FROM ISLAM TO ARMAGEDDON: THE PSYCHE OF TERRORISTS IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM

Laquer Walter , The New Terrorism: Fanaticism and the Arms of Mass Destruction, Oxford University Press, New York, 1999, p. 79.

Ibid ., p. 80.

Ibid ., p. 81.

Slater obert O. Stohl Michael (eds.), Current Perspectives on International Terrorism, St. Martin’s Press, N.Y., 1988, p. 12.

Ibid .. p. 12.

Long David E. . The Anatomy of Terrorism, The Free Press, A division of Macmillan lnc., N. Y, 1990, p. 15.

A cursory teview of public statements by responsible authorities – the U.S. Congress, the British Parliament, the Israeli Knesset, or even the erstwhile Soviet Politburo – shows that neither the “terrorist-as-evil monster” image nor the “terrorist-as-lunatic” image is restricted to the uniformed.

Supporters of the Palestinian cause argue, for example, that Palestinian terrorism is not the fault of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation or its members, but of the denial of self-determination. The fallacy of this argument is that the great majority of those who live under such conditions never resort to terrorism, no matter how compelling their grievances, they are still legally and morally accountable for their acts.

Long , op. cit. . pp. 15-16.

Refer to Reich Walter (ed.) Origins of Terrorism. Cambridge, 1990.

The Irish terrorists, for instance, did not begin sectarian, and there were even Protestants among their leaders. However, as the struggle continued in Northern Ireland, the terrorists turned against their Protestant neighbours as much as against the London government.

Laqueur , op. cit. . pp. 90-91.

The case of Nezar Hindawi is not atypical. Born in Jordan in 1954, he sent his pregnant fiance2e with, unknown to her, a parcel of Semtex hidden in a computer to board an Israeli plane from London to Tel Aviv. The planned explosion would have taken place over southern Europe, killing all 375 passengers, including his finance and unborn child. Owing to the vigilance of the airport guards, the plot was foiled. Although western commentators denounced his action as brutally criminal: his behaviour was not rhought to be particularly loathsome in the part of the world where he came from because his wife was not Muslim. Hindawi was not a psychopath, and there are many like him, mercenaries from Afghanistan and Algeria, who would kill with relish. The culture they live in, the combination of nationalism and religion gives them the legitimization for acting out their cruelty.

Currie Elliot , “Reflections on Crime and Criminology at the Millennium”. Western Criminology Review. Accessed electronically at: http://sonoma.edu/v2nl/currie.html

Those with low self-esteem tend to place unrealistically high demands on themselves, and when confronted with failure, to raise rather than lower their aspirations. A common psychological characteristic among those with low self esteem is to feel out of control of their own lives and to be convinced that their lives are controlled by external sources. This phenomenon called “externalization”. accounts in part for the accumulated wrath they direct towards forces believed to be the source of all their problems. They also tend to externalize the weaknesses and self-denigration they feel in themselves and transfer them to an outside enemy. Another form of displacement common to terrorists has been identified as “splitting”. It occurs in individuals who have incurred psychological damage in childhood and have never fully integrated the good and bad aspects of the self. These aspects are “split”, the good being identified with idealised self and the bad projected onto external enemies. This psychological tendency appears to be more common among terrorist leaders than followers, for it provides a grandiose self-image that project confidence and purpose and attracts others to its glow.

Long, op. cit. , p. 80. “Terrorism”, “Martha Crenshaw observes, “involves reflective not impulsive violence and requires the ability to delay gratification through long and tedious planning states”. Slater Stohl , op. cit. , pp. 13-19.

Laqueur , op. cit. , p. 19.

Martha Crenshaw, a leading specialist on terrorist behaviour, further distinguishes between individual risk-takers and collective risk-takers. The former are exemplified by the terrorist leader who seeks danger to the point of narcissism as a form of self-affirmation, and the latter are exemplified the follower who identifies more with group than with its activities.

