You know what they say about "assume"

Foreign Policy's web site reviews some of the assumptions that are typically made about Islamist terrorists and finds many of them unsupported.

The one that initially surprised me was "Fixing the Israel-Palestinian problem will make (Islamist) terrorism go away." The authors refer to the number of places where Islamist terrorists have been active for, the authors feel, local reasons: Caucasus, Balkans, Philippines, Kashmir, Algeria, Russia. When you look over the list, you have to agree that there is a strong likelihood that solving the Israeli-Palestinian issue will not stop these movements.

Another assumption that seems untenable is "young, unmarried males are the most likely to become terrorists." The largest single group of suicide bombers are the Tamil Tigers; 40% of their bombers have been female. And, again, we've seen married terrorists act against the West.

Looking at the 9/11 attackers and others around the globe it seems unlikely that "poverty, unemployment and lack of education make terrorists". The poor are too busy trying to survive and the uneducated lack the skills needed by what are becoming extremely sophisticated networks.

There are assumptions that the authors believe valid: "Perceived threats to Islam create support for terrorism." and " Disenchanted, angry Muslims in Europe and North America are potential terrorist recruits."