(Beirut Daily Star) Jessica Stern - My interviews over the last five years suggest people join religious terrorist groups in the belief that they can make the world a better place for the population they aim to "serve." But over time, terrorism can become a career as much as a passion. Jihad becomes addictive. Violence turns activists and mystics into evil men. Grievances end up as greed - for money, political power, status, or attention. The adversaries of terrorist groups need to respond not just with guns, but also by sowing confusion, conflict, and competition among terrorists, and between terrorists and their sponsors and sympathizers. The writer is a lecturer at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.
2004-02-05 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive