Terrorism has existed for centuries. The world has witnessed colonialism, slavery, crusades, inquisition, holocaust, witch burning, destruction of ancient cultures by invading Islamic warriors and missionaries, communism, world wars, chemical warfare, guerilla war, and the cold war. Millions of people perished and several ancient civilizations vanished.

Communists, Nazis, and Fascists resorted to terrorism. They differed from Islamic terrorism in that they were motivated by political agenda.

The fall of the Berlin Wall signaled the end of the cold war and a sign of relief. But today, terrorist groups with the ideology of hate exist in different countries with different hue and color. They are engaged in murder, looting, kidnapping, beheading, hijacking, suicide murder, bombing and other criminal acts for personal, political and religious gains. India lost over 73,000 lives due to Jihadi terrorism over the last decade. Israel, the only democratic country in the Middle East lost several hundreds of innocent children, women and men due to terrorism perpetuated by Islamic Hizballah, Hamas, Al-jihad, and Al-Qa'ida terrorists. Islamic terrorist groups have slaughtered thousands of innocent people in Algeria (Armed Islamic group, Harakat Ul-Mujahindian) Kashmir, India (Lashkar e-Trayiba, Jaise-Mohamed), Uzbeckistan (Imu-Islamic group), the Philippines (Abu Sayyaf group), Aden (Islamic Army of Aden), Egypt (Muslim Brotherhood), and Afghanistan (Taliban). Several Islamic terrorist groups are actively engaged in kidnapping, beheading, murder and bombing in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Chechnya, Sudan and Nigeria. Since 1990, several Islamic terrorist incidents were reported from Aden, Yemen (1992, 2000), New York City (1993), Mogadishu, Somalia (1993), Manila, Philippines (1995), Paris, France (1994, 2005), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (1995, 1996), Dar-ea-Salaam, Tanzania, Nairobi, Kenya (1998), Port Angeles, Washington (1999), Amman, Jordan (1999, 2005), London (2005), Strasbourg, France (2000), New York City, Washington, D.C, Pennsylvania (2001), Paris and Brussels (2001), Madrid (2002), Kabul, Bali (2005), Godhra, Gujarat, India (2002) Ayodhya, India (2005) and New Delhi, India (2005).

In India, Israel, and Iraq kidnapping, beheading, suicide murder, and bombing by Muslim terrorists are a daily occurrence. Jihad terrorist attacks are not limited to military targets. They use violence against innocent children, women and men. Jihad terrorism and its variety, including bombing, suicide murder, beheading, hijacking, kidnapping and assassination can now be seen all over the world. These violent extremists subvert democracy, civil government, secularism, and social progress and tear apart economic stability. In each case of terrorism, the fundamentalists with hard-core, rigid, dogmatic Islamic ideology were involved. Their origins, ideology, development, tactics and agendas are religiously legitimated based on Islamic worldview. These Islamic terrorist's devilish acts of unimaginable hatred are designed to send tremors of alarm, fear and a warning throughout the civilized world.

World wide terrorism-related casualties increased to 805 in 2005 from 233 in 1999. The terrorist groups often differ in their motivations, objectives, ideologies and level of criminal activity. Several narco terrorists and politically motivated terrorist groups exist in different parts of the world. Western nations were successful in eradicating several terrorist criminal gangs like Black Panther, Symphonies Liberation Army, FLNA in the US, Shining Path Maoist guerrilla Group in Peru, Marxist Guerrillas in Columbia, Tapa Marus in Argentina, Bader-Meinhof in Germany and Red-Brigade in Italy with brute police and military action.

The destruction of the World Trade Center by Al-Qa'ida terrorists on September 11, 2001 signaled the start of a new response to global terrorism. Western nations have taken significant civil and judicial steps including intelligence gathering, prosecution of terrorists, disruption of funding flow for terrorists, and several counter terrorism activities. These bureaucratic counter terrorism measures are complicated, responsibilities are poorly defined, and targets are ambiguously selected. Most of these actions are disconnected and have no impact in deterring Islamic terrorism that is being waged in different parts of the world. We need more. The policy of hit and run and selective identification and counter measures are ineffective. We need a coordinated, well planned and effective global war on Islamic terrorism.

