Why, for some, rebellion turns to violence

Young, well-educated, and raised with all the comforts of Western society, they had lives that shone with promise and opportunity. But they chose a path of terrible violence, plotting to kill innocent people to protest the injustice they saw in the world.

It could be a description of the 17 men and youths awaiting trial in Canada on terrorism charges, including an alleged plan to storm Parliament and behead the prime minister.

But it also describes the Weathermen radicals of 1970; the Columbine school shooters of 1999; and countless other young lives wasted in violence. While Canadians struggle to understand how a "jihad generation" could emerge from Toronto's peaceful suburbs, experts say the roots of such violence go far deeper than Muslim extremism.

Those who incline toward aggression are often drawn to conflicts that hit closest to home, notes James Garbarino, author of "Lost Boys: Why Our Sons Turn Violent and How We Can Save Them." Young Montanans, for example, might find common cause with survivalist militia, while the IRA could be a pull for young people in Northern Ireland.

And, Mr. Garbarino adds, drawing a parallel between the grievances of the Columbine shooters and those of the Toronto suspects, "Just because your objective facts of life are privileged doesn't mean you don't feel oppressed."

Portraits are beginning to emerge of the suspects, all but two of whom are 25 years old or younger. Newspaper accounts have painted a picture of normal young adults, mostly Canadian citizens with no criminal records: a computer programmer; a university student and father of an 8-month-old daughter; an aspiring mechanic; a star soccer player.

The suburban comfort of their lives that has so confounded the Canadian public may have helped them develop a detailed terrorist plan, as officials charge. Their middle-class backgrounds would have given them the time and money - and access to the Internet - to pursue such plans.

"They have the same impulse, but the poor don't have the time and luxury to sit around and think up these ideas. The rich kids, they have grown up as leaders," says Howard Bloom, author of "The Lucifer Principle: A Scientific Expedition into the Forces of History."

"Osama bin Laden was probably the richest kid of his generation on the planet," Mr. Bloom notes.

Bloom says rebellion and violence are characteristic of adolescents throughout the animal world, and thinks people shouldn't be so surprised when they hit home. "War has been with us as long as there has been life," Bloom says. "War once a generation is our default mode."

War overseas apparently became a huge concern for the suspects. Like most adolescents, the young men were searching for an identity and higher purpose. Zakaria Amara, who is 20, is believed to have posted poems on a website in November 2001, expressing this theme:

"Please someone find me
I want to find the light
but no one is there to guide me
Open the door someone give me its key
My eyes were closed but now I can see
Please guide me there I want to be free."

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