Profiling fails to ID suicide bombers, Cook says

Profiling fails to ID suicide bombers, Cook says

BY FRANZ BROTZEN
Rice News staff

David Cook, assistant professor of religious studies, rejected profiling as a way to deter suicide bomb attacks during a lecture Oct. 19 at the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy.

Cook, who is an authority on Muslim apocalyptic literature and movements, argued that efforts to discern a profile for likely suicide bombers have all failed.

Cook’s lecture, titled “Policy Responses to Suicide Attacks by Radical Muslims,” looked at the recent history and geography of suicide bombings as well as recommendations for policymakers trying to prevent them.

While the greatest number of suicide bomb attacks has been carried out by Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels, who are Hindu, such attacks by Muslim extremist groups have received the lion’s share of attention in the U.S. and European media.

Cook detailed the use of suicide attacks as a tactic in Lebanon, Israel, Pakistan, Indonesia, Kashmir and other parts of the world, culminating in Iraq, where it has exceeded “any other theater in terms of technical innovation, number of attacks and number of people killed.” He estimated the number of suicide bomb attacks in Iraq at 540 and put the death toll at between 16,000 and 18,000.

Cook emphasized that the motivations for Muslim suicide bombers are difficult to ascertain, even in cases when the bomber leaves behind a “martyrdom video.” Experts cite religious obligation, nationalism, revenge, a sense of community, group identification — even “romantic suicides” involving husband-and-wife teams. But this very disparity highlights the problems with determining a psychological profile for potential suicide bombers, Cook argued.

Nevertheless, given what he called the “widespread cult of martyrdom,” Cook said, “it is only a matter of time before we see suicide attacks in the U.S.” To counter this, he recommended U.S. authorities recognize the limitations of the Muslim religious elite. “Fatwas won’t be efficacious,” he said, since justifications for suicide attacks abound on the Internet.

One of the most successful efforts to fight suicide attacks has come from the communities affected by them. Cook cited the backlash against extremists in Morocco and Jordan following the 2003 Casablanca bombings and the 2005 Amma bombings.

Cook also said he disagreed with the conclusion that University of Chicago political scientist Robert Pape reached on suicide attacks — namely, that they are mainly motivated by occupation by foreign armies. While Cook accepted the significance of nationalism and the feelings of humiliation as factors contributing to suicide attacks, he noted that the explanation doesn’t account for the wave of such attacks in Pakistan or in Indonesia, where no foreign military forces are present.

Although he disputed the efficacy of profiling, Cook acceded that U.S. authorities should keep an eye on some sections of the Muslim population. Specifically, he said converts and what he called “transitional Muslims,” Muslims who have recently become much more devout, are the most likely to attempt suicide attacks in the United States.

Cook’s two most recent books are “Understanding Jihad” and “Contemporary Muslim Apocalyptic Literature.”