Brutal terror tactics: How nations respond (csm)

Experts say the practice of beheading isn't justified in Islamic literature and is intended to sow fear.

WASHINGTON – They're meant to be shocking, and they are. The decapitation murders of hostages in Iraq and Saudi Arabia represent an escalation of tactics by Al Qaeda-linked groups in their campaign to sow fear and helplessness among their opponents.

But it may be important to remember that the motivation for these brutal acts is modern. There is nothing Islamic, or traditionally Middle Eastern, about beheadings, say experts. Instead, they represent another adaptation by a cruelly imaginative terrorist movement, the next new thing from people who pioneered the use of hijacked airliners as weapons.

"There's nothing particularly religious about this," says Asma Afsaruddin, associate professor of Arabic and Islamic studies at the University of Notre Dame. "It's absolutely morally reprehensible."

Brutal terror tactics: How nations respond....