Thinking Like a Terrorist: The Jihad Franchises

As for us, jihad against the tyrants and the aggressors is a form of great worship in our religion. It is more precious to us than our fathers and sons. Thus, our jihad against you is worship, and your killing us is a testimony. Thanks to God, Almighty, we have been waging jihad for 30 years, against the Russians and then against you. Not a single one of our men has committed suicide, whereas every 30 days 30 of your men commit suicide. Continue the war if you will. —Osama bin Laden, “Letter to the American People” (2002)

An old Roman politician, one we know as Cato the Elder, is said to have entered the Roman Senate one day and shaken the folds of his toga, dropping a Libyan fig to the Senate floor. It is said by an account given in Plutarch’s Life of Cato the Elder that the Libyan fig was admired by Cato’s fellow Roman senators for its size and beauty. Cato informed his senatorial audience that the fig itself grew only three days’ sailing from Rome. It was grown in lands owned and occupied by Rome’s greatest enemy and arch-rival: Carthage. While the Romans had defeated the Carthaginians during the Second Punic War, Cato feared Carthage would rise again, becoming stronger and more resilient against Roman military power. And to any vote held on the Roman Senate floor, Cato uttered these infamous words: “Ceterum autem censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.” In English: “In my opinion, Carthage must be destroyed.”