Islamic terrorism is a complex subject. The terrorism field is loaded with international and national experts, each claiming special knowledge of the subject that have roused so much controversy while continuing to be misunderstood by so many. There are phony liberals marketing mindless root causes of Islamic terrorism including Western, Israeli interference in the Middle East, rapid social change, poverty, economic deprivation, poor toilet training, low self-esteem, need for affiliation, dysfunctional family, lack of education and so forth. And of course, these are psychological excuses. The misguided leftists and armchair speculators miss the point. Where do they fit in? This phony, liberal root cause theorists are like an old farmer who for the first in his life sees a big blue whale on the seashore and says, "I see it, but I don't believe it". The pseudo liberal social scientists are being imbued with ethereal, pre-fabricated, utopian ideas, which are too far divorced from reality.

While the excuse industry promotes faulty root cause theories, Jihadi terrorists are engaged in kidnapping, gratuitous beheading, looting, killing, bombing, airline hijacking, suicide murder, car bombing, and gruesome murder of innocent infidels all over the world. These pseudo liberals, communists, and Islamist have no clue on the true nature of Jihad terrorism. The butchery of Jihadi terrorism is explained to social causes and "understandable" Islamic grievances. It fails to distinguish between the legitimate use of social protests and terrorism. It seems phony liberals have a buoyant love affair with irrational Islamist defense mechanisms. They usually shed crocodile tears for the innocent victims. It is clear that what Jihad terrorists are doing in the name of Islam is destructive, counter productive. We think so; why aren't leftists liberals and Islamists able to realize the dangers of Jihad terrorism?

In a civilized world, we cannot function if we believe in phony explanations for Jihad terrorism. Wide spread irrationalism and uncritical acceptance of unjustified root cause theories peddled by Communists and liberals will have serious consequences for everyone. Such flimsy explanations and mental misdirection would paralyze us. Civilized, peace-loving people would be wise to check out Jihad mindset and criminal behavior in proper perspective.

Jihad terrorism is not over the policies of US, Israel, and India, or due to globalization, social change, poverty, economic deprivation or lack of self-esteem, but rather the ideology, the cognitive-behavior processes of Jihad Muslims. Terrorism, bombing, beheading and suicide murder are symptoms of a deep-rooted pathology stemming from their "addictive thinking" on Islam. The Islamic "addictive thinking" convinces jihad terrorists that attack on infidel would restore Islamic pride and prove to the infidel world that Jihad warriors are full of confidence and Islamic pride. The root cause of jihad terrorism is to be found in the defective, dangerous dogma that binds Jihad Muslims around the world together. The Jihad Muslim's thinking process and behaviors are sanctioned in Islam. What is less understandable is how and why mindless liberals fall prey to so much distorted thought.

Jihadis often seek to identify infidels as targets because of their ideological beliefs. They justify terrorism by rationalization and show no remorse, fear, guilt or shame on murdering infidels. For jihadi terrorist all infidels are legitimate target for terrorist attacks.

Jihad terrorists have unique needs, and the emotional pressure to gratify these needs can greatly affect the way they think and feel. Their "addictive thinking" on Islam operates in every fundamentalist Jihad terrorists. The more we understand how jihad terrorists think and function, the less likely we are to be paralyzed by the shock of their criminal acts, and less likely we are to be taken in by their ingenious cunning and manipulation. A young adolescent boy or girl who is carrying explosives to commit suicide murder -- and we can not understand how he or she could be oblivious to the disastrous effects of his or her criminal act. They are unable to see their own thinking or the magnitude of the destruction because they are influenced by addictive thinking and by Islamic indoctrination.

Thinking patterns of Jihadi terrorists are different from the law-abiding population. Jihadis perpetually maneuvers to prop up an ever-precarious image of them as unique and powerful. In their ongoing attempts for self-promotion, they care not whom they hurt. To them, the world and its people are to be controlled like paws on their own chessboard. They use their dogmatic, criminal ideology as a way to shield their image by pushing the responsibility for their own terrorist behavior on to anyone and anything available to themselves.

