IT is the fundamental tenet of all terrorism, not least the wicked tenets of Al-Qaeda, that it seeks by the sheer inhumanity of its vicious assaults to rob those targeted of humane and measured responses. To achieve this the terrorists themselves have to behave inhumanely. Yet every terrorist, from the chiefs to the foot soldiers, is somebody’s father or somebody’s son.
The effect on a family that discovers to its horror that one of its members is a committed fanatic is invariably traumatic. On Monday this paper reported the tragic case of Abdul Rahman Al-Suwailmi of Riyadh whose sons Ahmad and Muhammad were lured away last year to join Al-Qaeda. Both young men simply disappeared. The first news their father had of them was the horrifying discovery they were both listed among the Kingdom’s most wanted terrorists.
Now Ahmad is dead, aged only 20, killed in a shoot-out with security forces last month in Dammam. Having gone through the most awful ordeal a parent can endure — identifying the dead body of his or her child — Suwailmi appealed to 23-year-old Muhammad to give himself up. It is not simply that he does not wish to lose a second son; Suwailmi is revolted at the thought that Muhammad might shed more innocent blood.
There are too many other Ahmads and Muhammads out there and they are all horrifying their parents and families. What is so notable about most Al-Qaeda terrorists being slain or captured is their youth. This is the secret of the sinister and worldly-wise bigots who plan and direct these terror crimes. They exploit the half-formed convictions of young people who have hardly attained manhood. The youth of every generation adopts ideals and imagines it has the power to change the world. It is this normal stage in young men’s intellectual and psychological development that Bin Laden and his followers seize and manipulate so insidiously. In effect they base their evil campaign of mass murder on the immaturity of hundreds of youths who can be persuaded that blasting apart the bodies of innocent men, women or children is a noble and courageous deed.
This says all that is necessary about Al-Qaeda and its perverted cause that can only be advanced by duping immature and credulous youths. Few men, wise in years, could ever find anything but revulsion for the principles and activities of these thugs. This is particularly true of the families who see their young men lured away by the siren promises of terrorist leaders that by acts of savage violence and depravity, the world can somehow be changed for the better.
In the final analysis, it is hard to find much sympathy with the Ahmads and Muhammads of this world who, at a crucial moment, lacked the judgment and moral fiber to reject the call of terrorism. It is however all too easy to appreciate the grief of the families of these young people. They are in fact the unseen and largely unmourned victims of Al-Qaeda’s evil because every day their hearts bleed a little more and their heads hang lower in shame at the wicked deeds of their children.
