Maj. Nidal Hasan and the "Desperation Explanation"

I couldn't help but laugh, bitterly, to hear Anderson Cooper on CNN last week puzzling that Major Nidal Hasan's power point presentation "justifying suicide bombing" was not regarded by the military as a "red flag" (Hasan is the Army psychiatrist who went on a killing rampage last week at Fort Hood, murdering 13 and wounding 38 of his fellow service members).

Liberal media has for decades presented suicide bombing and homicide attacks by Arab Muslim extremists, especially Palestinians, as the result of "desperation." Whether decrying injuries to Palestinian youths throwing rocks at Israeli soldiers without asking the tough questions about who was brainwashing and inciting those youths to violently engage those armed soldiers, or reporting on suicide bombing in Iraq without reporting that the vast majority of suicide killers there have, like the 9/11 hijackers, come from Saudi Arabia, the mainstream media has helped to cloud perceptions of the true causes of suicide terrorism. Their shallow reporting on the phenomenon has reinforced the perception that suicide bombing and other forms of terrorism are the result of desperation and in some sense arguably justifiable.

I am by no means saying the mainstream liberal media are responsible for the actions of terrorists. But I am pointing out that, by repeating for decades this mantra of "desperation" as the cause of calculated acts of politically or religiously motivated terrorism, with little investigation into terror's real causes, liberal media and academia have helped to create a climate in which justification of terrorism is by no means deviant. It is as a result of this climate, at least in part, that such deviance as Maj. Hasan's power point presentation "justifying suicide bombing" was not viewed as a "red flag," but as reflective of a legitimate point of view. No less influential person than CNN Founder Ted Turner essentially justified Palestinian suicide bombing as the result of supposed desperation years ago.

At virtually any college or university in the U.S., you can hear students -- and professors -- in political science or other courses spouting rhetoric about Muslim "desperation" as the cause of suicide bombing and other terrorism. You can hear the same point of view expressed on talk shows (I was a panelist on one such show).

I am not arguing that, in the U.S., people should not be allowed to express such views (Thankfully, it's still a free country). But I am saying that moral relativism and excessive political correctness have allowed this desperation/justification rhetoric to go unchallenged in many circles. So is it really a surprise that when someone--even an officer in the U.S. Army--starts spouting off about the justifications for suicide bombing, people simply nod and take notes? In a morally relativistic universe, that is just another point of view.

In reality, the most direct cause of terrorism is not desperation but indoctrination, something which child suicide bombing expert Brooke Goldstein and her co-producer Alistair Leyland have documented via primary source interviews and investigation in their excellent film, The Making of a Martyr.

Despite the "desperation" camp's ignorance -- of the suffering of victims of terrorism, of the systematic and calculated way terrorist leaders groom potential recruits, of the massive system of educational brainwashing that exists to create individuals capable of such deviance -- in certain politically correct circles, far from being viewed as wrong or deviant, the "desperation explanation" is still considered enlightened.

Interestingly, proponents of the "desperation explanation" in the U.S. seemed to quiet down a bit in the aftermath of September 11. I guess when your own safety is threatened, it's a little harder to rationalize that those who use violence and terror as a calculated means of advancing their political or religious agenda are simply "desperate."

In reality, of course, desperate people might commit suicide or steal sandwiches and diapers. They don't spend weeks, months, or years plotting elaborate schemes for killing and terrorizing others, or organize elaborate systems of brainwashing and groom others to do the above. Who does? People with an agenda, corrupt and evil people, Islamist religious fanatics or perhaps people who are criminally insane.

Terror's foot soldiers -- those recruited to self-detonate -- may be targeted for recruitment in part because of personal desperation, but their personal problems do not drive terror's engines and are a grossly inadequate explanation for terrorism.

Tragically, Americans now have more direct experience of what Israelis have been up against for decades.

 

Comments

[Statsboy196]

I'm still trying to wrap my head around ... he was the Army's psychologist! And HE went nuts! I just wonder how the Dubya administration would've handled this. Perhaps the phrase "bad apple" would emanate out of the Fox News transmitter for months and months. Or they'd just cover it up somehow. Say what you will about the Bush administration, they knew how to cover stuff up. They knew how to put on fake town halls. They knew how to crush the press, and bend it to their will. I only mention Dubya because some are probably going to be tempted to call this Obama's war. Let's focus and try not to forget who led the USA into ruin, people. I'm still giving Obama at least six years of the benefit of the doubt.

[TheLonelyGod]

Great article, Ms. Robinson.

Using terrorism is a CHOICE. Not an inevitability.

It would be better for all of us if in the future people like Osama Bin Laden choose differently.

[TheBaffler]

Of course Palestinian acts such as suicide bombing are acts of desperation. Without the boot of Israel on Palestine's throat, they wouldn't be compelled to lash out in such a way. If someone were occupying your land, stealing your resources, economically destroying you, treating you like chattel for decades, with no end in sight, you'd probably feel compelled to lash out too.

[StCuthbert]

When asked about two Palestinian suicide bombers who blew themselves up on a pedestrian mall in Jerusalem, killing 10 people between the ages of 14 and 21, the cousin of one of the men said "these two were not deprived of anything."

A report by the National Bureau of Economic Research concluded that "economic conditions and education are largely unrelated to participation in, and support for, terrorism." The researchers said the latest outbreak of violence in the region cannot be blamed on deteriorating economic conditions because there is no connection between terrorism and economic depression. Furthermore, the authors found that support for violent action against Israel, including suicide bombing, does not vary much according to social background

[Inoku]

Yeah, just like those poor, oppressed Indians used suicide bombers to throw off the yolk of British suzerainty. Good thing that military genius Gandhi was there to carry them through it.

The Arabs of Judea, Samaria, and Gaza should try for nonviolent resistance and non-hateful education if they ever want a state of their own. But since Hamas (and to a slightly lesser extent Fatah) don't want a state of their own unless Israel is destroyed, that will never happen: they will continue trying to murder innocent Israelis and teaching hate to their children.

[StCuthbert]

Great article. Right on the money. You'll probably receive a lot of hate, though. Be prepared for it.

[sunny123]

Well said. Now, what's the solution? Where do we go from here? I'm beginning to think isolationism might be the route to do. I'm tired of seeing our young men and women dying for other country's and corporations's evil intents. If corporations want to go to war, let them go their their own boards and CEO's, etc. No more war with our young men and women. Let's keep them home to protect us here. I'm not sure we've learned anything in the last 50 years since WWII. We ARE NOT the bully. Why are we dying for others' evil intentions and doctrines?

[StCuthbert]

We have to make it clear life is better than death and that starts at the top. If you don't teach children that the greatest thing in life for them to do is kill Americans, then they won't become suicide bombers. If you don't preach from the pulpit that people will go to heaven if they become martyrs, people probably won't become martyrs. It's a cultural thing, and culture only changes from within. Encourage the people who love life and fight the people who love death.