Terrorism will never stop and Bush’s promise (look up 2001 quotes) to America that the heads responsible for September 11th will pay is utter bullshit. Let’s be honest, there’s no way America’s going to nab all of them is there? Finding Al Qaeda’s leading boys will be like finding needle in hay.
Even a magnifying class will not find you the needle. I know for a fact that there will surely be more bombings, deaths and anguish worldwide in the future. What makes it even more dangerous is the fact that detonation happens at the most common and trivial of places like the MRT or even in a bus. Has it ever crossed your mind that you could just blow up into pieces all of a sudden?
Efficiency is key to achieving goals and objectives, as explained in the cartoon. Nevertheless, it is key that society should be well-prepared to faced or foil these threats. Symbolic occurrences such as those of September 11, the Bali, Madrid and London bombings will leave a scar among the many whose friends and family perished in. More recently, the string attacks that were the result of three consecutive car bombs in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad claimed 32 and injured as many as a hundred.
People standing at the site of car bombing in the Shurta Rabaa district of west Baghdad, Iraq, Monday Sept. 29, 2008.
These men make flawed decisions because group pressures lead to a deterioration of mental efficiency, reality testing, and moral judgment. Terrorist cells have a tendency to ignore alternatives and take irrational actions that cause chaos. A group is especially vulnerable to groupthink when its members are similar in background and insulated from outside opinions. This is a good example of why Islam contributes the largest collection of terrorist as the founders of leading terrorist groups are of Islamic origin. Moreover, prejudice and destestation towards the west has been in cultivated from a young age as a result of growing up in such an environment.(I personally don’t have any grudge against Muslims so if you are one, kindly do not take this personally). However, I feel that these Middle Easterners tarnish the reputation of Muslims around the world.
The evil amongst men - Clip on 9/11, London and Madrid bombings
I can say that these maniacs of destruction are blinded strongly by the four of the eight symptoms of groupthink:
1. Illusion of invulnerability – Terrorist groups believe that they are the best and are delusional of the destruction and sufferings they cause.
Consistent attacks worldwide are non-verbal cues to their belief of invulnerability that they as a collective unit can stand strong against anti-terrorism, anything and anyone.
2. Collective rationalization –They justify their ill-action as the “holy war”
3. Belief in group’s own morality – These terrorist organizations believe that their acts of carnage and mayhem are morally correct.
4. Shared stereotypes – Al Qaeda and Jemmah Islamiah has massive animosity and hatred for the West(America) or any of the American allies.
They feel that they are against the majority of the world and in truth; the world is also against them due to the reputation that these terrorist have.
Has mayhem in anyway ever been part of your agenda?
Source : 1)Associated Press (AP)
Photographer - Hadi Mizban
8 comments:
Yeah I agree with you on most of your points. These terrorists do exhibit many symptoms of groupthink which you have pointed out yourself.
As to why there crazy people like these want to commit acts of terrorism, there are a whole bunch of reasons.
Some of the newer recruits in terror organizations are misguided and deceived by the terrorist leaders. The leaders themselves may be just using the name of religion to justify their own evil ambitions.
Regardless of their reasons they are just giving Islam a bad reputation. It is ironic that they claim that their actions are protecting Islam when in reality it is doing more harm than good. Anti-Islam sentiments in the USA rose sharply after 9-11.
The problem is that conventional counter-terrorist activities will NEVER eradicate the terrorists. US missile strikes at terrorist hideouts in Pakistan are arguably creating more harm than good. Accidental civilian casualties and collateral damage from those strikes are probably just fueling anger at the US, and encouraging terrorist recruitment.
What needs to be done is to understand what drives the terrorists to carry out their acts and what are their goals. Even AL-Qaeda has a reason for hating the US. Only then can something be done and stop people from becoming terrorists themselves.
The greater the commitment and loyalty, the higher the chances for groupthink to occur. Extremists are a fervent bunch.
US has been dominating as a world superpower for a long time. Power, as we know, can sometimes be abused. But my point is, when there is an overpowering force of any kind, there will bound to be an opposing one. Where one rules, there will be dissenters.
this world is such a warped place. events as we see them no longer take place simply because of one reason anymore. and all of them just leads on to one another in a vicious cycle. when we it ever end?
as for groupthink in terrorist groups, it definitely exists. to pursue a common agenda and having the same rationalization empowers them to carry out those acts. however, i do think that opposing views are far and few in between (maybe apart from where to bomb) since the reason why they are there in the group is what got them to join in the first place.
I agree with the fact that the US is portraiting their own way of groupthink by the bombings in pakistan. This wouldn't have escalated to such extremes measures now had Osama not carried out his masterpiece.
However, in relation to what rachel said, i agree with the fact that America gives the impression that they are the World's leading nation or "law enforcers" which gives rise to opposition and dissenters.
I think alot of these terrorists are actually brought up and taught to become like that. That they believe that what they are doing is good and right. Because they have been brought up this way, its hard for them to even realize they are in a group much less that its groupthink mentality they are subscribing to. I think its hard for them to even evaluate if they want to take steps for role transition or what not. TO them its just a way of life.
working in groups is like most things in life, there are 2 sides to this coin. on one, we have the power of group synergy; on the other, the risks of groupthink.
terrorism has always been present in our world. it could be as simple as a small group getting together to threaten a politician to giving them their demands, or even as complex as the Al Qaeda group.
as the world's IQ continue to increase, the good become smarter. but so do the bad. these evil masterminds have learned to use education to their cause. brainwashing camps have been setup to recruit potential candidates, psychology is used during prep talks to motivate people in to doing things they normally would not, the list goes on.
as the world moves forward, we can be thankful that education has brought us technologies which have made our life more efficient. but with this intelligence, we must also expect the Dr No of the world to become smarter and use it to his advantage. after all, getting a degree is so common now. remember Sunway College? i always thought that lagoon to be a theme park.
i do agree with your views. however what if we were in their shoes? and e title would be "I, organization". how would we, in their shoes, view us, e outside world? its just an interesting thought.
Jennifer :
Its something i cannot answer because i have and will never be in that position to want to cause carnage in the name of God. We will never know how "they" can destroy and kill in the name of righteousness. Good point you've brought up though.
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