TERRORISM: How Does A Terrorist Think?

                                                  ...Getting into the head of a terrorist

Our society today is bedeviled by a new kind of challenge: Terrorism. From Borno to Bayelsa, Yobe to Kano, Jos to Abuja, the story has been the same.

Our collective security is in jeopardy as terrorist elements have taken delight in the unwholesome act of unleashing horror on a daily basis...

 But how is it that terrorist can do what they do with the greatest of ease? How do they think? How can they go to bed at night knowing that they set off a bomb earlier in the day that annihilated scores of innocent lives?

This piece by Kevin Hogan, using Osama Bin Laden as a case study, gives us a peep into the mindset of a terrorist




Let's do a very brief psychological profile of Bin Laden by using the 16 Basic Human Desires. Recognizing the profile will help you see why most people of Islam (or any religion) are basically benign...and what makes the radicals different. 

 

                                                         Bin Laden
 

                                                   9/11 Terror Attack

1. Desire for Tranquility. Bin Laden is not driven by the desire to avoid flight or fight responses. This is particularly dangerous. The human instinct to avoid pain makes him fearless, courageous, bold, daring, confident, and valiant. He sees America as fainthearted and cowardly. He is the consummate bully.
2. Desire to Eat. This desire is over-riden by Bin Laden and his followers. He has plenty of money and therefore, the fear of going without food, significant to other terrorists, is largely insignificant in evaluating Bin Laden.
3. Sexual Desire. Not relevant.
4. Desire to Seek Vengeance. This is the "Driving Desire" of Bin Laden and most radical fundamentalists, regardless of their religion. This drive, combined with the fear over-ride button of #1, make for someone who CANNOT BE DEALT WITH DIPLOMATICALLY or given "equal rights." This person is DANGEROUS to society.
5. Desire to Nest. Bin Laden and his followers have culturally over-ridden this key human instinct, which is normally seen in women anyway.
6. Desire to Connect with Others. Bin Laden, like most humans, is a "We/They" person. "We are right, they are wrong." "We are good, they are bad." This is an evolutionary trait that is seen in almost all humans everywhere. It is neither good nor bad...except when the people don't care who they harm or what they do to destroy in the name of their beliefs.
7. Desire for Power. Bin Laden is certainly the enterprising and beloved leader of the fundamentalists. No personality is quite like his to his followers. People like Bin Laden who have power are less of a terrorist concern if they have no money. You don't see the tens of thousands of fundamentalist adolescent graduates from Pakistan blowing up buildings in America, because they can't get here. Power is one thing, MEANS to exploit that power is quite another.
8. Desire for Status. Bin Laden has sought status for a long time. His apparent humility in his body language is over-ridden by his simple words of God-driven victory in murders of innocent people. He wants you to know his name and he wants you to have him as public enemy number one, because that's how he sees Israel and the United States and, to a lesser degree, Great Britain.
9. Desire for Independence. This desire is not as important as others. It's not so much independence that Bin Laden wants, but the vile non-Islamic people in the countries that are holy to Islam...particularly the area of Jerusalem and back up in Saudi Arabia.
10. Desire for Curiosity. Bin Laden is strong in this evolutionary desire as well. He is smart, engaging, interesting and sees the rest of the world as ignorant.
11. Desire for Acceptance. This is a drive that Bin Laden and his followers have culturally over-ridden. Terrorists must be accepted by their God, but don't care about what any other individual or culture believes about them.
12. Desire for Honor. Here is another key driver for Bin Laden and his like-minded followers. If Bin Laden and his followers were not doing their actions for honor, they probably wouldn't be doing them. You DON'T give up your life for no reason. You do it to have your God look favorably upon you. These people are people whose definition of honor is being fulfilled and met by these actions.
13. Desire for Idealism. Yes, this desire is another strong driver for Bin Laden. His evolutionary drive for that which is "right" in his religion is driving him to create a world that is ideal. Destroy all that which is not good and take the territory or psyche over. Again, the desire for idealism is rarely a bad thing because most people don't have the money or inclination to make the world "right" in their eyes. Even Bin Laden has limited resources. If he has access to a billion dollars, that's a lot of money, but it isn't insurmountable. What is insurmountable is the training that adolescents graduating from schools of jihad are getting in Pakistan and a few other countries.
14. Desire for Order. This is irrelevant. Bin Laden is remarkably flexible in his actions, and this desire is largely unimportant to followers of Bin Laden.
15. Desire to Save. This evolutionary instinct is over-ridden in the mind of the radical fundamentalist. The people are being taught to live a life of honor, a life which will probably end at age 30 or 40. They are dying for their God. There is nothing to save for because Paradise (Heaven for Christians) is just an explosion away.
16. Desire for Physical Activity. Irrelevant in this personality.

It would take a book to break down Bin Laden's personality deeper. From this brief profile, you can see that there is no negotiating with this mind set. There IS the ideal, that which is RIGHT and there is EVERYTHING ELSE which is WRONG. Radical Fundamentalists see BLACK and WHITE. You can't negotiate, persuade, or compromise black and white. 

Fortunately the vast majority of Christians, Muslims, Jews and people in general are people who see gray. Bet you never thought that would be a good thing... 

And remember, the mosque on the corner is no more a danger to you than the synagogue is on the other corner...which is no more dangerous than the church at the next intersection. Be nice to people...everyone. Let the government do their job of finding the creators of evil. That's what we are paying them to do. For you and me, don't change. Be good. If you have a God, he's probably watching how you respond in these tough times. 

kevinhogan.com