http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s801530.htm
Suicide bombers made, not born: scientist Friday, 7 March 2003 Dr Scott Atran: suicide bombers are not a poor, uneducated rabble but manipulated, he says (Pic: University of Michigan) Suicide bombers are not poor and uneducated madmen, but psychologically manipulated by trainers who know how to trigger basic drives and emotions, according to a leading researcher. Dr Scott Atran of France's Jean Nicod Institut in Paris said groups like al-Qaeda use sophisticated techniques to create suicide bombers, such as the 19 men who killed nearly 3,000 people in the 11 September 2001 attacks in New York and Washington. In a paper published today in the journal Science, he said suicide bombers are not crazed, but have been indoctrinated. "I think these groups are able to manipulate innate emotions ... in much the way the fast food and porn industry manipulate innate desires," said Atran, a renowned researcher who is also an Adjunct Professor of psychology and anthropology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Washington is "barking up the wrong tree" with its war on terrorism and in making threats against Iraq, and will in the end only make things worse, he said. "(This manipulation) creates a sincere commitment equal to the one a mother feels when she sacrifices herself for her child." In his paper, Atran - who has held teaching posts in Israel, France and the United States - did his own research but also reviewed the work of others. He noted that many suicide bombers are relatively affluent and well-educated, and so cannot be seen to be acting out of desperation. Instead, they are manipulated by leaders who know how to tap into instincts on par with the need to eat and reproduce. "They do so very effectively," Atran said. "My feeling is that people have been barking up the wrong tree completely in dealing with this. They are often thinking these people are crazed, which they are not. They have no suicidal tendencies, no split families. "There is no evidence whatsoever of poverty. On the contrary, they are usually better off than the surrounding population. (President George W.) Bush has been saying the way to fight terrorism is by raising education and fighting illiteracy, but he is just whistling in the wind." It is also impossible to 'sell' American values to these groups, Atran argued. He called "harebrained" the idea of creating a 'Radio Free Arabia' akin to the highly successful 'Radio Free Europe' that is credited with having helped bring an end to the Cold War. "If people are already convinced of an ideological position that is antagonistic to your own, then bombarding them with information relating to your own only increases their antagonism," he said. Eastern Europe during the 1960s was very different from modern-day Islamic countries, he said. Atran believes a better psychological approach would be to sideline the extremists. "I think the United States and its allies should try to empower moderates from within the community," he said. Helping achieve an equitable solution between Israel and the Palestinians would also help, he added. Atran, who addresses these issues in a recent book entitled "In Gods We Trust: The Evolutionary Landscape of Religion", said attacking Iraq will only worsen ill-feelings against the United States. "We know from polls in Israel and Lebanon that when force is used to go after what people consider to be Arab terrorists, and usually miss the mark, that increases support (for those groups)." _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
