Some analysts believe that "* * * countries" frequently create kidnappings for three main purposes.
First, kidnapping and ransom demand have become an important source of income for some extremist organizations such as the "state" and "it is easy to get money". Jozna Larghi, a UN anti-terrorism expert, estimated in June last year165438+1October that the total ransom for hostage-taking in "* * * countries" is expected to be between 35 million and 40 million dollars in one year.
It is also reported that hostage-taking has become an "industry" in some areas where extremist organizations are active in the Middle East. Scott Stewart, deputy director of tactical analysis of Stratfor, an American security think tank, said that hostages have become "commodities" in the eyes of some extremist organizations, and some extremist armed men will "trade or sell" to other organizations after kidnapping hostages.
Second, another purpose of kidnapping and killing hostages by extremist organizations is to create media exposure and attract extremist supporters.
Some anti-terrorism experts believe that "* * * countries" pay more attention to showing off their force than obtaining ransom. Gao, a senior researcher at the Japan Middle East Research Association, believes that "* * * countries" continue to show off their force to gain more attention, and then get more money and materials from supporters of extremist organizations, and even attract supporters of other extremist organizations to support "* * * countries".
Paul Valdman, an American research scholar, believes that * * * countries want the same thing as Al Qaeda, just to gain attention and so-called "legitimacy". Compared with the terrorist attacks caused by Al Qaeda in the world, * * * countries seem to have found a simpler way to achieve the same goal: kidnapping hostages and showing violence through social media.
Third, create panic and affect the foreign policy of the target country. Valdman believes that "* * * countries" create "fear and disgust" in the target countries by showing off violence, which makes people's fear of violence go beyond rational evaluation and then affects their foreign policy. Valdman published an article in * * * saying: "As long as there is a video of the extremely cruel execution of hostages thousands of miles away, it will prompt Americans to reconsider their foreign policy."
This was particularly evident in the Japanese hostage incident earlier this year. In this incident, * * countries criticized Japan's participation in "international anti-terrorism" activities, saying that "it is a foolish decision for Japan to spend 200 million US dollars to crack down on * * * national" organizations ". The kidnapping of Japanese hostages by "* * * countries" and the subsequent execution of Japanese hostages really caused a debate about Japan's foreign policy in Japan.
Some experts said that the practice of "* * * countries" to achieve political goals through violent activities is also "playing with fire", and acts such as beheading hostages will actually make some countries take tougher anti-terrorism measures.