“They hate us for our freedoms” –George W. Bush

Most reasonable people realize that the President’s now infamous characterization of the 9/11 terrorists’ motive is drivel. But many reasonable people, when asked what does drive people to commit suicide terrorist acts will give reasons that, though less obviously drivel, are none-the-less completely wrong.

There have been many plausible and well-intentioned hypotheses about the root causes of suicide terrorism. The causes are generally held to be some combination of unstable or suicidal personalities, indoctrination in the tenets of fundamentalist Islam, socio-economic deprivations, and the history of Western, especially American, involvement in the Middle East. That is how I thought about the phenomenon myself, until I read Robert Pape’s comprehensive study of every suicide terrorist incident since the inception of modern suicide terrorism in 1980.

There is nothing better for destroying misconceptions and faulty assumptions than a fat dose of facts. Pape created a detailed database of every suicide terrorism incident between 1980 and 2003 – 315 attacks in all – to test hypotheses regarding what variables actually predict suicide terror, and what factors are actually causal. The result of his work is published in his book, “Dying to Win.” The hypothesis left standing at the end of the day is surprising and has dire import for the conduct of American foreign policy.

It is simply this:

Suicide terrorism is an effective tool of nationalism that is used specifically against democratic states engaged in military occupation of territory the terrorist group considers its homeland.

Via: Consortiumnews.com. Because the Bush administration, almost from the start, has eschewed any comparison of Iraq with Vietnam, officials apparently never read the history of the nation’s heretofore worst war and have made the same 10 major mistakes: 1. Underestimating the enemy. As in Vietnam, the superpower’s potent military has been astounded by the tenacity … Read more

The second edition of Coyote Carnval is live and online now: Temple Stark.com: Coyote Carnival – No. 2 Pencil edition. Stop by and show Arizona’s bloggers the love, leave some comments, then make your submissions for the next edition. Discover more from Blog for Arizona Subscribe to get the latest posts to your email. Type … Read more

The Constitution is a complex document in some respects, but others are as plain as the nose on your face. Every high school civics student knows that bills must be passed by both chambers of Congress and signed by the President to become law. Well, guess what? Not according to the GOP. This year’s budget … Read more

10. Don’t call me Barry. 9. AuH2 Who? 8. Goldwater?  I thought he was dead. 7. Barry called.  He’d like his name back after you’re done dragging it through the mud.  Thanks. 6. Don Goldwater.  Campaigning Like It’s 1964. 5. Goldwater.  From District Chairman to Failed Office Seeker in 6.2 Seconds. 4. Like Len Munsil.  … Read more

It is time to Drink Liberally once again. Liberals will be gathering this Thursday, as they do every week, to consider the state of our Union and do what the situation requires; have a drink. I just today noticed that the Drinking Liberally message board for Tucson was recieving a lot of traffic, but little … Read more