The Human Use of Human Beings: A Brief History of Suicide Bombing

A nice little overview of this rather interesting phenomena of suicide bombing. It's a very complex situation and cannot be reduced to simplistic solutions. All one can do is to keep an open mind, not easy to do when every body else around you - both on your side and their side has either lost their minds and/or have a closed mind. The lesson here is to stay flexible, resolute and to be brutal about it a bit. And one more thing, don't muck around in foreign adventures. The USA hasn't learnt from history. Take the uk. In the past 3 centuries, we buggered around the world. Leaving our dead in most corners of the world. We got terrorism and and and millions of our young men dead around the world. For what? 

The Human Use of Human Beings: A Brief History of Suicide Bombing | Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective
http://origins.osu.edu/article/human-use-human-beings-brief-history-suicide-bombing

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On February 1, 2013, a suicide bomber killed himself and a security guard at America’s embassy in Ankara, Turkey. This attack, carried out more than a decade after 9/11, reveals a great deal about the phenomenon we have come to know as suicide bombing.

First, a radical left-wing group with a vaguely Marxist agenda (The Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party in Turkey) claimed responsibility, demonstrating that suicide bombing is not the exclusive domain of religious fanatics.

Second, the bomber detonated his explosives before he had the opportunity to enter the embassy complex. This shows that individual initiative and fallibility are important aspects of the organizational process of suicide bombing—a process that requires expertise and practice to be truly effective.

Finally, the attack confirms that suicide bombing will continue to be a dangerous security nuisance for the foreseeable future.

Meet the Ex-Jihadis

This is very interesting, to find out why young British Muslims go rogue. Very long, but very interesting, go read the full thing.

More on Pape's Suicide Bombing disaster

For those who quote Pape's work on Suicide bombing, this article might be of use. Pape responded here. And yet, he did not respond to the crucial bit, that the data simply does not represent what Pape is claiming. QED. Thanks to the Monkey Cage.

Technorati Tags: Suicide Bombing,Terrorism

Design, Inference, and the Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism

A good post here which checks the validity of Pape' theory about Suicide Bombing and find's it seriously wanting.

Technorati Tags: Suicide Bombing,Terrorism,Statistics

Suicide Bomber wants his baby on his suicide mission

Oh! that's so nice of him to offer, what else but a suicide bomber wanting to take his wife and baby son along on the same flight which he wanted to blow up. Now that's such a nice family man for you, no?

A man accused of plotting bomb attacks on passenger jets wanted to obtain a
passport for his baby son, a court has been told. The court was told that a
police recording device allegedly captured Mr Ali discussing the possibility of
taking wives and children on a suicide mission. Speaking to co-defendant
Umar Islam, he allegedly said: "Should I take my lot on? I know my wife wouldn't
agree to it, but..."

And I love his choice of bed time stories for his baby son.

The jury also heard that several books advocating jihad and martyrdom were
found in a child's cot in Mr Ali's bedroom.

All this to be taken with a grain of piquant salt!!!

Robert Fisk: The cult of the suicide bomber

Quite an interesting article here. Where Robert Fisk talks about the cult of the suicide bombers in Lebanon. If I understood him correctly, there is a vast surge of young Muslim men who are ready to go about blowing themselves up, mainly targeting other muslims (some non-muslims, Americans and Brits are also caught up but that seems to be incidental...). And also, if I understood his reasoning, it is because USA/UK attacked Iraq and Afghanistan.

That might very well be the case. But here's something for you to chew upon. If the Americans and British withdraw from Iraq and Afghanistan, will this genie go back into the lamp? Nope. So what now? What exactly can be done to address this problem? I look forward to Fisk's next book for the answer :)

All this to be taken with a grain of piquant salt!!!

