terrorism may have outgrown its area code, it still has not purged itself of its fundamental psychology of hopelessness. The act of killing oneself in an effort to better a cause still indicates a belief amongst terrorists that more can be accomplished in death than in life. Even Osama bin Laden has expressed the sentiment that his own death will serve the Jihad because it will create "thousands of more Osamas."

The mistakes of the United States have led to the perpetuation of suicide terrorism. The United States' invasion of Afghanistan in 2002, along with the subsequent defeat of the Taliban, was obviously a massive victory in the War on Terror. However, a combination of the Taliban being annihilated and the U.S. failure to secure the borders of Afghanistan caused a splintering effect within Al Qaeda. "The challenges have almost multiplied since Afghanistan," Hoffman said. "We are no longer facing a single unitary entity known as Al Qaeda, it's against many Al Qaedas."

The greatest consequence of Al Qaeda splintering into numerous organizations has been felt in the way that Al Qaeda now operates. Before 9/11 Al Qaeda operated much like a corporation. Attacks were planned at the highest levels by Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants, and orders were handed down to cells in the area of operation. Hoffman referred to this form of comunication as top to bottom terrorism. Since the organization has fractured, more operations are being planned locally and approved by whatever is left of the centralized Al Qaeda-a line of correspondence that Hoffman called bottom to top terrorism. "With bottom to top terrorism people are coming to bin Laden or one of his mid-level guys and saying, 'we are going to carry out this operation-will you sponsor it or lend your name,'" Hoffman said. "Small operations like suicide bombing and car explosions-the kind of things that really effect occupations-are the result of this kind of terrorism."

Needless to say, the United States' inability to recognize this shift has been devastating. While terrorist attacks are relatively small on the casualty chart, they nonetheless disrupt any sense of security and normalcy of everyday life.

Still, combating the acceptability of suicide terrorism must be the supreme goal of United States and her allies. "We have to give people in the region every reason to live, rather than (as we see manifested in suicide terrorism) an overwhelming compunction to die," said Hoffman. "We can do that through reform, democratization, opportunity and optimism. It will require tremendous effort and a lot of energy and time-but we have no alternative."