Suicide bombers always seem to be such nice people

Serial killers always turn out to be those nice, quiet, unassuming people who live next door. Once unmasked, the reaction from their neighbours is is one of shock and surprise:

"He seemed like such a nice man, he always used to help me bring my shopping in etc.. ", is a typical reaction.

And it's the same with suicide bombers, except that it's the parents who appear to be taken by surprise. ‘My son is innocent, his only aim is to be a doctor’, was the reaction of the Father of one of the alleged bombers. It seems that the parents of terrorists lead such sheltered lives, they have no idea of what their children are up to.

It's the flip side of what parents in the west experience, who think their children are keeping out of trouble, when they're really out partying and taking drugs.

In the West, teenage rebellion is about getting stoned, and sleeping with your friends, but amongst the Islamists, it has a far more sinister and violent connotation.