Robert Pape's argument that suicide terrorism is an inherently rational act (however evil) stemming from a political agenda is incomplete, in my opinion.
In the short term, obviously Al Qaeda's objectives are politcal. They want us out of Iraq. But long term what they want is the Muslim caliphate, and, I believe, beyond. The caliphate as I understand it would encompass anywhere Muslims used to rule or believe they used to rule. They want absolute Wahabbi rule from Spain to Indonesia, with absolutely no Christian or Jewish presence of any kind in this holy kingdom of Allah, which they believe is a geopolitical reality here and now.
This is not merely a political goal, and it is certainly not rational. It is fundamentally a religious goal.
Given the nature of radical Islam as a relentlessly offensive religion that utilizes jihad as a method of expanding Allah's kingdom, the ultimate goal cannot be anything other than the worldwide dominance of Islam. The fact that suicide bombers aren't necessarily dying with this wish on their lips (yet) doesn't mean that this is not the inevitable goal of radical Islam. Islam, like Christianity, seeks the widest possible influence for its creed and faith. Christianity does it by socialization and evangelism. Islam appears to do it by education and jihad.
Any thoughts on this theory?
Mull this over for a bit: al-Qa'ida is a armed political organization masquerading as a religious one.
AQ not only believes in the afterlife, but they have a plan for hhow to fix what's wrong with the world, right here and now. The state of men's souls is of secondary interest to them; it's control the temporal world they're after. While they use and believe in extremist Islamic beliefs, they're
Given the nature of radical Islam as a relentlessly offensive religion that utilizes jihad as a method of expanding Allah's kingdom, the ultimate goal cannot be anything other than the worldwide dominance of Islam.
In that respect, Islam uniquely differs from other religions. (Although it's a textbook example of a cult.) Islam, as an entity, is half religious, and half political. You're not necessarily dealing with both or either at any given time, because in the mind of a Muslim, much of what we separate down lines of 'church' and 'state', they consider interchangeable.