Article

2004-03-28 Terror Networks

Mental Illness is a Significant Factor in the Development of Many Terrorists

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Posted by Mike Sylwester 2004-03-28 10:36:46 AM|| || Front Page|| [9 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Wow! Where to start with this. Mental illness may well be a factor creating a terrorist but being an Arab seems a more reliable factor. Otherwise, all statements in these kinds of studies have to be in relation to a control group. If you are comparing them to Missouri Baptists then I have not doubt that these people are completely wacked out, but if you compare them to the population of Gaza city or Jedda, then I am quite sure they are completely normal.

Posted by phil_b 2004-03-28 10:51:51 AM|| 2004-03-28 10:51:51 AM|| Front Page Top

#2 "In an insane society, the sane man must appear to be insane."
-Mr Spock

Posted by .com 2004-03-28 11:05:00 AM|| 2004-03-28 11:05:00 AM|| Front Page Top

#3 I will stand in for M4D.

It is obvious that midnite basketball would solve most of the problems.

Posted by Shipman 2004-03-28 12:18:13 PM|| 2004-03-28 12:18:13 PM|| Front Page Top

#4 What's really insane is that there are Americans and Europeans who think the way to solve the problem is to negotiate with these guys, or worse yet, with the people who manipulate these guys. "Rational actor" calculations just don't apply here.

Posted by Matt 2004-03-28 12:26:10 PM|| 2004-03-28 12:26:10 PM|| Front Page Top

#5 ..You know, for fifteen years now I've been saying we'd miss the cool, logical and hyper-rational thinking of the Soviets. Looks like this proves it.

Mike

Posted by Mike Kozlowski 2004-03-28 1:39:42 PM|| 2004-03-28 1:39:42 PM|| Front Page Top

#6 There are three separate but interlocking problems:

1. The Middle Eastern society itself is insane, locked as it is to an insane religion that prevents maturity and growth.

2. There are no cultural or religious "safety nets" for this particular segment of society, EITHER IN ARAB SOCIETY OR IN WESTERN SOCIETY, which leaves them not only susceptible to being manipulated, but actually seeking such manipulation (pop culture does it in our society, which is, in itself, frightening - look at Columbine).

3. The previous methods used by most "black sheep" for finding their own way in the world - emigration, education, military service, religion, etc., are now mostly closed to those of less than average intelligence. The industries that employed those of marginal to below-average intelligence (agriculture, fishing, etc.) now either require higher education, or offer a marginal existence, or simply don't exist at all.

You end up with a lot of dissatisfied, unhappy people, hopped to the gills on raging hormones, with no hope and little ambition, ripe for manipulation - and it's a worldwide problem that everybody's ignoring.

Mike, I'm with you, brother!

Posted by Old Patriot 2004-03-28 2:20:41 PM|| [http://users.codenet.net/mweather/default.htm] 2004-03-28 2:20:41 PM|| Front Page Top

#7 OP, you're right, and I wish you weren't. The fourth interlocking problem you might throw in is age: even a very stable society would have trouble dealing with a situation in which 50% of the population is under 15.

People keep talking about addressing "root causes." That's a great idea if you happen to have a way of creating 3 or 4 hundred million decent jobs over the next few years, in totalitarian societies that objectively are doing their dead-level best to prevent economic growth.

Posted by Matt 2004-03-28 3:32:02 PM|| 2004-03-28 3:32:02 PM|| Front Page Top

#8 Great analysis, OP. I would add to that that every time we do try to set up manufacturing jobs in Pakistan or Indonesia, some sob sister starts carping about "sweat shops" and slave labor.

The trends that OP and Matt identified are accelerating. I brought up the example of third world manufacturing because the left just doesn't get it (when technology and capital intersect their beliefs, they rarely do). As technology advances, it is becoming a relatively trivial matter to automate the making of shoes and clothes to the same extent that we automate the making of cars. Bottom line: No more need for unskilled labor -- just a few technicians are required to keep the machines humming. The designers are all in the developed countries already. The result: Almost the entire third world population is on the dole, even more restless and pissed off than they are now. Plants can be located closer to markets or kept where they are if you can find the techs. It's going to be interesting!

Posted by 11A5S 2004-03-28 6:10:37 PM|| 2004-03-28 6:10:37 PM|| Front Page Top

#9 So too sum all this up: Being a Muslim can cause mental defects?

Posted by Charles 2004-03-28 6:49:19 PM|| 2004-03-28 6:49:19 PM|| Front Page Top

#10 Didn't one of the older terrorist controllers recently tell a potential teenage suicide bomber in Israel that he'd never have sex unless he detonated himself, precisely because he was such a LOSER--that this was his ONLY chance to have sex with a woman, or 72 women, in "paradise." What a sick, mean story to tell some mixed up, messed up, outcast teenager. When the Israelis caught up with the boy, he didn't want to kill himself anymore. Even the psycho Muslim teenagers figure it out sooner or later.

Posted by ex-lib 2004-03-28 8:47:22 PM|| 2004-03-28 8:47:22 PM|| Front Page Top

#11 I have three adolescents in the house and I can assure you that the adolescent brain is difficult enough to deal with even in Judeo-Christian culture. That aside, I can't imagine how the Middle Eastern poverty problem is going to go away given the billion or so Indians and billion or so Chinese that will do the world's work without being a pain in the rear to hire. The Muslim Middle East is so bleak that the limited middle class tends to move away, even to the United States and Britain of all places. Surely you can stand in the desert and hear the sucking sound as all of the oil and reasonable Muslim people of affluence flow out of the area.

Posted by Tom 2004-03-28 8:49:25 PM|| 2004-03-28 8:49:25 PM|| Front Page Top

#12 Mental illness is not just for the slodydopes, it is also a prerequsite to becoming a recruiter (Imam). Albeit they're a bit saner because they never consider stapping an explosive vest on themselves.

Posted by GK 2004-03-28 10:07:50 PM|| 2004-03-28 10:07:50 PM|| Front Page Top

#13 Psychologists have long argued that some high-ranking terrorists may be psychopaths or have personality disorders, while those in lower-level positions such as suicide bombers are more likely to have mental deficiencies or depression, making them easier to manipulate. ....

Now there's a BGO.*

(* Blinding Glimpse of the Obvious)

Posted by Zenster 2004-04-04 9:49:12 PM|| 2004-04-04 9:49:12 PM|| Front Page Top

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