Those of us raised on the values of contemporary western civilization are having a lot of trouble understanding how a well-educated woman in her twenties can strap a high-explosive charge to her body and blow herself up in order to kill innocent people, including children, as well as occupying solders. To us, it just doesn't compute; staying alive is the most important thing. For many of us, it is the only thing.

Human history, however, contains numerous tales of warriors who give up their lives for the good of their tribe or nation, and they are praised and considered heroes for making the ultimate sacrifice for a greater cause.

In Roman literature, the name Horatio stands out as an example of courage and the willingness to give up one's life for one's city. Horatio, you will recall, stood on the last remaining bridge over the Tiber river, holding off the Etruscans while the Romans hacked away on the bridge from their side. The bridge eventually fell and carried Horatio into the waters beneath

The most profound example of the suicide bomber in my estimation is Samson, the biblical hero, reputed to be the strongest man that ever lived. His deeds fighting the Philistines who ruled Canaan reminds one of the Celtic hero Cuculian, who could also slay hundreds of men in a single fight.

As the story goes, Samson took Delilah, a Philistine woman, to be his mistress, and after a great deal of cajoling and nagging, she talked Samson into revealing the secret of his strength, which was his long hair. While Samson slept, Delilah had his hair cut off, after which the Philistines were able to capture and blind him. Some time later, the Philistines were offering a sacrifice to their god Dagon, a ceremony we are told was accompanied with much merrymaking, and demanded that Samson be brought to the party for entertainment. He was placed between two pillars of the temple where he was mocked by all the lords and ladies of the Philistines. With the help of an attendant, he put his arms on the pillars supporting the temple and prayed to God to give him strength just one more time. His prayer was answered and Samson pulled down the entire structure, killing thousands of people along with himself.

He was buried by the Hebrews as a great hero.

A modern illustration: the 1996 movie Independence Day, in which the alcoholic pilot Russell Casse flies his jet into the heart of the invaders' space ship, thus saving the United States and the world by sacrificing his own life to kill the enemy.

We regard these suicide bombers as heroic and their grisly deeds commendable because they were on our side. We can imagine how much they must have loved their nation and its people. We sing their courage in the face of certain death, and it does require immense courage to choose death as the price of striking the enemy.

Cruel and barbaric as it may seem to us, the compatriots of the suicide bombers regard them the same way as we regard our heroes. Having no tanks, bombers or missiles with which to fight back, they have done all they can to inflict death and suffering on an enemy that they blame for their oppression.

We shouldn't expect them to stop anytime soon.