Suicide Attacks: weapon of the future?

[marct]

Hi Tequila,

This seems a rather odd take. If Mexico sent infantry battalions across the border into Texas and California, I doubt anyone here would call this anything but a territorial invasion, despite the fact that Texas and southern California were Mexican territory far more recently than any part of the Middle East was Christian. I don't think we would accept a formulation that told us this was simply Mexican rollback of Anglo-American invasion.

The point I was trying to make was that the radical Islamists are using a very limited historical take on what is and is not their "territory" in their rhetoric about re-establishing the Caliphate. In effect, they are recognizing the "Right of Conquest" when they were the ones who were doing the conquering, but do not recognize it when they were the ones conquered. On the issue of Mexican battalions, I would agree, but most Western nations recognize the right of conquest and the formal ceding of territorial rights - the Islamists do not, at least when it comes to their territorial claims.

I also find it odd that you seem to identify the sources to suicide terrorism in the cultural matrix of the Middle East. As Pape points out, suicide terror is a relatively modern phenomenon in the Middle East without any deep historical foundation. Also, the Hindu Tamil cultural matrix seems largely devoid of any historical stirrings towards suicide martyrdom.

Then would strongly suggest that Pape go back and read enuma elish, and take a look at groups like the sicarii. As I said, the technology is different, but the validation for suicide is in the cultural matrix. On the Hindu Tamil complex, I don't know it well enough to have an informed opinion. Suicide, loosely construed as death resulting from role appropriate action, is certainly part of Hindism - see the discussion between Krishna and Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita.

I'd argue as well that Islam represented a historical rejection of the God-King cultural formulation, instead enforcing a strict separation of Godhead from human rulership, instead embedding religious authority in either a more broad-based religious/cultural consensus based in the ulema (the figure of the caliph has often been mischaracterized as a Pope figure, when in fact even Ottoman caliphs who wielded real worldly power often had to mediate their authority through the ulema, especially when it came to intra-Islamic matters).

We'll have to agree to disagree on this one . I certainly do agree that much of the divinity was shifted to a discarnate locale, but all that did was to shift the communications chain one link further away. The ulama certainly became important, partly as the "voice of the community" and partly as the "intermediary to God". Still and all, that didn't change the basic God-King complex, it just shifted its focus so that you now had multiple people "speaking for" the God-King.

On your comment about the Ottoman caliphs, sure, I agree that they used the ulama. However, it's also instructive to look at when they started to go "off". Take a look at Murad II (aka Murad the Mad) and his "reforms" for an example of this.

Historically the attitude of most Sunni Muslims towards their rulers has been, I'd argue, represented by the idea that the split between divinely authorized rulership occurred after Ali's death. Yezid and Mua'wiya of the Umayyads have been reviled ever since Abbasid times (understandably since the Abbasids themselves were seeking religious justification, which was also largely withdrawn when they emulated Umayyad decadence) as being earthly kings rather than true caliphs representing God's will on Earth.

For Shia, of course, there is a definite variation with their veneration of the Grand Ayatollahs.

As I said, the God-King complex was shifted into a discarnate form, not eliminated. Even the Shia versions of this, e.g. the hidden caliphs, etc., shows a retention of the complex.

I'm not trying to argue that Islam believes in incarnate God-Kings, just that the concept of a God-King is inherent in the religion and cultural matrix.

Marc