A very recent article by Professor Robert Pape in the New York Times posited that suicide bombings were not due to religious fundamentalism, but aimed at liberal democracies as part of a political/military campaign of national self determination. He also suggests that deploying troops in foreign countries actually gives rise to suicide bombers and that beefing up homeland security without foreign deployment will reduce the incidence of suicide bombing. There is much to say about this hypothesis but the argument needs to be further calibrated and clarified. Suicide bombing is an extremely complex phenomena and to draw public, international, security and military policy based upon inappropriate methodologies can seriously injure one’s health. I realise this may sound like arguing about how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, but angels don’t usually go about blowing people up, hence a deeper look at Professor Pape’s work is in order. Full Story
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