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“No one ever lacks a good reason for suicide.”

-- Cesare Pavese

Before we look into the psychology of a suicide bomber and why an individual or a group will take such drastic step. It would be better understanding if such mission is cowardice or an act of bravado? Here is a question that cannot be answered.

On one side, a suicide mission may look as an act of cowardice. An individual or group killing several other innocent people so as to gain some sort of moksha. On the other hand, in some cultures, it is a sign of bravery. Palestinian mothers send their sons to ‘freedom fighter’ camps and feel proud that their child will be dying for a cause.

Now if we draw back to the question or questions, why would someone take such drastic step as to commit a suicide bombing? What exactly does the signaling? Is it the dying, the killing, or both? ‘Propaganda by deed’ has traditionally been achieved by killing, so is the killer's death in a SM aimed at conveying a message just a cost incurred to carry out more efficient killing, as in SMM, or does it add something to the communicative efficacy of the mission? Would 9/11 have had the same impact had it been a non-suicidal mission? These are questions asked by David Gambetta in Making Sense of Suicide Missions.

With Jihad becoming as popular as the terms Coke, Pepsi and candy, suicide missions have become highly signified in propagandizing a clandestine organization’s mission. But I fail to understand if it really is the idea of 72 virgins, hell why would someone want to teach 72 of them is beyond me, and achieving heaven that actually motivates one to take such action.

It probably is more a mental whitewash that creates these individuals. The number of suicide bombers is quite low as compared to other methods of terrorism activities. The religious and ideological affiliations of the SM groups are also far from uniform. While no religion apart from Islam is directly involved in SM groups, Islam-inspired missions account for only 34.6 per cent. (David Gambetta, Making Sense of Suicide Missions).

Why people do things to do may not be rational or logic to us all, but there is enough rationality and logic to them to do these acts. A. B. Yehoshua concludes it aptly, saying, “The weapon of suicide bombing is so desperate that you aren't even left with the possibility of taking revenge or punishing anyone; the terrorist is killed along with his victims, his blood mixing with theirs.”