 |
Dying to Kill: The Allure of Suicide Terror
By Mia Bloom, Columbia University Press, New York, 2005, 280 pages, hardcover, indexed, $26.50.
REVIEWED BY: Mayer Nudell, CSC, is an independent consultant on crisis management, contingency planning, and related issues.
More and more, the news these days is filled with reports of suicide bombings–largely in Iraq and Israel, but also in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and even London. The question arises; will we begin hearing more often of such incidents in the U.S.? Of all the possible forms terrorism might take, the specter of suicide bombings is at once one of the most fearsome and, on its face, one of the most difficult to prevent. Its incidence also appears to be increasing. Attempting to explain what motivates suicide bombers is the focus of Dying to Kill: The Allure of Suicide Terror.
University of Cincinnati Assistant Professor of Political Science Mia Bloom, who is also a consultant to the New Jersey Office of Counter Terrorism, provides a comprehensive look at both the historical antecedents of modern suicide bombings and an overview of how the tactic has come to be used contemporaneously. Stating early on as an objective that, “I will demonstrate that there is nothing inherently dysfunctional about the Islamic faith per se that predisposes its adherents towards violence,” Bloom makes a convincing case that, despite the predominance of current news reporting on suicide bombings by Islamists, “all religious groups have been susceptible to [suicide] terrorism at one point or another...[and] many groups engaged in suicide terror...are decidedly secular and, for them, religion is incidental.” This is an important point that is often lost in the current popularity of the “clash of cultures” view of the war on terrorism.
Bloom devotes the major portion of her book to showing that suicide terrorism has historically been a largely self-limiting tactic and that counter terrorist policies adopted by various governments have significantly affected how suicide bombings have been used by terrorists. Ironically, she notes that Osama bin Laden has said he first conceived of the idea of attacking the World Trade Center towers after seeing Israeli aircraft bombing tall buildings in Lebanon in 1982, during an invasion intended in part to reduce the incidence of terrorism inside Israel.
Perhaps most importantly, Bloom concludes that “Terrorist groups use suicide bombing under two conditions: when other terrorist or military tactics fail and when they are in competition with other terrorist groups for popular/financial support.” While this may suggest that the insurgency in Iraq is truly in its final stage, it does little to help us deal with the phenomenon in a proactive sense. However, Dying to Kill gives us the perspective with which to consider how effective current counter-terrorism policies are in dealing with this problem.
Email dated February 17, 2006 from Mayer Nudell, USA.
Go Top
The Sniper At War; From The American Revolutionary War To The Present Day
By Michael E. Hashew, St. Martin's Press
POC: Peter Horan, Asst. Publicist, St. Martin's Press
646 307-5558 peter.horan@stmartins.com
The author of this book is the editor of WWII History Magazine who brings an obvious excellent background to the table. The book as its title states covers the history of military snipers with a musket from the days of the Revolutionary War to the high tech sniper of today. The history starts off interesting enough with a British army sniper in 1777 who had an American officer on horseback who he decided not to shoot in the back because it was not the Gentlemanly thing to do. Ironically, that American officer was George Washington. The book is packed with photos and illustrations of snipers and the weapons they used. He travels from the Civil war to the Boer War and then the trench warfare of WWI. He gives extensive coverage to WWII and the different fronts in which it was fought. He of course gives special attention to the battle between the Soviet sniper Vassili Zaitsev and the German sniper commander that was made famous in the movie " Enemy at the Gate". He also notes that during WWII, the USSR used over 2000 female snipers. He profiles weapons such as the M-1 Garand, the Soviet Moisin Nagant Model 1891, the German Gewehr 41, the British Lee-Enfield MK1, the Springfield 1903. He travels ahead in time to Korea, to the original Arab-Israel conflict and then on to Vietnam and of gives special attention to the M-14 and the famous USMC sniper Carlos Hathcock during Vietnam with 93 confirmed kills who has been showcased in the movies and in paperback. He moves forward again to modern day conflict such as Mogadishu, Lebanon, Columbia, the Balkans, Chechnya, Israel, the Falklands, Desert Storm and of course Iraqi Freedom. He shows the transition from snipers in the field to the battles today in urban environments. He also discusses the current phenomenon such as terrorist snipers of the IRA and other terrorist groups. He finishes his discussion of the weapons with the .50 cal Barrett that is widely in use today and can reach out and touch at great distances. The book ends with a review of the modern sniper, their training and their equipment which goes beyond that of just the rifle. There has always had a mix of fear and respect towards what snipers do but their skills are even more critical today in the environment in which our military and our police operate. This book is a valuable history lesson in how we where we are today.
ELLIOTT GROLLMAN
Maj., USAR ( ret.)
Adjunct Professor, Criminal Justice
Go Top
|
|
