Revenge, Renown, Reaction

Over at The Usual Suspects, Day Whatever of The Clash of Civilizations is continuing. When asked why, out of a nation of 5 million Muslims, only 3 were immediately available for the latest battle, the answer was "well, there were these other handfuls" and that old chestnut "European cities have no-go zones." (No, they don't. They have rough neighborhoods, just like wherever you live.)

Here back in the land of reality, I got to thinking why it seems like the last spate of attacks were launched by yahoos with lengthy arrest records. Then I was pointed at What Terrorists Want: Understanding the Enemy, Containing the Threat by Louise Richardson. Her history is that she was born in the part of rural Ireland favored as the home ground of the IRA.

She notes (or so I'm told) that individual terrorists are usually disaffected people who go looking for an ideology to explain their problems and justify violence. From the article: "Their motivations can be summed up in a three-word phrase, according to Richardson: "Revenge, Renown, Reaction." One characteristic that terrorists seem to share with The Usual Suspects is a tendency to see the world as black and white.

In any event, guess what got added to my to-be-read list?