It’s a fairly political question, yes, but I’m looking for people’s opinions here. With the recent “Roadmap to Peace” deal going on between the US, Israel, and Palestine, there’s lots of talk about what each side is going to do for the other. Israel wants Palestine’s government to put an end to the suicide bombings, so the Palestinian leader (assuming people are no longer following Arrafat), has “denounced” them.
But honestly, what good does that do? I mean, suicide bombers, to my understanding, aren’t really trying to make a statement for their political system, more a personal statement against another political body/people. Just because the government says “We don’t support your actions” doesn’t seem like it would have any impact whatsoever on someone’s decision to strap explosives to their bodies and detonate themselves for what they believe in.
I don’t really know what type of military/policing action can be made, either, aside from finding who’s going to commit the said offense beforehand, but that’s not really all that easy either. It seems the only way they will stop is if the people get what they want, but that seems rather far fetched as well.
So, any ideas, because I can’t see an end coming to it any time soon.
I was simply going to say about one / one hundreth of a second.
On a more serious note, there has been a recent upheaval up suicide bombers make a tape of themselves before they do the deed, and then renegging on the actual act.
The interview I saw the other day of a young man who did this, mentioned:
[paraphrase] “…it’s the older men who are talking my friends into it, you don’t see them giving their lives for allah…”[/paraphrase]
That sent a brief chill of inspiration that even with-in the groups they are questioning the motives of their leadership…
I think some individuals will always be willing to kill themselves in an effort to hurt or kill others, here, in the Middle East or anywhere. But you can sure reduce those numbers by ensuring that the state and society not only do not encourage the practice, but actively discourage it, by all means available.
I heard in a recent discussion on NPR that although suicide and the harming of innocents are explicitely forbidden in the Koran, muslim clerics justify suicide bombers because dying while fighting is acceptable and through some twisted thinking the suicide bombers are seen as fighting occupiers. As long as Palestinians accept that kind of thinking suicide bombers are here to stay.
If they don’t have the money to fight a conventional war, they will terrorize to make their point. There is no stopping them. Period. The war on terrorism cannot be won. People who think it can be are simply kidding themselves.
Even if the Israeli/Palestinian situation suddenly becomes a big Middle Eastern Love Fest, there will always be fanatics who don’t agree with the political resolution who will be willing to go out in a blaze of glory. We’ve got plenty of home-grown terrorists who will attest to that.
Whoa! Maybe it can’t be won, and maybe it can’t, we sure ain’t gonna know without trying. Maybe all fanatics can be stopped, but if you can remove the everyday idiot with an axe to grind from the mix, you can sure make the problem much more manageable. IMO just throwing up your hands and saying “Can’t be done, let’s move on” is the only wrong answer.
I never said “Can’t be done, let’s move on”. I said that it can’t be stopped. Yes, you can try to minimize it, but it will never be eradicated. Ever. The war that started on 9/11 will never end. I know it’s depressing, but it’s reality.
Look at the Top Stories headlines. Terrorism up the ass. While the biggest world leaders are having peace talks. That aren’t amounting to anything. No way out, baby.
Give 'em the death penalty.
Well, someone had to say it…
On a serious note, you can never stop it entirely, there will always be that one fanatic, but if the groups using it now stop condoning and that society starts condeming the practice, that would be a good start.
The fighting started long before Sept. 11, 2001. That’s just when the American public became aware that they were involved, and that maybe their government has been doing things they weren’t aware of.
Suicide bombers, and those who supply them, are fanatics who will not stop until every jew in Israel is dead-- and then they’ll move on to something else that offends them.
Terrorists come about because they’re alienated, they have no real opportunity for advancement, and because they’re opponents flaunt obscene amounts of wealth without even knowing it (like a flush toilet in every home, a car in every driveway, and a park where children can play without being shot).
Barbarian, I’m aware that terrorism started before 9/11. But not for Americans in general. We thought we were untouchable and found out the hard way that we were mistaken. Nine out of ten Americans never in their wildest dreams thought that we would be attacked in such a brutal fashion. It is only now that we are beginning to deal with it the way the rest of the world has been dealing with it for years and years.
Technology has made terrorism inexpensive and accessible to just about anyone – home-grown or international. The old adage, “East is East and West is West, and never the twain shall meet” is mostly true. Life in the East revolves around heavier subject matter than Wall Street and keeping up with the Joneses.
They are a majority who live and breathe their religion (or their version of it) every second of every day. In the terrorists’ minds, they have nothing to lose and everything to gain by committing acts of violence on those who don’t see it the way they see it.
