Throughout history, terror has been utilized to further either the means of a single man, the ideals of a group or the assets of a nation. The basis for "terrorism" is to strike fear into the heart of a perceived enemy using tactics that broadly damage, physically and mentally, both combatants and noncombatants alike.

Overall, justification of such tactics lies, mostly, within the concept that it is all right to adopt this violent and unnecessary path if one is outnumbered and outgunned. Willing acceptance of such justification and action by various groups in history has led the world to witness terror in its most brutal, heartless and simple form: suicide attacks.

The first modern suicide bombing took place during the civil war in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1983. The Reagan administration had sent two marine divisions to Lebanon after Israel began to invade from the south in 1982. The mission of the U.S. Marines was one of peacekeeping and documenting, with orders never to engage in direct conflict. The marines were stationed at the Beirut International Airport, a fair distance from the core of the conflict.

In October of 1983, at roughly 6 a.m., a truck filled with explosives broke through the front gate and detonated the building the marines had occupied, resulting in the deaths of 220 marines. It was the most casualties suffered in a single day by the USMC since World War II. The primary suspect of the attack was Hezbollah.

After this attack took place, other marginalized groups across the world began to utilize the tactic. Dreaming of dealing such damage to their own perceived enemies, many of these groups cannot comprehend both the immediate and long-term consequences of their actions. For example, the bombing of the marine barracks accomplished nothing in the short term; after the attacks, Reagan moved and stationed the marines offshore. However, in the long term, the bombing still strains relations between a modern Lebanon and the United States.

Inevitably, this is where the tactic of suicide bombing fails. Whenever a person or a group decides to engage in this vile and violent behavior, they recognize they are exposing the entire civilian population to retaliation from their enemies. However, this must not matter to those who choose to engage in this tactic because it is also inevitable this tactic will kill some of the civilian population as well, some of the people they claim they are trying to help. Again, in the barracks attack, Lebanese were killed in addition to Americans. This cannot be justified.

There are certain reprehensible and ignorant people who would make the claim that Islam is to blame for such tactics due to its supposed penchant for martyrdom. However, one need not dig so hard to learn of the Germans in World War II flying their planes into Soviet military in the Battle of Berlin. Also, one cannot forget Japanese Kamikaze pilots at the end of World War II diving into American battleships. Looking at this, it is simple to understand what lies behind suicide bombing: desperation… not religion.

The question then becomes: Does desperation warrant the use of suicide attacks? The answer is clearly no. If a person, a group or a nation is outnumbered or outgunned, it does them no good to resort to a tactic that harms not only their perceived enemy, but also their own population and the ideals they believe to be just. What many groups fail to understand about this tactic is it de-legitimizes the ideals in which they so fervently believe — in the eyes of both the local civilian population and the larger global population. Recognizing this, groups such as Hezbollah no longer engage in suicide bombing.

Essentially, suicide bombing is the straightest path available to marginalizing, demeaning and damning both one's own ideals and one's own population. There is nothing right, just or honorable about self-detonating in a crowded market or on a bus, and it is extremely ignorant of anyone to assume that the mechanics for such acts are written into any religious system. All suicide bombing can ever be is a shortsighted, nihilistic and unjustifiable tactic used by self-marginalized idiots.

Wasim Salman ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in international relations.