In a nutshell, Pape argues that if occupation is lifted, the factors such as "prestige, revenge or religious motivation" do not produce suicide attacks. Pape's words are particularly significant as he has access to a databank regarding suicide attacks. He published his book, "Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism," in 2005 in which he voiced groundbreaking theses that were in stark contrast to the established views about suicide attacks.As is known, suicide attacks came to be used for the first time as a method by the Tamil Tigers. Many experts argued that the Palestinians copied this method from Sri Lankan guerrillas and have employed it many times during the last 20 years. While it is widely believed that it was Palestinian scholar and leader Abdullah Azzam who endorsed the use of these attacks, they actually originate from the Indian subcontinent. Indeed, what Azzam had said was not directly related to suicide attacks. To what extent can the people whose land is occupied and who are deprived of their means of defense and facilities cause damage to civilians while they are defending themselves? Azzam proposed ideas that are still considered controversial by many Muslim scholars. However, we cannot understand the suicide attacks merely within the context of these ideas. While the religious justification for any attack -- be it suicide attacks or other -- is considerably important, we must focus on why the suicide attackers really resort, or have to resort, to such a method.
An interesting point is that for a considerably long time, no suicide attack has been seen in Palestine. This is clear proof that suicide attacks cannot be explained merely with reference to religious factors or based on some fatwa issued by this or that Muslim scholar.
First Iraq, and then Afghanistan and Pakistan, have recently become the places where suicide attacks are commonly seen. Seen from above, there is a remarkable decrease in the number of periodical shocking attacks in Iraq. Yet, interestingly, there is a surge of these attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan. At this point, Pape's words stand out.
Professor Pape argues that the main reason for suicide attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan is the US-led NATO occupation. While there were limited numbers of suicide bombings until 2005 in Afghanistan, these attacks have increased considerably in recent years. First, NATO forces stayed only in Kabul. Then NATO developed a plan to occupy the country in stages. "By late 2005, when we started to occupy southern and eastern Afghanistan, we created this surge in suicide bombings in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Seventy-five percent of all the Afghan and Pakistani suicide bombings happen in this border zone. The key thing here is to see that US combat operations are driving suicide terrorism around the world," he says.
Pape follows a very simple method in understanding under what conditions suicide bombings emerge: "Most people study suicide terrorism when it does happen, but not when it doesn't. I do both." He has interesting examples to support this case: "In Lebanon, there was no suicide terrorism before 1982, when Israel invaded southern Lebanon. In 2000, Israel leaves and suicide terrorism goes to zero. I mean, the Hezbullah terrorism does not follow Israel to Tel Aviv. That not only means that this isn't about religious fanatics looking for an excuse to get a quick trip to heaven, but it also means that revenge alone is not reason enough to become a suicide bomber. There were a lot of people who had been abused by those 18 years of occupation, but they didn't run after the Israelis for revenge. It follows that when occupation ends, religious motivation or feelings for revenge do not lead to suicide bombings." We will continue to discuss this important issue.
