International Journal on Criminology Volume 4, Number 2, Winter 2016 | Page 67

Know What You Are Fighting
Published in England by accomplices of the GIA, the publication La
clairvoyance “El Tabsira” contains (in issue 203) a message to Algerian terrorists
worried about death: “The best medication that we can prescribe for you, dear brother,
is to think of the end of your life, the inevitable truth that removes any hesitation,
arrogance, and pride. Asked about the subtleness of believers, the Prophet responded
that the most ingenious believer is the one who always has death on his mind, who is
the best prepared to confront the hereafter.”
Death drive, vertigo of annihilation, nirvana: converting the fear of death
into a desire for annihilation shields terrorists from anxiety and hesitation. Whoever
admits that the same psychic energy animates love and hate and refrains from moral
judgment can see that suicide attacks by explosives reveal a relationship of fusion
with the other. Here, a mental mechanism acts through which the fear of death and
pain transforms into a spectacular desire to merge with the universe, through a deadly
explosion.
Pain and death become desirable by stimulation of the latent desire in all
human beings to escape existential anxiety. The force of evil is manipulated to reverse
all moral obstacles. An old tradition, the banalization of pain and glorification of death
thus become frightening weapons of the terrorists today. Faced with the mortification
of their bodies and those of the victims, the terrorists use mysticism to inspire contempt
of, or even desire for death. Often taken out of their original context, Quranic verses
are used to persuade those who hesitate. A better life is promised to the martyrs of the
holy war against the unbelievers.
The history of terrorism teaches us that always and everywhere, consciences
are anesthetized according to the same procedure. Fascists or Russians, terrorists,
and their families, were convinced to die for the “Holy” cause. The same was true
for the Japanese, Indian, and Arab terrorists. Martyrs earning eternal life also sheds
light on the history of Irish terrorism, from its beginnings until today. Further back in
history, Flavius Josephus depicted religious faith, the vision of the death of Zealots as
venerated and joyous. The Thugs shared the same attraction for death. In each case,
disdain for death reinforced the struggle.
Whether it was from a religion or a nihilist philosophy, this exaltation of death,
to be attractive, had to combine with the death drive and suicidal tendencies of a
person. A text by the GIA signed by the terrorist leader Djamel Zitouni explains the
defeat of Muslims in terms of a hatred for death and attachment to life. He cites a
reported saying (hadith) of the Prophet: “If you hate death and hang on to life, God
will weaken you compared with your adversary despite your power.” To embellish the
idea of death and draw out the impulse toward destruction, these writings highlight
the Quranic verses and statements of the Prophet describing paradise and eternal life,
where all pleasures are allowed. Death thus becomes an object of desire and pleasure
for terrorists.
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