Afghan Suicide Bomber Had Bomb Hidden In His Body

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta visits Asadullah Khalid, the head of Afghanistans intelligence agency who was wounded in Afghanistan Dec. 5 and arrived at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for treatment. (Tolo News)

Attacker In Afghanistan Hid Bomb In His Body -- New York Times

KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghanistan’s spy chief, Asadullah Khalid, was taking no chances.

A man had crossed into Afghanistan from Pakistan with important information he said he would only deliver personally to Mr. Khalid, who had just taken over as the head of the National Directorate of Security.

Mr. Khalid’s aides took the visitor to an armored room in the basement of a safe house in Taimani, an upscale neighborhood in the capital city, for a security screening. They were no doubt mindful of what happened in September 2011 when a Taliban peace emissary was allowed to meet with a prominent Afghan peace envoy and then killed him with a bomb hidden in his turban.

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My Comment: How did he detonate it?

What Makes A Suicide Bomber A Suicide Bomber

Hamas' "suicide bombers" during a demonstration in Gaza

What Triggers The Suicide Bomber -- L.A. Times

Foreign occupation, not religious fervor, is the primary motivation behind this form of terrorism.

On Oct. 23, 1983, a suicide bomber drove a truck laden with explosives into the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, killing 241 Marines as they slept. This dark chapter of American history was one of the country's first experiences with suicide attack since the Japanese kamikaze pilots during World War II. The attack, combined with the bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut that April and a sustained terrorism campaign waged by the group that came to be known as Hezbollah, was a major reason President Reagan ordered American forces to leave Lebanon in 1984.

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My Comment: I am somewhat skeptical on the author's observation that ' foreign occupation, not religious fervor", is the primary motivation for suicide bombings. I have been watching and commenting on conflicts and wars for a very long time .... this blog included .... and one thing that I have always noticed is that suicide and martyrdom has somehow become a dominant theme in one religion. Foreign occupation may be a factor in becoming a suicide bomber, but religion is what gives the suicide bomber the "moral and spiritual" reason to conduct himself/herself in this manner .... and the religion that is utilizing this concept to the extreme (in today's world) is Islam.

Inside A School For Suicide Bombers

ROADSIDE AID - U.S. Army Sgt. John Russell provides medical care to a Afghan boy near Forward Operating Base Shank, Logar province, Afghanistan, June 9, 2010. Russell is assigned to the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team. U.S. Army photo by Spc. De'Yonte Mosley

Children Taught To Be Suicide Bombers -- CNN

(CNN) -- The Taliban are running suicide schools inside Pakistan, preparing a generation of boys for atrocities against civilians.

In my documentary on the subject, "Children of the Taliban," I came across the cases of many young men who were committed to giving up their lives for what they believed to be the glory of Islam. Fifteen-year-old Zainullah blew himself up, killing six people. Another boy, Sadiq, killed 22 and Masood killed 28.

Since more than 60 percent of the population of Pakistan is under age 25, it seems there will always be a steady supply of recruits waiting to create havoc in the country.

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My Comment: The CBC has a report on the impact that the Afghan war is having on children. That link is here.

Suicide Bombers Wanted

Aftermath of a suicide attack in Iraq. AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images

Al-Qa'ida 'Running Out Of Suicide Bombers In Iraq' -- The Independent

Foreign would-be militants are heading to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Iraq's Foreign Minister tells Patrick Cockburn.

Al-Qa'ida is struggling to launch frequent suicide attacks in Iraq for the first time because of a shortage of foreign volunteers travelling to the country to carry them out.

Interrogation of prisoners and intercepted messages revealed that local al-Qa'ida commanders are complaining about the lack of foreigners to carry out suicide missions as they had done to devastating effect in the past, Iraq's Foreign Minister, Hoshyar Zebari, said in an interview with The Independent.

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My Comment: There will always be delusional and/or sympathetic individuals who believe that suicide is the way to go. It is good news that they are running out of these individuals, but I suspect that this is only a temporary problem.

A Look At The Cult Of Being A Suicide Bomber

Smoke rises from the scene of a suicide attack in Kabul on 18 August, 2009
(Photos: Reuters/Ahmad Masood)

The Scent of Weakness -- Michael Yon

Dogs have been trained to carry bombs to attack enemies for decades. The Soviets and others have used dogs as low-tech smart bombs. Yet canine platoons likely would rebel if they caught scent they were being duped to die.

Today, more sophisticated people employ men (mostly) to deliver bombs in Afghanistan. Gullible souls are selected, conditioned, trained and deployed. Malleable minds are identified then loaded with psychic software that uses their minds to create a vision. Evil persons of superior intellect identify the raw material—that raw material might be an engineer from a stable family—and trains them to fetch myths.

Suicide attackers have murdered countless thousands of people around the world. They go by various names, such as Kamikaze, Black Tiger, and Martyr.

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My Comment: Another indispensable read on the Afghan front lines from Michael Yon.

Latest Pakistan Attack Has New Twist: Women Jihadists

Police and rescue workers carry the body of a dead policeman from the Manawa police-training center after it was attacked by gunmen in Lahore, Pakistan. Reuters

From Time Magazine:

"They were dressed in black, all black," says Inam Mansoor, 33, an ambulance driver who entered a military compound in the Pakistani city of Lahore to recover people wounded in a new wave of militant attacks that killed 37 people on Thursday. "They were carrying guns and backpacks. They had commando-style scarves wrapped around their heads." But if such attacks have lately become an almost daily occurrence as Pakistan's army prepares a new offensive against the Taliban in Waziristan, what was remarkable in Lahore was that three of the attackers apparently were women. Police commandos who spoke to TIME at the scene made the claim, which was later confirmed by Interior Minister Rehman Malik.

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My Comment: As I said in a previous post today, some of Islam's most fiercest fighters are women .... religion or not.

What Makes A Suicide Bomber

Experts: Many Young Muslim Terrorists Spurred By Humiliation -- CNN

CNN -- At first, no one seemed to notice the young man who walked into the hotel lobby at around 7:45 that Friday morning.

He wore a baseball cap, a backpack and dragged a wheeled suitcase behind him. He casually checked his watch as he calmly walked toward a hotel restaurant filled with Western business executives.

A hotel security camera caught what happened next. In a matter of moments, the lobby was engulfed in billowing white smoke and flying debris.

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My Comment: Humiliation and mistreatment happens in many places of the world .... but this does not drive teenagers and young men in those countries to commit suicide.

The one consistent factor for suicide bombers has always been their faith. Martyrdom, jihad, and the indoctrination of how to view unbelievers has been that common tread which Islamic radicals have consistently and very effective exploited to make these young men and boys do the unthinkable.

There are (of course) other factors involved .... but radical Islamic thinking and indoctrination has been that one consistent and repetitive marker in all of these cases.

Face To Face With The Women Suicide Bombers

Chilling fanaticisms: Manal Saba'na, 22, who recruited her
two best friends to become suicide bombers

From The Daily Mail:

Some are raped, others ruthlessly brainwashed. In this exclusive dispatch, KEVIN TOOLIS meets the women who become Al Qaeda's human bombs

Dressed from head-to-toe in black, seemingly invisible and blending in with the shimmering heat of the Middle East, she is the perfect weapon: the female suicide bomber.

There is no real defence against her. In traditional Arab society it is haram - forbidden - for a man to shake hands never mind search a strange woman, even at a security checkpoint.

In the latest spate of deadly attacks across Iraq, Al Qaeda-style insurgents have turned to women to deliver their murderous message, killing at least 445 people and injuring thousands over the past two years.

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My Comment: This is what happens when the monsters are let loose.