Hoffer
wrote, "Dying and killing are easy when they are part of a ritual,
ceremonial, dramatic performance or game. There is the need for make-believe
in order to face death. It is one of the main tasks of a real leader to mask
the grim reality of dying by evoking in his followers the illusion that they
are participating in a grandiose spectacle, a solemn, dramatic performance."
Brain-washing is a concept we got from the Chinese during the Korean War. It
appears bin Laden is using similar techniques to build al-Qaida. First, when
they join, his trainees already are alienated from society, angry and ripe to
find new beliefs. They then live in a group with little outside information or
influence. Radios, television, newspapers and books are forbidden. Their leaders’ paranoid
or delusional system is all they encounter. This approach is calculated to cause
the trainees to be disconnected from any system we might consider more rational.
Whatever the system of indoctrination, it works. What we have learned about terrorists
over the years indicates that they have a high wall of belief that shields them
from facts and our reality. There appears to be no way correct information can
dent their logic. Because they already know the absolute truth, they are impervious
to information that contradicts their beliefs. Even living among us and seeing
our way of life was not enough to stop the terrorists of Sept. 11 from carrying
out their mission.
Why suicide?
Why commit suicide? It’s a low-cost method that guarantees extensive damage.
Extensive escape plans aren’t needed. In addition, if you get your followers
to commit suicide, they won’t be questioned afterward and give up valuable
information. In the case of al-Qaida, they redefine their actions so it’s
not suicide, it’s martyrdom.
Ariel Merari, a psychologist at the University of Tel Aviv, studied 50 Muslim
suicide bombers and found that several types of individuals are willing to sacrifice
themselves for a cause. Bin Laden’s task isn’t to create a readiness
to die; that already exists. His recruiters’ task is to identify this predisposition
and find some way to reinforce it. For some, the promise of paradise is enough;
for others, it takes reinforcement of patriotism, hatred of the enemy, a profound
sense of victimization or a perceived ability to contribute to the creation of
a new world order.
People without meaning in their lives are offered a sense of importance by dedicating
themselves to a cause larger than themselves. In their minds, they are turned
into good guys, and the rest of us have become the bad guys.
Ramadhan Shalah, secretary general of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, has said, ‘‘Our
enemy possesses the most sophisticated weapons in the world. We have nothing
except the weapon of martyrdom. It is easy and costs us only our lives. Human
bombs cannot be defeated, not even by nuclear bombs.’’