Meinhof Ulrike , the Red Army Faction leader, was apparently terrified of guns, and the Palestinian terrorist Layala Khalid was able to deal with presence of child passengers on hijacked airliner only by blotting the possible consequences out of her mind, these feelings scarcely suggest the behaviour of bloodthirsty, psychopathic killers. Some even went to great lengths to avoid direct responsibility for violent death. It is possible that taking hostages is a preferred tactic at least in part because of the terrorist’s ability to shift the blame for any ensuing violence to the target government if it refuses to satisfy the terrorist’s demands. Also Refer to Crayton John W. . “Terrorism and the Psychology of the Self”, in Freedman Lawrence Zelic Alexander Yonah (eds.) Perspectives on Terrorism, Hindustan Publishing Corporation. Delhi, 1985, pp. 33-41.

Robinson Mathew Kelley Tom , The Use of Neurological Cues By Probation Officers To Assess Brain Dysfunction In Offenders. Presented to: Annual meeting of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, March 1998, Paper source: http://www.neurological.edu

Laqueur , op. cit. , p. 93. Also refer to: Russel Charles A. Miller Bowman H. . Profile of a Terrorist in Lawrence Freedman Zelic Alexander Yonah (eds.), Perspectives on Terrorist. Hindustan Publishing Corporation, Delhi. 1985, pp. 45-60.

The composition of membership of extremist cults and terrorist groups varies from country to country according to social conditions, religious traditions, and historical factors. In the Muslim world terrorists are likely to come from two classes: the unemployed youth from poor families, and numerous individuals who went to universities and seminaries and are also unemployed. In the United States, many terrorists hail from middle class families. They include university dropouts, but also people with degrees in subjects like psychology. Material deprivation does not play a significant role in Western societies; the German Red Army had no working class members, and in the Italian Red Brigades only a few became terrorists by way of the Communist Youth League. In some of the separatist terrorist organisations, such as the IRA, the lower class element is much larger.

The admiration of relatives and peers is apparently a significant factor in consolidating membership in the ETA, the provisional IRA, and Hizbollah.

Long , op. cit. , p. 22.

Ibid ., p. 23.

Juergensmeyer Mark , “Understanding the New Terrorism”, Current History, Philadelphia. April 2000 Vol. 99, No. 636, pp. 158-163.

Foreign Terrorist Organisations: Designations by Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. Department of State, U.S. Govt. Printing Office, Washington DC, October 8, 1999.

Hoffman Bruce , Inside Terrorism, Columbia University Press. New York, 1998, p. 91.

Muir Angus M. . “Terrorism and Weapons of Mass Destruction: The Case of Aum Shinrikyo”, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, London, Vol. 22, No. I, January-March 1999, pp. 80-81.

Whitsel Bradeley C. . “Catastrophic New Age Groups and Public Order”, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, London Vol. 23. No. 4, October-December 2000, pp. 21-36.

Laqueur , op. cit. . pp. 4-5.

Whitsel , op. cit. . p. 22.

The movement, which was organized in the early 1980s as a religious secret society in France, observed an amalgamated mystical theology, which integrated reincarnation, astrology. Christian symbols, and occult retualism. Its leaders later established a survival farm in Quebec in anticipation of a future global apocalypse of uncertain origins. Believing themselves to be victims of government and media-led conspiracies to destroy the group. 53 of the organization ‘s-most faithful followers either committed suicide or were killed as the initial step in the membership’s “Transit” to another world. This journey was undertaken with the belief that the chosen would attain salvation following their earthly departure.

At the direction of Shoko Asahara, leader of the Japanese religious movement Aum Shinrikyo members of the sect released vails of a lethal nerve gas during rush hour at strategic places along the terminal’s line. The attack, which killed 12 and injured 5.000, was intended to serve as a symbol of “the weird time” to come - a phrase Asahara’s followers reportedly used to describe the cataclysmic war between good and evil that was believed to begin unfolding near the year 2000. Aum’s path to violence was dictated by Asahara’s fixation on the apocalypse and its aftermath. Although the group’s electric religion comprised of Buddhism, Shinto, Christianity, and New Age occult beliefs, originally stressed the prevention of a prophesied calamity, by the early 1990s the movement began to prepare for what its leader preached would be the end of civilization. The fantasies of Apocalypse can be projected both outward as well as inward, and find an outlet in terrorism.

