In his article, ‘The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism’, Robert Pape tries to unearth the true meaning and cause of suicide terrorism. He explores various ideologies that have been attached to the terrorist attacks that have previously occurred. Pape also shows the major points of contrast between his research and the existing philosophies. Besides the acquisition of political mileage and other explanations, the author uses evidence from statistics over the suicide terrorist attacks that have occurred in various places to make his conclusion. According the Pape, the trends established from the recent and past attacks, strategic logic is a major driving force behind the attacks.
The definition and intention of suicide terrorism have changed over the years. The explanations that have existed over the years have strategically satisfied the circumstances under which they have been created. The change in the definitions is justified because the initial explanations do not accommodate the later. This is because of the complexity and logistics involved are not reflected in the previous versions. The author indicates that the interpretation behind the attacks was relying of just their physical and outline makeup. This is true because the indications are no longer valid because some of the assumptions that were taken into consideration in making the ideologies are not valid.
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Through the analysis of the trends in the recent terrorist attacks, it is reasonable to conclude that these attacks exhibit strategic logic. The research conducted by the author indicates that unlike the previous philosophies that were based on mere assumptions, these terrorist attacks are as a result of intensive and coherent organization and they greatly rely on timing and target selection so as to increase the chances of success in the attacks. Most of these attacks are as a result of politics and they are aimed at gaining power and control over some resources.
Suicide terrorism is a very expensive endeavour. This is evident with the resources that the terrorists commit to the missions, but also by the nature of the attack. Several sacrifices are involved. The ultimate sacrifice is shown by the willingness of people to die in order to execute the missions. The statistics also indicate that these attackers lay heavy investment in the attacks including analysing the previous attacks so as to gain experience on how to carry their affairs. These strategies are crucial to the attacks because they assist them increase the effectiveness and efficiency of their coercive ventures.
It also important to note that not all terrorist attacks fulfil their intentions as planned. Pape’s research is consistent to the data that most of these attacks are out to achieve malicious and mischievous goals. On the hand, when military personnel advance in aggressive adventures to get to the bottom of the attacks, they do not succeed. Jailing of these terrorist leaders and torturing them is met with a lot of resistance from the terrorists through execution of other attacks. Sometimes the success obtained by the military troops in destabilizing the military groups is short-lived and it is followed by massive counter-attacks.
In conclusion, it is notable that most of the suicide terrorist attacks that have occurred over the years have been executed successfully. This is because most of the intelligence and security systems of the nations that have been attacked have shown lack of preparedness. This is consistent with Pape’s which indicates that suicide terrorism is guided by coherent campaigns that are strategically organized and timed to execute free-flowing and unsuspicious attacks. To control and mitigate the threat caused by these attacks, military actions are not effective today. Adoption of more sophisticated measures like homeland security can assist in alleviating the intimidation.