Jihad Terrorists are followers of Islam, which is a control system, a closed dogma and it is designed to exclude dialogue, outside input, and forbid freethinking. Whatever Muslims do, wherever they go, Muslims are mandated to maintain status quo and the closed paradigm. Muslims are forced to neutralize new ideas by the power and control system of the clergy. Islamic states use force and other control mechanisms to maintain equilibrium and the closed Islamic thought system. Islamic states and Islamic religious leaders never tolerate dialogue, rational thinking, pluralism, secularism and religious tolerance. They behave like an evil empire and maintain absolute control and authority to crackdown free inquiry and secular ideas for the maintenance of the Islamic toxic order. For Muslims, maintaining the closed-system is more important than social progress, democracy, and free spirited discussion. As a result, Muslims get "chewed up" by the dogmatic system and are willing to sacrifice their life through suicide murder, terrorism and violence.

Their goal is to make the world as Daral-Islam (the house of Islam)-where Islam rules-and the non-Muslim world as Daral-Harb (the house of war) that has to be conquered. The non-Muslim world should be terrorized, intimidated, oppressed and conquered for Muslims.

In spite of rapid changes in science, technology and information system, Muslims spend their energy to reinforce their closed-system and make their society into "islands of no-change" where individual freedom and creativity are crushed. Islamic societies maintain their equilibrium through control, force, punishment and power. For Muslims living under closed system, don't worry about modern education, women's freedom, art, literature, philosophy and spirituality and ignore transcendental needs. They shut the door on science, technology and information if it is not deemed "relevant" to maintaining closed Islamic dogma.

Communist societies used control mechanisms to maintain closed systems. But it collapsed under tremendous covert and overt pressure from democratic nations. They were forced to accept social evolution, democracy and individual freedom and the closed Communist system lost its equilibrium. But Islam, an imperialist dogma masked in religious phraseology is a hard nut to crack.

Nations affected by Jihad terrorism have different agendas for countering terrorism. There is no coordinated program for information collection, sharing of intelligence, and understanding of program options and their application. If counter strategy is to maximize its effect there is a need to understand the terrorist mindset, their ideology and their cognitive-behavior processes.

Although most of the information from intelligence sources suggests that there are a variety of judicial and military approaches working to apprehend and contain terrorists, there is a fair amount of debate as to the effectiveness of these counter terrorism strategies. The challenge it seems is to look for the mindset and ideology that motivate, control and direct Jihad terrorists.

The civilized world will pay a heavy price for not breaking through the defensive wall of denial, resistance, and defenses created by Islam to maintain its closed system. It is easy to believe in phony social cause theories or to provide religious status for dysfunctional, fundamentalist Islamic dogma that produce a steady stream of terrorists. We need to penetrate Islamic groups and utilize all means available including psychological warfare to introduce paradigm filters to open the closed system. Paradigm filters can be introduced through corporations, schools, universities, labor unions, and non-profit organizations. We need to introduce programs for Thinking For A Change and split terrorist gangs and cliques. Devise psychological techniques and emotional programs to induce fear, guilt, remorse and shame among Muslims. And eventually we have to give the ultimate ultimatum "you have to change or you will be forced to be free". Coercive or negative reinforcement techniques and effective paradigm breaking programming shall have positive effect on modifying cognitive and behavior processes.

The cognitive programming, which disrupts criminal thinking, thinking errors, and dogmatic systems must be steadily reinforced through education, the media and propaganda. The goal is to send a liberating message, mind-altering ideas, not through appeasement, negotiation or discussion, but through overt and covert dialogue to strongly pursue an agenda to break through the closed, dogmatic mindset of jihad Muslims.

Long-term strategies should include restructuring or destroying the closed ideology of fundamentalist Islam, anti-social attitudes, values, and beliefs. We need an integrated approach to break pro-terrorist association, target criminogenic risk, criminogenic logic using reward and punishment. Jihad Muslims should be changed and re-socialized with a forceful, balanced approach utilizing psychological warfare, social learning techniques and propaganda. The value of psycho, social, cognitive strategies extend well beyond the military methods and they can be applied successfully in several settings.

Effective counter terrorism strategies based on reliable information is not an impossible dream, but it will take strong leadership, commitment, courage and hard work. The civilized world community and democratic nations should avoid supporting state-initiated Islamization programs or activities of organizations that pose a direct threat to civilized nations.

The challenge before us is to translate all available means, legal, military, economic, political, social and psychological strategies to eliminate terrorism once for all.

 
Dr. Babu Suseelan is a professor of psychology and director of a drug and alcohol treatment program in Pennsylvania. He writes on the effect of Islamic terrorists on Hindu society.

This article is based on a lecture delivered at the Conference on Terrorism held in New York.

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