Suicide Bombers: Warriors of the Middle Class

A very interesting article here. Read the discussion over my previous post on suicide bombers here. I quote:

We tend to imagine suicide bombers as hardened, bloodthirsty killers. But most people aren’t nearly as ready to commit violence as you think. It’s actually the quiet, docile members of the middle class who make the best human explosive devices. And that’s what makes this weapon of mass murder so hard to stop.....
But suicide bombers are different. They usually face their victims alone. They neither threaten their enemies nor try to make them break down emotionally. The secret of their tactic is not to perform it as violence at all, until the very last second when they detonate the bomb. The tactical advantage of the suicide bomber is to approach as if nothing unusual were happening. There is no confrontational tension because the bomber acts as if there is no confrontation.
Clandestine, confrontation-avoiding violence such as suicide bombing is a fourth pathway around confrontational tension. It succeeds only because the attacker is good at pretending that he or she is not threatening at all. People accustomed to the typical macho forms of violence are not good at this; gang members would make lousy suicide bombers. But mild-mannered middle-class people are ideal for it. Since they are not confrontational by nature, they do not have to control a blustering or threatening demeanor that would warn their victims. Self-directed introverts, they do not need to hear cheering as they stalk their prey. Middle-class culture is especially accommodative, adept at maintaining a smooth surface of conventionality. Whatever our private feelings, we learn not to express them on the job, in social situations, or in public. This is good training for carrying a bomb under one’s clothing until the target is so close that massive damage is certain.
Suicide bombing, in other words, is not just a matter of motivation; it is primarily a matter of technique. Violent political movements may embrace it for ideological purposes, but they use it mainly for a very simple reason: It works.

All this to be taken with a grain of piquant salt!!!

If true, the guarantee against a Taliban armed with a nuclear weapon is NOT a comprehensive one!

This is a note from B Raman, an ex-spook in the Indian external intelligence service. If this is indeed the case, then the sole guarantee against the country turning taliban and using the nuclear weapons and missiles, the Pakistani Army, has worms inside. I would be afraid, very afraid not.

It is not that far fetched, quite a lot of the tens of assassination attempts on General Musharraf were actually generated inside and by the army corps. So the rumour that it was an Pushtoon Army officer itself is quite possible and probable.

The fact that all that stands between us and nuclear armed fundamentalists is a rather decrepit, corrupt and dictatorial army is deeply worrying. I had a message "never have only option" dinned into me. The fact that the only other option to protect the Pakistani nuclear missile/bombs is Nawaz Sharif/Benazir Bhutto or physically go in to own the country is too troublesome to even consider.

But this is spook talk, be wary of taking this for granted.

Pakistan's newest threat: Army officer turns suicide bomber

B Raman | September 14, 2007 | 12:17 IST

According to reliable sources in the local police, a Pashtun army officer belonging to the elite Special Services Group, whose younger sister was reportedly among the 300 girls killed during the Pakistan Army's commando raid on the Lal Masjid in Islamabad between July 10 and 13, blew himself up during dinner at the SSG's headquarters mess at Tarbela Ghazi, 100 km south of Islamabad, on the night of September 13, killing 19 other officers.

The incident coincided with United States Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte's visit to Kabul and Islamabad for talks with leaders and officials of the two governments.

According to the same sources, the Pashtun army officer belonged to South Waziristan, but Tarbela Ghazi is not located in the tribal belt. The SSG, to which General Pervez Musharraf belonged, was specially trained by the US Special Forces for covert operations and for counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency duties.

The usually well-informed News of Pakistan reported as follows on September 14: 'The area where the incident occurred is the headquarters of the Special Services Group also known as SSG and Special Operation Task Force of the Pakistan Army. Sources said the blast was so powerful that it destroyed the Officers Mess. There are also reports that a company known as Karar of the SSG based in the area had taken part in the operation on Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa in Islamabad where hundreds of religious students, including religious school administrator, Maulana Abdur Rashid Ghazi, were killed. ...There were rumours that CIA personnel were also present in the area where the blast occurred.'

According to the police sources, a training team of the Central Intelligence Agency and a team of technical intelligence personnel of the US National Security Agency were also stationed at Tarbela Ghazi. The NSA personnel were reportedly running a monitoring station to intercept communications of Al Qaeda and the neo-Taliban.

While there are no reports of any American casualties, there have been rumours that the NSA's monitoring station was badly damaged. It is not clear whether it was damaged by the impact of the explosion inside the officers' mess or by a separate explosion.

Pakistani army sources initially projected the incident as due to the explosion of a cooking gas cylinder. Subsequently, they said it was caused by a remote-controlled improvised explosive device and then that it was caused by an unidentified suicide bomber, who drove a vehicle filled with explosives into the mess at dinner time.

