How come the typical suicide bomber is so young and, by some accounts, getting younger? Given that one of the incentives offered to candidates for the task of blowing themselves and others up is the prospect of martyrdom and eternal felicity, you would think that some of the terrorists of more advanced years would be pleased to volunteer too, especially as they have already had ample opportunity to experience life on earth.
This is obviously an immensely complex subject which deserves more than flippant or cynical treatment. But it is not the motivation and manipulation of the young suicide bombers that concerns me here. It is the absence of their older colleagues that puzzles me. After all, a suicide bomber is just as "effective" at 60 as at 26 or 16, and surely not ALL of the older set are "vital" for training and organisational purposes. Could it be that the idea of martyrdom is not after all very appealing to them?
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I was interested to read today that modern smartphones are more powerful than the computers initially used to send men to the moon.
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First Law of Copywriting: accentuate the positive, avoid the negative.
RIGHT: The new iPhone is faster and more powerful than its predecessor.
WRONG: The new iPhone is not as slow or as weak as its predecessor.
RIGHT: Over 90 people attended the meeting.
WRONG: Fewer than 100 people attended the meeting.
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First Law of Politics: always refer to a member of your own party by his or her first name; to a member of the opposition by his or her surname.
Welcome back to your blog, Mr. Dunn. You've been missed.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the youthful age for martyrdom, I think that's just it. Just as revolutionaries and suicide pilots were/are always extremely young. Late teens-early twenties seem to be the age when "things" are felt most urgently, and after that one sort of can't be bothered. And don't you think it possible that the lure of those virgins mightn't pall a tad - further thought might lead one to question their age and beauty.
This, of course, is a fairly wild generalisation but as a rule of thumb I think it more or less applies. After all, isn't it also said that fervent adherence to the Conservative Party in your teens is of itself deeply suspect - that by rights should come with middle age.
Expecting to be shot down here!
Welcome back to your blog, Mr. Dunn. You've been missed.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the youthful age for martyrdom, I think that's just it. Just as revolutionaries and suicide pilots were/are always extremely young. Late teens-early twenties seem to be the age when "things" are felt most urgently, and after that one sort of can't be bothered. And don't you think it possible that the lure of those virgins mightn't pall a tad - further thought might lead one to question their age and beauty.
This, of course, is a fairly wild generalisation but as a rule of thumb I think it more or less applies. After all, isn't it also said that fervent adherence to the Conservative Party in your teens is of itself deeply suspect - that by rights should come with middle age.
Expecting to be shot down here!
I absolutely agree with what you say about the young. It's the motivation, or rather lack of it, among their olders which I find suspect. Martyrs do not fall into the same category as revolutionaries or suicide bombers, and I think there have been quite a lot of elderly martyrs down the years. So why not among Bin Laden's generation?
ReplyDeleteRegarding older Martyrs, up to a point Lord Copper up to a point. My (sparse) reading of history shows me that several at least of those Martyrs we learned of at school in fact had Martyrdom forced upon them! And in fact this was most probably true of the suicide pilots - "you, you and you" ...
ReplyDeleteBut where it is genuine I don't see it as so different to revolutionary ideals. I don't believe Bin Laden's generation genuinely long to depart this life any more than I do or Trotsky longed for the ice pick, but younger members lacked that certain skin-saving desire in pursuit of their aims.