[lbo-talk] FW: Suicide as a tactic

[Wojtek Sokolowski]

A really interesting view, close to my own thinking on the subject.
Suicide bombing is a brilliant and rational military strategy.  From the
planners' point of view, every assault has a predictable number of
deaths, the only truly unpredictable element is the names of those who
will die.  That uncertainty can be seen as the "cost" of participation
in an assault, from the planner's perspective at least.  An individual
soldier knows that the probability of dying while executing an assault
is high, but not certain, hence his hope to be spared - which can be
seen a necessary condition of his participation in the operation.  

Therefore, to maintain the perception of that non-zero probability of
dying in an attack and at the same time achieve its objective (or at
least a high probability thereof), the planners must devise a suitable
strategy which necessarily involves a large number of combatants, which
consequently implies a large number of deaths.  That human cost can be
greatly reduced, however, by making the names of those who will die
certain.  

So the tradeoff is this - either a large number of uncertain deaths in a
conventional assault, or a small number of certain deaths in a suicide
mission.  If we assume that war is moral, then the second solution seems
ethically preferable, at least from the utilitarian point of view.  A
similar argument can be made from deontological positions, if we assume
that the will  to die is a valid moral principle.

Wojtek


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Supporting facts [mailto:supportingfacts at sympatico.ca]
> Sent: Friday, January 09, 2004 9:53 AM
> To: List
> Subject: Suicide as a tactic
> 
> This week's Economist argues that suicide bombing is not the mad
response of
> religious fanatics, but an effective tactic employed by resistance
movements
> against far superior conventional forces. "The term 'suicide bombing',
with
> its connotations of unhinged despondency, obscures the essential
rationality
> of the method.Terrorists have some reasons to believe that such
onslaughts
> work", it says.
> 
> While Islamist groups have popularized the tactic, the Economist also
> identifies secular practitioners like Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers and
Japan's
> kamikaze pilots during World War II.
> 
> But the Economist is too positive in judging the efficacy of suicide
> bombing. It is only able to cite Hezbollah in Lebanon as having
reached its
> political objective.
> 
> In all other historical cases - and also, it could be argued, in
Lebanon and
> Sri Lanka - successful resistance has required more conventional forms
of
> struggle involving guerrilla attacks on military targets, sabotage,
> demonstrations and strikes, the winning of international support, and
the
> economic and political exhaustion of the occupier by a mobilized
population.
> 
> Economist article reproduced on www.supportingfacts.com
> 
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