The Myth of Martyrdom challenges what motivates suicide attacks

The Myth of Martyrdom
Adam Lankford
Palgrave Macmillan
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What makes a person strap on a vest packed with explosives and blow himself and a restaurant full of people to smithereens?

Boldly challenging conventional ideas about the motivating factors behind suicide attacks, Adam Lankford, an American academic, answers that question in The Myth of Martyrdom: What Really Drives Suicide Bombers, School Shooters and Other Self-Destructive Killers.

Lankford's chief contention is that suicide attackers, far from being martyrs or soldiers for a religious/political cause or homicidal lunatics, are in most cases just plain suicidal - otherwise normal people who are driven to self-destruction by depression, fear, anxiety, grief or personal failure.

Accepting this fact is the key to developing an effective prevention strategy, says Lankford, one that emphasises recognising when people are suicidal and intervening before their condition is, for example, exploited by a terrorist organisation. Lankford makes a convincing case that is well supported by studies and anecdotal evidence, but tries too hard to convince readers that his theory is universally applicable.

The biog

Profession: Senior sports presenter and producer

Marital status: Single

Favourite book: Al Nabi by Jibran Khalil Jibran

Favourite food: Italian and Lebanese food

Favourite football player: Cristiano Ronaldo

Languages: Arabic, French, English, Portuguese and some Spanish

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GOLF’S RAHMBO

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Aliu Bamidele Lasisi (Nigeria) beat Artid Vamrungauea (Thailand) POINTS
Julaidah Abdulfatah (Saudi Arabia) beat Martin Kabrhel (Czech Rep) POINTS
Kem Ljungquist (Denmark) beat Mourad Omar (Egypt) TKO
Michael Lawal (UK) beat Tamas Kozma (Hungary) KO
Zuhayr Al Qahtani (Saudi Arabia) beat Mohammed Mahmoud (UK) POINTS
Darren Surtees (UK) beat Kane Baker (UK) KO
Chris Eubank Jr (UK) beat JJ McDonagh (Ireland) TKO
Callum Smith (UK) beat George Groves (UK) KO

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