In my relatively short lifetime, lots of things have been blown up. From suicide bombers to car bombs to airplanes, terrorism has become the norm. The recent events in Norway are evidence of that.
Months ago in Moscow, a Chechen suicide bomber strolled into the international arrivals terminal in Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport, the largest airport in the area. The attack killed 35 people, according to Reuters, and wounded many more.
Chechnya is a region of Russia that is predominately Islamic, and its history of strife with the Russians goes back a long way. In short, Chechnya has been bullied by the Soviets and the Russians for a very long time. Naturally, they’re pissed off.
Recently in Pakistan, a teenage boy dressed in a school uniform walked into a military district and blew himself up, killing at least 31 people according to the BBC.
The World Trade Center on 9/11 requires no explanation. We all remember exactly where we were and what we were doing on that infamous day.
During the 7/7 bombings in London, which occurred on July 7, 2005, four suicide bombers attacked the mass transportation system. Three underground trains were blown up as well as a double-decker bus. The bombers were affiliated with al-Qaeda.
My question is why? What motivates a person or group of people to kill themselves and countless innocent civilians for a cause? To answer this question, I had to ask it to myself. What would motivate me to blow myself up for a cause? To be honest, not much.
Perhaps if someone or some group came into my home, killed my whole family, blew up my house, used my dog as target practice, and then stole my favorite shirt, I would obviously seek some sort of revenge. I highly doubt I would ever strap myself with marbles and C-4 and walk into a public place — that’s just not my style.
Obviously, the people committing these atrocities have had wrong done to them, in some cases by the United States.
The most significant event that stand out in my mind was the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. I remember watching Fox News, ironically, and seeing a night vision live shot of American missiles hitting Baghdad. We obliterated that city, absolutely demolished it with American firepower. There is no way in hell that we were positive that no innocent Iraqi man, woman or child wasn’t caught in our crosshairs.
Basically what I’m trying to say is, I understand that these suicide bombers and extremists don’t like America and the Western world. I understand why the Chechens don’t like the Russians. What I don’t understand is why you want to come to America, London, Moscow or Spain and kill innocent civilians who had nothing to do with the atrocities that may or may not have been done to you. What did I ever do to you?
What did my friends in London or my family in California do to deserve this? But the simple fact is we as westerners are targeted.
Many suicide bombers believe they are martyrs. They believe they’ll be awarded in the afterlife for sacrificing themselves in this one. People always say something about being awarded 72 virgins in reference to Islamic suicide bombers. I don’t understand why this is such a motivator to blow yourself up. Attention suicide bombers, virgins have no idea what they’re doing in the bedroom. You will be doomed to an eternity of teaching them what feels good and explaining that what they’ve seen in porn is unrealistic.
Personally, I’d much prefer 72 prostitutes and an infinite supply of Trojans.
Bottom line, don’t blow yourself up and don’t kill other people. We’ve all been given this beautiful gift of life — don’t piss it away.
Parker Cramer is a 20-year-old animal sciences major from Houston. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_pcramer.
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Contact Parker Cramer at [email protected]