In March 1995, members of the Aum Shinrikyo released the nerve agent sarin in the Tokyo subway, killing 12 people and injuring more than a thousand. Refer to Tucker Jonathan B. , “Chemical and Biological Terrorism: How Real a Threat”? Current History. Philadelphia, April 2000, Vol. 99, No. 636, pp. 147-153.

Refer to: Lewis Bernard , “The Roots of Muslim Rage”, in the Atlantic Monthly, September 1990, accessed electronically at http://www.theatlantic.com orbach Benjamin . “Usama bin Laden and Al Qu’ida: Origins and Doctrines. Middle East Review of International Affairs. Vol. 5, No. 4 December 2001, accessed electronically at http://meria.idc.ac.il and Zeidan David . “The Islamic Fundamentalist View of Life as a Perennial Battle. Middle East Review of International Affairs. Vol. 5. No. 4. December 2001, accessed electronically at http://meria.idc.ac.il

Refer to Robinson Adam . Bin Laden: Behind the Mask of the Terrorist, Vision Books, New Delhi. 2001, Alexander Yonah Swetnam Michael S. , Usama bin Laden’s al-Qaida: Profile of a Terrorist Network. Aditya Books. New Delhi. 2002, pp. 1-33: and John Cooley , Unholy Wars: Afghanistan, America and International Terrorism, Penguin Books. New Delhi. 2000, pp. 80-161 and 218-247.

The Holy Bible, International Bible Society, New Jersey, 1984.

Ibid .

Laqueur , op. cit. . pp. 4-5.

Downey Dennis B. , “Domestic terrorism: The Enemy Within”, Current History, Philadelphia, April 2000, Vol. 99, No. 636, p. 169.

Ibid .

McVeigh Timothy was executed by lethal injection on the morning of June 11. 2001.

MCVEIGH: “I don’t think there is any way to narrow my personality down and label me as one thing or another as many people have being trying to do. That’s what they try to do with the psychological profiling, with the handwriting, etcetera, etcetera, and it’s all pretty much a pseudoscience that I really laugh at when 1 read. I’m just like anyone else. Movies 1 enjoy would be action-adventure movies, comedies, sci-fi movies and shows. I can talk to almost anybody. The big misconception is that I’m a loner. Well, I believe in having my own space and being on my own sometimes. But that in no way means that I’m a loner, which the press likes to equate with an introvert. That’s a complete misconception. Women, social life. 1 like women. I don’t think there is anything wrong with that”.

Michael Lou and Herbeck Dan , “Into The Mind of Terror”, adapted from “American Terrorist” by the same authors, Regan Boks, New York, 2001, Reader’s Digest, Mumbai, Vol. 159. No. 951, July 2001, p. 155. According to as aboy, McVeigh Smith , had been so upset by his parent’s fighting that he invented a fantasy world. “He created this superhero role for himself”, Smith said. As an adult McVeigh came to see the American Government as the ultimate monster. The psychiatrist concluded McVeigh was not delusional – that he knew exactly what he did. “I expect to be convicted, and I expect to receive the death penalty”. McVeigh told the psychiatrist.

op. cit.. The Book of Revelation (Chapter 20:4).

Melton J. Gordon , Encyclopaedic Handbook of Cults in America, OUP. New York, 1986.

Laqueur op. cit. , pp. 87-88.

Ibid .

Jim Jones of the People’s Temple expressed some vague pro-Communist sentiments toward the end of his life, and David Koresh and the Branch Davidians became posthumous heroes of the extreme right. The Oklahoma City bombing was intentionally committed on the anniversary date of the Branch Davidians’ death. The Oklahoma City bombing occurred on April 9, 1995, the same day two year earlier that federal agents had launched an assault on the compound of the Branch Davidians, an armed group of religious extremists in Waco, Texas. All the sect’s members in the compound – more than 80 people, including 22 children - perished in a fire that broke out during the assault.

Laqueur , op. cit. , pp. 89.

Ibid .

Ibid ., p. 95.

Ibid .

Whitsel op. cit. , p. 23.

Melton J. Gordon , New Encyclopedia, Gale Research, Detroit, 1988, pp xx-xxi.