While waiting at the barber shop (1.5 hrs!), I ran across an old copy of Discover magazine. The October 2003 edition had an article discussing suicide terrorism . After reading it, it really changed how I thought about suicide terrorists and how we should deal with them. It also made me wonder what the guys who are dealing with this sort of thing on the front lines are thinking.

I say find everyone in america that wants to kill themselves, tie a nuke to em and send em to different countries

We train with suicide terrorist scenarios. Disturbing training: unless you are lucky or the terrorist is an absolute idiot, it is nearly a given that the first line of defense is going to be fragged. The mission is to make sure they don't get past the first line of defense.

At a checkpoint, as soon as they realize they are discovered, they push the button so they can at least claim a couple lives. They don't mind, because they think they are going to be greatly rewarded in the afterlife. Nasty situation.

- Bomb…James Bomb

Last edited: Tuesday, January 18, 2005 at 7:26:39 AM

Yah, I've got that edition of the magazine. It's not a pleasant thought. Too bad chemical sniffers don't work well enough at a distance yet to pick them out before they hit the checkpoints. Where's my handy Detect Explosives spell written down at?? :'(

Discover,great magazine. ;)

That was a little shocking,I have always thought that suicide bombers were hopeless idiots.

Very interesting...

Your right Jb....
My Brother fought in the Gulf war and he was on the front lines....
They fight for thier God Ala (I think that's how you spell it) and this is a God of war...
the belief is if you give your life for Ala by means of battle than yes they are to be rewarded
Greatly when they go to their heaven...
suicide bombers are jus hoping to get to the treasures that await them in heaven...
sooo.....Stopping them with Peace it will never happen....they are not people of peace they are a
people of war....They beleave that America is the evil and that they must stop us no matter
what....and they are giving it their best shot...the only way we can stop them is to blow them off the face
of the earth....and this is my opinion...jusgrl p.s.. And by the way because of that Gulf War my brother was hit by chemical
weapons and he now has MS...The army just has admitted to it..and he now recieves compansation for it....He fought for
years trying to get them to admit that chemical weapons had been used...Thank God....they now admit to it..

I think it does paint a different picture of the type of person we're dealing with when it comes to suicide terrorists. I think the article bears out the difference between Palestinians and Iraqis too.

Since Arabic uses a different alphabet than we do, spelling Arabic words in English is a variable process, but the typical spelling is Allah. I know a few words, and can count up to 19 (I keep forgetting what 20 is - *sigh*).

^LOL.........

Rabban, the root of suicide bombings is a fundamental failure to understand reality. This misunderstanding then leaves the door wide open for a flawed philosophy which, when taken to its logical extreme, results in death.

Suicide bombers deserve the death that they bring upon themselves. To the extent that others make the same fundamental mistake as the bombers, they deserve the partial death it brings.

The fundamental mistake is believing that there is a life other than the one you live here on earth. The belief that life is precious is the only thing that can save us as a race.

@Blind Cide: ?
2 things:
1. Suicide Bombers bring death upon more than just themselves. Who cares if the bomber deserves death, what of the people around the bomber?
2. As far as "Life after Death" being a "flawed philosophy"......heh.....prove it! (Well, that should stir the pot a little.)

Besides, even if they didn't believe in life after death, there would still be suicide bombers if they felt their actions would bring honor to the family name.

- Bomb…James Bomb

@JB

1. They should learn from the suicide bomber's mistake and point it out to anyone who will listen so that potential bombers are "nipped in the bud". (from the wisdom of Barney Fife)

2. Existence exists. Reality is my arbiter. Living this life according to rules derived from fairy tales is a fool's folly.

It doesn't sound like Blind Cide read the article I posted.

It bascially states that suicide bombers are economically and educationally better off than the majority of people they present and that they use their extreme tactic because they believe its the only thing that will affect the kind of change they desire. That change isn't necessarily the creation of a religious theocracy.

That's why I said it seems to denote a difference between Palestinians and Iraqis. The Palestinians who are using this weapon are in a situation where open fighting just isn't going to work for them while the Iraqi's are able to fight. The action we're seeing in Iraq is guerrilla warfare while Israel is experiencing the suicide bombers.

To say they're doing it just to get to the 77 virgins doesn't seem to be correct anymore.

I read the article Rabban. We just have very different ways of understanding the same thing.