The latest issue of The American Conservative has an interesting interview with Robert Pape, a professor at the University of Chicago. Pape has written a book, “Dying to Win: The Logic of Suicide Terrorists”, that he claims is based on a study of just about all of the suicide bombings that occurred from 1980 to early 2004. His conclusion is that the basic reason for the attacks is not religious; it is the desire to remove foreign troops from your soil.
As my son points out, there were no foreign troops at the World Trade Center on September 11 or in downtown London on July 7. These events are not discussed in the interview, but they certainly make one question Pape’s thesis.
Perhaps the truth lies on both sides – religion and ouster of foreigners- as it usually does.
1 comment:
I believe Pape is basically correct, Al. The aim, as he states, is to hit civilians and military targets. There were no foreign troops in Madrid either, but all three countries, Spain, Britain and the US had troops in Iraq in March 2004. As he also stated, at the time of the 9/11 attacks - and now - America had a large force stationed in Saudi.
It was a most interesting article by a man who has obviously devoted much study to the subject. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.
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