We have spent an unprecedented amount of time and resource in capturing those who are responsible for terrorism against Americans and others. But theirs is a covert organization that is small enough to stay hidden and determined enough to give their lives for the cause. We can slow them down, but we can never beat them at their game.
One similar example is Northern Ireland. Terrorist organisations were rife in NI for years. Lots of people were killed, albeit not by suicide bombers. The terrorists would not have had any qualms about this, as they saw themselves as brave soldiers fighting an evil enemy. Whats more, the community around them would often see them as heroes.
When the peace process started, it took away any legitimacy to their actions. It took several years, but eventually people started to see violence for what it was. If you commit an act of terrorism without a cause, then it just becomes murder plain and simple. Now, a decade later, NI seems to have settled down. There is still ill-feeling, but people aren’t killing each other.
By making concessions to the palestinians, you give them hope that a settlement can eventually be reached. As the peace process moves forward, the terrorists will find their communities support them less and less, as they look forward to a day when the violence ends. During this time, there will still be some terrorist attacks, as you always get some dickheads in any society. Fortuanately, Suicide bombers are (by definition) a dying breed. If there isn’t a hotbed of anti-israeli feeling amongst the palestinians, then it will get harder and harder to replace them.
If a suicide bomber manages to stop the peace process, then everyone has lost. If the Israeli’s and the Palestinians can keep talking, and denouncing violence, then eventually they will reach a settlement.
I’m glad Sharon has finally worked out the sending helicopter gunships into gaza is not a good way of stopping terrorism.
This ain’t the Great Debates board–but I gotta add some facts here:
One way to reduce suicide bombings is to force the Arabs to stop glorifying it in popular culture.
The fanatic Wahabist (sp?) preachers in Saudia Arabia, and the mullahs of Iran, are fully supported by the government. They have a huge public audience for their rabid incitement. In more moderate Muslim countries, such fanatics dont get free air time.
Palestinian TV regulary shows “commercials” urging children to drop their toys and pick up a bomb. The Palestinians hold huge rallies in the stadium of Gaza City that make Pentecostal Christian revival meetings look tame and boring. Hypnotic, fiery preaching of hatred and incitement to violence in front of huge crowds, with a stage full of children lined up in uniforms holding rifles and wearing symbolic bombs strapped to their bodies, as tens of thousands of people shout in unison urging them on. This isn’t one crazy guy who decides to be violent–this is ORGANIZED violence, fully supported by the local police.
You can’t stop one crazy individual–whether it’s an Arab bomber in Palestine or an American bomber in Oklahama City. But you CAN stop popular culture from supporting the crazies.
Excuse me, but does this really apply to, say, Osama Bin Laden? Please correct me if I’m wrong, but it’s my understanding that this multimillionaire terrorist was not exactly raised or living in poverty.
I’m not saying that there is no hope for certain areas to get a grip on things, but when one quiets down another one gets all rialed up again. Al Qaeda is notorious for a big show followed by months or years of quiet before they strike again. I think it’s almost necessary for them to regroup and refinance before their next attack.
I know I sound very pessimistic in these posts. Maybe I’m just having a bad day. But as long as there are “haves” and “have nots”, there will be terrorism. I don’t see the balance of wealth, power, and understanding coming any time soon. Yes, anything’s possible. I doubt it will happen in my lifetime, but maybe mankind will learn to treat each other better sometime in the future.
The best thing you can do is knock out their support mechanism.
Not every suicide bomber is successful; many get caught before they can detonate anything. To pull it off, you need training, and also someone to give you the explosives in the first place.
There are also incentives: cash rewards are given to the families of those officially declared martyrs. Posters are put up glorifying bombers after the fact. There’s a whole structure set up around it. That has to go first.
Uh … maybe forcing Israel to give back the land it stole FROM Palestine would be a start . You have a country that is not ‘allowed’ to have guns or other weapons being systematicly taken over by a country that the US keeps stockpiled with the latest killing goodies . I’d think the Palestinians see no other recourse then to strap a bomb to themselves . It beats thowing rocks or smiling nice and saying " Will you please not erect settlements in our land ?" as the bulldozers take down your house .
Maybe the U.N could get involved , being that Israel has been in violation of numerous UN mandates since 1967 .
I dunno , just a thought …
Snake: Please explain how Israel “stole” the land from Palestine, when Israel took the West Bank/Gaza in 1967 from Jordan/Egypt respectively who had been in control of it from 1948-1967 (and who then dropped all claim to it)?