Analyzing Terrorists and The Families That Raise Them

The rate of terrorism in the world today is frightening. This plague has crossed the boundaries of race, age and financial status. The case of Umar Abdulmutallab, son of a Nigerian billionaire, is still fresh upon our minds.

With the recent apprehension of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev; the “Boston Bomber”, whose friends continue to describe him as a “good guy”, one can’t help but wonder, “What kind of family raised such a person?”

Little is known at the time about Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, except that he is 19, was born in Kyrgystan and was on Scholarship at the University of Massachusetts. He had only been in the U.S for a year before this catastrophe.
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was 23 years old at the time of his arrest. He had a degree in Engineering and underwent a Masters program before he succumbed to being an agent of terrorism.
One wonders what could have led two young men with bright futures into committing such dastardly acts. The fact that they both seem so innocent is another confusing aspect. What turned these fresh faced boys into cold blooded murderers?
The major similarity that both boys have is that they were obviously not close to their families. Umar had all his father’s money at his disposal but he was pretty much left to his own devices. He lived alone in a mansion in London and some posts allegedly made by him on the internet point to the fact that he was lonely.
Dzhokhar’s father said that his son is an “angel” and a 2nd year Medical student in the States. The latter has been found to be false. Dzhokhar’s father obviously didn’t really know his son.

This is a challenge to all of us who are raising and plan to raise children. If these boys had had a strong connection to their families. If they had someone to live for, someone to make especially proud of them. Someone who they loved and couldn’t bear to hurt, then maybe, just maybe, we would be hearing a different story about them.

The family is the starting place of every personality. Some children will go wrong no matter how hard we try but it is the duty of the family to ensure that we raise children who believe in the sanctity of human life. That we instill these values into them so that no amount of brain washing can turn them into evil doers.

We have to hold on to our children, keep them close, make them accountable to us. So that the hawks of terrorism won’t snatch them away from us.
The family has the power to nip terrorism in the bud before it even develops and this is what must be done.