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Analyzing Suicide Bombing Essay According to Robert Pape there have been 188 recorded suicide bombings all over the world from the period of 1980 to 2001. For almost two decades now he believed that it proliferated because it was effective. The perceived connection between suicide terrorism and Islamic fundamentalism also has been somewhat uncertain and also likely to worsen America’s situation. Instead what he observed was that nearly all suicide terrorist campaigns have one specific and strategic goal and that is to compel liberal democratic countries to withdraw military forces from their territorial boundaries. Religion as commonly know was not the sole cause, although it is often used as a tool by terrorist organizations in recruiting members and in other efforts in service of the broader strategic objectives. (Pape, 2003 ) Three patterns summarized his conclusions on the strategic and coercive logic of suicide terrorism. First is timing. Almost all suicide attacks occur in organized manner. Second is nationalist goal. Their campaigns are directed to gain control of their national homeland territory. And thirdly target selection. Suicide terrorist campaigns are directed toward liberal democracies. Suicide terrorist for example were successful to compel American and French forces to abandon Lebanon in 1983. (Pape, 2003) Suicide terrorist learned that the strategy is effective. It is coercive enough to compel a target government to change policy. Suicide terrorist often views democratic countries like United States, France, Israel and India as â€Å"soft† or vulnerable to coercion than authoritarian regimes that is why they are being targeted. (Pape, 2003) Analyzing Suicide Bombing Suicide bombing became one of the prominent strategies of contemporary terrorism. It has been one of the most difficult to understand since it’s difficult to explain how a person could risk his or her life in doing such a crime. It has led some to believe that those willing to sacrifice their own life are â€Å"religious fanatics†. (Pape, 2003)To understand suicide bombers one should also consider different incidences and real motives. One should not be limited on single specific terrorist group and religion. Suicide bombing as defined is any violent, politically motivated attacks, carried out in deliberate state of awareness of a person. (Bloom, 2004 ) Terrorist organizations overwhelmingly claim that violence is a tool of last resort and a sign of desperation. Suicide attacks in some contexts inspire a self perpetuating subculture of â€Å"martyrdom†. (Bloom, 2004) Possible candidate individuals to become suicides bombers are those people produced by the organization or educated outsiders who flock to the organization to volunteer because of personal reasons. (Bloom, 2004) Religious fanaticism cannot answer completely why the world leader in suicide terrorism is the Tamil tigers in Sri Lanka, a group that believes in Marxist/Leninist ideologies. Existing explanations have been also questioned by the widening range of socio-economic backgrounds of suicide terrorist. Terrorism has evolved dramatically over the years which are motivated either with religious ideologies or political convictions. Like other anti-colonialist predecessors of the immediate post-war era, many of the terrorist groups of this period promptly valued and adopted methods that would allow them to publicize their goals and accomplishments locally and internationally. Forerunners in this were the Palestinian groups who pioneered â€Å"hijacking† the modern generation suicide terrorist attack. (Burgess, 2003) Terrorists claim that they are using terror as their last resort. Ehud Sprinzak for example provided the organizational logic of using suicide terrorism. Because the enemy possesses the most sophisticated weapons in the world and its army is trained to very high standards they have nothing which to repel killing and crime against them except the weapon of martyrdom. It is easier and cost only their lives. For the terrorist, human bombs cannot be defeated, not even by nuclear bombs. (Bloom, 2004) Analyzing His Policy Prescription He has some policy prescriptions for containing suicide terrorism. According to Pape offensive military action or concession alone will not benefit for long. It will tend to encourage the terrorist leaders to further their coercive efforts. Homeland security and defensive efforts should be the main part of the solution. Identifying the best method to stop suicide terrorism is a complex task. Most ethnic civil wars can often be resolved by demographic separation because it reduces both means and incentives for both sides to attack. (Pape, 2003) The United States should emphasize instead in improving its domestic security. United States should adopt stronger border controls to make it more difficult for suicide attackers to enter the territory. The United States should also work towards energy independence and thus reduce the need for American troops in the Persian Gulf where their presence has caused greater agitation to their enemies. When one considers the strategic logic of suicide terrorism it becomes clear that America’s war on terrorism is heading in the wrong path. How should a democratic nation like America have responded in the past? They had to react by having heavy military offensives which only provoke more terrorist attacks. Offensive military action or concessions alone will not work for long. Advocates of concessions should also recognize that even if they are successful in disrupting their operations it will encourage terrorist to further their tactics. By limiting of offensive actions and concessions, homeland security and defensive efforts must now be strengthened. What is ironic in his prescription was that he suggests that the US troops in the Persian Gulf and Iraq should leave the territory but also see the move a bad idea to stop suicide terror because it tends to encourage terrorist more to use the tactic. Bloom vs. Pape’s Argument Professor Robert Pape earlier argued that suicide terror is a coercive strategy directed externally or against a more powerful enemy to coerce democratic governments to change policies and evacuate the territory that they control. (Bloom, 2004)Pape argues that liberal democracies can be coerced through the use of sufficient violence. Bloom believes that although Papes explanation is useful for understanding how suicide bombing is directed against the external enemy, it overlook the domestic political dynamics and organizational motivations for â€Å"outbidding†. The outbidding is due to the competition between the rival terrorist organizations. Greater violence will give them recognition from the crowd. Papes model correctly identifies the motivations of nationalist inspired suicide terrorist; however it does not fully explain why the religious groups with goals beyond territorial demands might use it. Papes focus on democratic countries should is debatable. He argues that suicide bombings work best against democratic regimes because of access to the media, freedom of movement and the â€Å"shock value†; however his theory cannot be adequately tested or verified at this point. Lastly Papes model cannot explain why those who share the same ethnicity as the terrorist are targeted. This approach regards the opposite engaged in suicide terror and cannot give an explanation for the competitive environment that emerges in some case and not in others. All of which requires an analysis of domestic and local level study and observation. (Bloom, 2004) Work Cited Pape, Robert â€Å"The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism† August 2003 American Political Science Review, The University Of Chicago 14 October 2008 http://danieldrezner. com/research/guest/Pape1. pdf. Bloom, Mia â€Å"Devising A Theory of Suicide Terror† February 2004 Center For Global Security and Democracy, Rutgers University 14 October 2008