Spying is only valid when the person is already involved in criminal activities . (Hes attacking me because he wants to kill me.) Although Bin Laden has complained that Americans have completely misunderstood the reason behind the 9/11 attacks, correspondent inference theory postulates that hes not going to convince people. He believes, correctly I think, that there an effective way to deter suicide terrorism is to cut off those who send them (and as we see, this is very difficult, as such action often motivates more to the cause), and that the causes of suicide terrorists must be made worse off after the terrorism than it was before, and potential suicide terrorists must see it making their cause worse. Shall we excuse ourselves and say this is merely human nature, something we evolved as and therefore is thrust upon us? Yet, they continue to kill. And the more our own cognitive biases cloud that understanding, the more we mischaracterize the threat and make bad security trade-offs.