Trends in Suicide Terrorism: Sense and Nonsense (original) (raw)

The past three years saw more suicide attacks than the last quarter century. Most of these were religiously motivated. While most Westerners imagine a tightly coordinated transnational terrorist organization headed by al-Qaeda, it seems more likely that nations under attack face a set of largely autonomous groups and cells pursuing their own regional aims. Repeated suicide actions show that massive counterforce alone does not diminish the frequency or intensity of suicide attack. Like pounding mercury with a hammer, this sort of top-heavy counterstrategy only seems to generate more varied and insidious forms of suicide terrorism. Even with many top Qaeda leaders now dead or in custody, the transnational Jihadist fraternity is transforming into a hydra-headed network more difficult to fight than before.