Terrorist Groups The intentions behind religious fundamentalist terrorist activities are varied. It is noteworthy that terrorists are psychologically normal and are neither depressed, severely emotionally disturbed, nor crazed fanatics. In fact to ensure that their members are not clinically psychotic, emotionally unstable individuals are regularly screened out because they can be a security risk.

Religious fundamentalist terrorist groups are driven by a sense of giving power to the powerless. Some always want to seek revenge over religious grievances, while others seek to gain a sense of significance. They are driven by group interests as opposed to self serving actions hence their group, organizational, and social psychology. The responsibility of a leader of a terrorist organization like Al Qaeda is to interpret religious scriptures to justify their extreme acts of violence. He draws frustrated leaders into a coherent organization (Neumann, 2005).

Their unifying...

He identifies an external enemy as the cause and draws his disparate followers into collective identity. That is why thousands of alienated Arab and Muslim youth saw Osama Bin Laden as a positive identification object. In fact most of the youth saw in him a heroic revenger who had the guts to stand up against a superpower. Most of this youth could do anything that was asked of them by Al Qaeda because to them Bin Laden was unselfish, altruistic, and heroic to the point of self sacrifice. Al Qaeda seeks to expel westerners and to be specific Americans from the Muslim lands because they consider America's power and influence as one of the largest impediment to the establishment of a pan-Islam nation.
America, to them props non-Islamic governments in the Middle East and North Africa. Al Qaeda's strategy is therefore tailored towards driving U.S. out of Muslim land by waging extended terror…