Islamic Suicidal Terrorism

Contents: Preface. 1. An Overview of Islamic Suicide Terrorism. 2. Suicide Terrorism : Then and Now. 3. Islamist Extremism and Religious Terrorism. 4. Al-Qaeda\'s Leadership and Extremist Muslim Ideology. 5. Pakistan Internal Security and Terrorism. 6. Terrorists Organizations and Suicide Attacks. Bibliography. Index.

The suicide attacks were essentially a sign of desperation, and of a Muslim population devoid of any other means of fighting back. Some scholars have dismissed the importance of the earlier suicide attacks and boldly stated that they were not undertaken with the same political awareness that characterizes the modern era of suicide terrorism. This could not be further from the truth, because there is a very strong and significant political element in the history of Islamic suicide terrorism. The origin of the modern era of suicide terrorism is often described as the 1983 suicide bombing in Beirut, Lebanon, against the U. S. embassy. This attack was actually the second terrorist operation to make use of human sacrifice, the first had occurred the previous year but also in Lebanon. The ideology supporting this novel approach to modern warfare had originated elsewhere. This book is helps of students assess their potential for various knowledge of Terrorism. (jacket)