One problem is the difficulty most people have of getting out of the box into the moccasins of the aggrieved. Huge chasm there.
I do it all the time.
The conclusion I reach when I imagine myself an Islamic terrorist is that I could not justify doing so from either a moral standpoint or from a a more practical standpoint. Under either circumstances, I would not engage in terrorism. Here's why:
First, if I had sufficient moral difficulties with killing innocent children, attacking schools, etc., I would never become a radical Islamist terrorist or assist one because it seems likely that I might be asked to participate in such efforts. That part is simply and easy.
Secondly, as a hypothetical radical Islamist terrorist who is in fact willing to commit the kinds of universally repugnant atrocities under discussion, or who is willing to use simple terror as a tool, I would view such acts against the backdrop of radical Islam's global goals, concluding that they are simply impossible to achieve. They require, after all, a complete change in global culture, something which simply isn't going to happen. I would know that I am doomed before I started.
Under those circumstances, as a more or less rational yet highly indoctrinated terrorist, I would conclude that radical Islamic terrorism is ultimately self-defeating. I would start looking for another way. Becoming a martyr, despite its attractions, would ultimately not satisfy me as I know my efforts and, indeed, the sacrifice of my life would be in vain.
All this of course presumes some level of rationality which unfortunately doesn't exist in the mind of a zealot. I think, however, that the calculation will become increasingly important as radical Islam suffers more and more defeats.
Islamic terrorism is ultimately hostage to its grandiose goals. Less ambitious terrorists, on the other hand, like the IRA, seem to have been successful because their goals were more limited. They can force compromises through terror. The Islamists can't, and don't seem interested. They are ultimately doomed, though they will cause lots of grief before their venture is over. |