They have not so far admitted that it was actually caused by a Pashtun officer of the SSG itself and not an outsider. No other details are available so far.

The daring attack came two days after another attack of suicide terrorism in which at least 17 people, including three security forces personnel, were killed and 16 others injured when a 15-year-old Mehsud suicide bomber blew himself up in a passenger van at Bannu Adda in Dera Ismail Khan district of the North-West Frontier Province on September 11.

The Pakistan army has not been able to re-establish its writ over South and North Waziristan, where the Mehsuds and the Uzbeks supporting them have been holding in custody 240 members of the security forces captured by them and have been repeatedly attacking posts of the army and the Frontier Corps. Repeated use of helicopter gunships by the army has not had any impact on the various sub-tribes of Pashtuns, who have been attacking the security forces almost daily.

All this to be taken with a grain of piquant salt!!!

Britain might seek to try IDF officer

Now this is an interesting conundrum. Here we are, a British citizen, shot in disputed territory, under occupation forces of another state. No legal connection whatsoever other than a nebulous connection within the UN auspices. Israel has not signed the ICC treaty (nor will it). Its not within the Council of Europe. One can quibble over the evidence, but as can be seen, both UK and Israel agree that there is a case, the debate is over whether the evidence is sufficient to convict Capt Hib? Now I am wondering if this situation was reversed, what would the UK do? for example, in the case of Ian Henderson? The Bahraini government is its usual other worldly self and would never do anything as crazy like actually asking Henderson to be tried!. This is an interesting situation indeed.

Hmmm, just had another thought. I wonder if Israel can sue the UK for not being careful with its citizens? Or sue the British citizens who were the suppliers or ideologues who got these buggers to go do suicide bombing in Israel? Ironical, eh?
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Britain might seek to try IDF officer
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Britain has reiterated its demand that Israel try an IDF captain accused of shooting British filmmaker James Miller to death in the Gaza Strip four years ago.

In light of new evidence resulting from a Scotland Yard inquiry into Miller's death, which indicates that the bullet that killed Miller was shot from an IDF armed personnel carrier, officials in the UK have given the state until Tuesday to respond to their demand that Capt. Hib al-Heib stand trial for murder, the Times reported Sunday.

The new evidence is based on an analysis of video and audio recordings of the shooting, which occurred in May 2003 while Miller was making a documentary about children in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. His colleague, Saira Shah, incorporated the story of his demise into the film Death in Gaza, garnering a host of awards.

Should Israel not agree to try Heib, the Times said, the UK would consider prosecuting Heib there. The article did not state whether British officials would attempt to have Heib extradited or try him in absentia.

Israel has maintained that while there was ground to suspect that Heib was responsible for Miller's death, the evidence at hand was insufficient to prove the allegation.

The Times quoted Miller's brother John saying he believed that a trial in Britain would more likely lead to a conviction than one in Israel. John Miller denigrated what he called "years of indifference from [the British] government and rebuff, lies, and cheating from the Israeli government."

Miller's widow, Sophy, however, said she expected the new evidence to lead to Heib's conviction in an Israeli court.

Israel's Foreign Ministry said that it was the purview of the Justice Ministry and the IDF Spokesman's Office to respond to the British demand. The IDF has not yet issued a statement.

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Update: The Israeli's have been in touch with the British Government asking for more information.

Iraq crowned Asian Cup champions

Iraq crowned Asian Cup champions - Times Online

Scanning the reaction across Iraq, it leads me to think that there is a hope of the country holding together if the entire country can celebrate this sporting victory. But to hang a full national ethos on a football team is weak, it would be like USA relying on the Harlem Globetrotters or the Bulls to create a country ethos. Still, it is good to read about the victory despite some of the monstrous terrorists who went after the Iraqi's who were celebrating the semi final win and killed about 50 of them.

Few Muslims 'back suicide bombs'

BBC NEWS Americas Few Muslims 'back suicide bombs'

Good news indeed, this should help in further reducing the supply of terrorists as well as choke off the supply chain and infrastructural support. But caution is still suggested, it doesnt take that much to create a terrorist event, not people not resources!