But that's just it.. these suicide bombers are heros, not martyrs. They are praised for their heroic action and then forgotten pretty quickly. I think that most martyrs are believed to be among the religious "chosen" and the followers believe that they will be closer to their god if they carry out the prophecy of their martyrs.

But I'm having trouble thinking of many significant martyrs that drive people for more than 5 years. Jesus is an exception. And it's hard to believe that Jesus as a man ever told anyone to kill and rape millions in his name, but sometimes a martyr is used for other motives.

Still, Jesus seems to be a pretty rare case. Destroy the leader of this terrorist group (binLaden or whomever) and his people may rally around him for a while, but as long as an equally strong leader doesn't step in, the followers will dwindle. Usually there is not a clear replacement leader, which causes a battle for power, and creates doubt in the minds of the followers.

Someone please step in with other examples of long-standing martyrs.

-Ryan.