Ian Buruma uses the Toulouse murderer, Mohammed Merah, as jumping-off point to profile the psychology of mass murder:
Merah grew up as a petty criminal with no interest in religion. The appeal of Islamist extremism may have been its glorification of violence more than any religious content. He enjoyed watching jihadist videos of beheadings. He also tried to join the French army and the Foreign Legion. The army turned him down because of his criminal record. If the French wouldn’t have him, he would join the holy warriors: anything to give him a sense of power and an excuse to indulge his violent impulses.
Many young men are drawn to the fantasy of violence; far fewer feel the need to act it out. Ideology can serve as an excuse or justification, but it is rarely the main source of individual acts of brutality. Murder sprees are more often than not a form of personal revenge – losers wishing to blow up the world around them, because they feel humiliated or rejected, whether socially, professionally, or sexually.
(Photo: Flowers and candles lay on the ground in front of the 'Ozar Hatorah' Jewish school wall on March 23, 2012 in Toulouse, southwestern France, where four people (three of them children), were killed and one seriously wounded by self-proclaimed Islamic extremist Mohamed Merah, shot dead on March 22 by RAID special forces unit. By Remy Gabalda/AFP/Getty Images)
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