Terrorism has become an integral part of warfare and its most spectacular manifestations are seen in the Islamic world. Osama bin Laden is only the most famous of the Sunni and Shi‘ite leaders fighting Judeo-Christian hegemony enforced by the US and its allies. All major religions admit that violence in any form may be used to resist and defeat an oppressor. Such a doctrine forms the backbone of terrorist ideologies and armed resistance struggles. Both the al-Qaeda-led insurrections and the Iranian revolutionary programme are inspired by it.
