The Aztecs are Back

Ralph Peters presents aninteresting way of looking at Terrorism in USA Today. Basically his premise is that terrorism isn't really related to Islam, but is rather a throwback to far more primitive religious beliefs.

Every one of the great religions is under siege. But the crisis is nowhere as intense as in the Middle East, where treasured values and inherited behaviors simply do not work in the 21st century. Nor is the cult of human sacrifice unique to "Islamic" terrorists even now. What was Jonestown but the murder of hundreds of humans in service to a warped religious vision? From spaceship cults in California to the killing of "witches" in the developing world, the impulse to please one god or another by spilling blood remains more deeply ingrained than we like to admit. "Experts" schooled in the failed dogmas of the past century say Osama bin Laden and his ilk are political actors driven to violence, that the religious trappings of terror are only superficial. They're utterly wrong. The terrorists' relationship to their god is fundamental. It's time to put aside the international-relations texts that have failed the world so miserably. We must confront the elementary problem of our times: Frightened human beings and the longing for easy answers that lead to the most repugnant forms of faith. The Aztecs are back.

I think there is a lot of truth to this idea. The pressures of modernity combined with the lack of flexibility in Arab society, resulting in widespread failure and misery are the 'root causes' of terrorism, or as Mr. Peters would say, reversion to blood sacrifice cults. This makes a fair amount of sense to me. The main thing though is the realization that modern Terrorist activities have very little to do with politics. These acts are Religious in nature, brutality designed to appease a brutal god (note: I agree with Ralph Peters that that god is not Allah.) While I think that political solutions can help relieve some of the pressures that cause people to turn to this 'religion' it should be clear that no political measures will ever satisfy its adherents.