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What if the “native maternal instinct” runs the other way—i.e. a woman decides to become a terrorist to punish the country or institution she blames for the death of her child? See, for example, the black widows of Chechnya. And I think one of the female Palestinian bombers, or would-be bombers, had a brother who was either killed or was a suicide bomber himself.

I agree, that kind of personal scar can certainly provide an individual with powerful motivation, male or female. And the article you link points out “The two wars in Chechnya have left 100,000 people dead” ... that’s a significant number of mothers, daughters, and sisters who might be so motivated. But in Chechnya and in Palestine, these have been individual suicide attacks.

Men have gathered in groups large and small and plotted warfare for … well, nearly as long as there’s been man. Relentlessly, without hesitation or second thoughts. Have we now reached the point of human evolution where women are also willing to gather in groups to do the same … relentlessly, without hesitation or second thoughts?

Maybe this is what I’m trying (and mostly failing) to get at. I’ve long known that men are absolute animals (hey, I am one), and capable of banding together to do evil deeds beyond my imagination. I guess there’s a part of me that harbors hope that women had either evolved beyond that capability, or never had it to begin with. That there might be something innate within that would make at least one of those theoretical 19 women refuse to kill innocents because she’d lost a loved one.

As I said, I really don’t know. So much of this crosses cultural and gender lines, it’s somewhat veiled to me.

I am of course a well-known believer of the inequality of the sexes. I think the 9/11 attacks would run against the female psyche. Physically, intellectually capable of it, yes. A female could mastermind it too, yes indeedy—just look at such historic figures as Ma Barker or Joan of Arc.

That said, for a variety of reasons statistical and biological, it will usually be men plotting and executing such things, while women work their own destructive ways differently. That said, the Palestinian female suicide bombers and, as Jessica points out, the Chechen “black widows,” prove to me, fairly effectively, that if you put your efforts on scrutinizing men, the enemy is no fool and will notice this.

Of course women could have pulled off 9-11. Not American women, nor any Westernized women, but if you understand Islamist indoctrination, it’s obvious these women have the ability to be vipers just as much as their husbands/men.

French, German, Italian and Japanese terror groups were successful in recruiting women for violent acts. These ranged from bombs in restaurants to bombs in cars, even up to one-on-one assassinations.

Hamas has been able to recruit women to take part in suicide bombings that inflicted mass death and casualties.

I don’t think there are any magic genes that insulate women from taking part in violent political action.

Personally, I think she looks Middle Eastern, but that’s not the point – the point is, anyone with an obviously Muslem name coming from another country should be scrutinized carefully, be they man or woman.

When my mom was discussing the baking of cookies and other plans for Christmas 2001, she randomly mentioned that it would be nice to see Osama’s head hanging from the tree at Rockefeller center. I think history has proven that women are very capable of waging war, of going to great lengths to protect their families and their children.

Terrorism is a different matter. I still haven’t figured out why hiding one’s allegiance and deliberately targeting and slaughtering innocent people is considered to be a tactic of war or ‘revenge’. Those Russian theatergoers were not directly responsible for any deaths in Chechnya. They weren’t soldiers, they weren’t leaders, they were just easy targets.

I can’t get beyond the fact that terrorism is cowardly, nihilistic and stupid. I don’t know if that’s because I’m a woman, or if it’s just a failure of imagination, so I can’t speak for all women in general.

In re profiling, racial and otherwise:

First, let me point out that it’s a black-and-white photograph, about which ethnic information can be dubious. She could be “lily-white”, or as swarthy as Middle Easterners often are; we can’t really tell.

As for profiling, it is my understanding that people who use it will make use of many factors. You don’t just focus all your attention on men of a specific age group, for example. You also look at names, you listen to languages (and accents) spoken, you look for telltales of luggage and clothing, and so on. Most particularly, you watch body language and behavior. Is this person nervous about something? Do they appear overdressed for the season? Do they show an unexpected deadpan when few other travellers do?

People who judge by these sorts of factors, in my experience, can get to a point where they’re very rarely wrong. They can also spot someone who exhibits some but not all of the characteristics they’re looking for… as in the case of a female suspect, for example. So I don’t have a problem with our security people working this way.

Can we expect significant numbers of female terrorists? Well, my feeling is that the anti-American terror is almost entirely Islamist, which preaches a hateful form of Islam as a matter of course. Subjugation of women is part and parcel with that… meaning that a woman who buys the Islamist line would be conditioned to see herself as subservient to men, not a potential fellow warrior.

So I think the female Islamist terrorist is a rare exception. (I believe some of the few we’ve heard about, in Israel for example, have been forced into it against their will.)

respectfully,
Daniel in Medford

There’s an interesting article in the Christian Science Monitor that touches on this, and it doesn’t sound like women are gathering to do violence on the West Bank, they’re gathering to restore order:
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Amid the devastation wrought by nearly four years of conflict with Israel, a subtle but significant transformation is under way in the lives of many Palestinian women. Normally confined to domestic chores and child care, they’re now playing central roles in the survival of families in which husbands have found themselves without work.

The crisis has emboldened women to assert themselves in new realms, from finding part-time work and taking control of family finances to political involvement. The newfound freedoms are even bucking the rising influence of fundamentalist Islam in the public lives of Palestinians.
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