Citation

Turcan M, Mccauley C. Dyn. Asymm. Confl. 2010; 3(1): 14-31.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/17467586.2010.498896

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, recruited by Jordanian intelligence as a double agent to gather information on high-profile Taliban leaders, blew himself up on 30 December 2009, in Khost province of Afghanistan. He killed seven CIA agents and one Jordanian agent. We distinguish two phases in al-Balawi's trajectory to violence: radicalization of opinion during his life in Jordan working as a physician from 2002 to 2009, and radicalization of action in Pakistan between March and December 2009. Mechanisms of radicalization, including personal and group grievances and ''slippery-slope'' increments of commitment, can make sense of al-Balawi's radicalization of opinion, but his turn to violent action requires consideration of his Internet identity as a warrior, Abu Dujana. In our interpretation, his radicalization in action depended on the means and opportunity offered by Jordanian intelligence and the CIA. © 2010 Taylor & Francis.

Language: en

Keywords

Radicalization; Suicide terrorism; Extremism; Internet radicalization; Khost attack; Lone wolf terrorism; Virtual radicalization