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The past three years saw more suicide attacks than the last quar ter century. Most of them were religiously motivated. Repeated suicide ac tions show that massive counterforce alone does not diminish the frequency or intensity of suicide attack. Like pounding mercury with a hammer, this sort of top-heavy counterstrategy only seems to generate more varied and insidious forms of suicide terrorism. Even with many top AI Qaeda leaders now dead or in custody, the transnational jihadist fraternity is transforming into a hydra-headed network more difficult to fight than before. Poverty and lack of education per se are not root causes of suicide terror ism. Nor do Muslims who have expressed support for martyr actions and trust in Osama bin Laden or the late Hamas leader Sheikh Yassin as a rule hate democratic freedoms or Western culture, although many of these Mus lims do despise U.S. foreign policy, especially in the Middle East. Rising aspi rations followed by dwindling expectations, particularly regarding civil liberties, are critical factors in generating support for suicide terrorism.