We Need to Talk: Debunking the Myths around Suicide Attacks

Suicide bombers have been the object of public bewilderment and dread since 9/11. For what irrational reason would they choose death over life? How could they possibly benefit from such an operation? Are they really acting altruistically on behalf of their community? How does a society deter individuals who are willing to kill themselves? The lack of uniformity between explanations given by a group’s leadership and individual members just magnifies confusion over the motivations for using suicide violence. Governments worry about the ability of perpetrators to melt into crowds, as it gives suicide bombers more flexibility regarding the location, targets, and timing, relative to other methods of terrorism.  It comes as no surprise then that such methods have a higher capacity for killing, as there are an average of 11 deaths per suicide bombing, compared to an average of two for other terror tactics. Citizens express alarm at the distressing proliferation of these attacks over the past two decades – more than 10 times as many suicide attacks took place between 2000 and 2009 than the preceding two decades combined. The media focuses on their growing presence in the MENA region and blame jihadist groups for fanning the flames of militant jihad.

Rarely has there been so much public discourse about something people know so little about.  Based on the media’s representation of suicide bombings, we imagine a future in which every report of terrorism describes religious fanatics walking into our markets, museums and McDonalds to blow us all up.  A terrifying, alarmist, and grossly misleading perception of a tactic that made up only 5% of all terrorist incidents in 2013.

Here are some facts that do not get nearly enough daylight:

Suicide attacks aren’t new.  Individuals have participated in operations necessitating their death on behalf of a greater cause or community for centuries. Scott Atran, the co-founder of ARTIS Research, refers to the tactic as “an ancient practice with a modern history.” Militant organizations ranging from the Ancient Jewish Zealots to the Medieval Islamic Assassins to the 19th Century Russian Anarchist all used suicide violence.

Furthermore, these operations are not limited to certain geographic regions or religious traditions. Though there is a general consensus that the modern phenomenon of suicide missions was born from the 1983 bombing of the US embassy in Beirut, not all groups that followed Hezbollah’s example have been Islamic militants in the Middle East.  In the past 15 years, 95 countries ranging from Syria to Spain have experienced suicide attacks.  Let’s not forget that the secular Sri Lankan Tamil Tigers – which accounted for one-third of the world’s suicide attacks committed between 1987 and 2002 – were the leading proponents of the tactic long before anyone had heard of Osama bin Laden.

Suicide missions are also not limited to non-state actors. Suicide violence is ultimately an operational tactic that is compatible with a broad spectrum of organizations.  State actors such as the Japanese military during WWII and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps have adopted suicide attacks against their opponents out of tactical considerations: suicide missions are cost-effective, highly lethal, and not as complex to plan as other attacks.

It should be stressed that suicide bombers are no more psychologically deranged than you or I.  They are not desperate ‘crazies’ driven to bomb themselves and others by poverty, depression, or social failure – most show no indications of psychopathy or depression, have come from educated middle-class backgrounds and have suffered no more than their respective populations. What they do have in common is an intense dedication to their community and cause. Nichole Argo, a social psychologist specializing in political violence, find this ironic as "despite the fact that we give Purple Hearts for such commitment in our own militaries – we assume the militant is an irrational religious fanatic.”

In a sense, all the things we don’t talk about cumulate to be more horrifying than the select facts we use to comfort ourselves.  Certainly, it’s easier to dismiss suicide operatives as psychotic people brainwashed by charismatic religious leaders into a death cult than to acknowledge that they are just people with strong attachments to their community.  It’s disconcerting to realize that suicide attacks have been happening all around the world since the biblical times of Samson.