Female Suicide Bombers Pose A New Threat
From Forbes, "As more women perpetrate successful suicide attacks worldwide, the burden has increased on governments to craft innovative strategies to mitigate a threat that is both malleable and unpredictable."
Marc, You are light years ahead of these folks ! The article only came out today...did you draft it or what :cool:
I certainly hope your paycheck matches your intellect and keen sense of observation :rolleyes:
Quote:
Women have always played an important role in violent jihadist circles, providing support, emotional preparation and encouragement to male terrorists. However, in recent years women have begun to themselves serve as suicide bombers, posing major challenges for international counter-terrorism efforts.
These women are driven by a variety of motivations, usually based on the adoption of a "collective identity" -- religion and community "stardom" are less significant motivators. Countering the threat will require non-traditional counter-terror strategies, including: involving more women in counter-terror roles, increasing community outreach and providing Muslim women with alternative means of self-expression and roles in the public sphere.
Recent arrests of Muslim women across Europe indicate a growing movement there towards violent jihad. Most of the women detained for terrorist offenses have subsequently been tried and convicted of supporting global jihadist movements:
--Netherlands. A Dutch-Moroccan woman named Bouchra El Hor is currently standing trial in London for writing a letter to her husband encouraging him to pursue martyrdom. In the letter, she said, "You and I have to separate for the sake of Allah."
--Switzerland. A Swiss-based Muslim woman of Belgian-Moroccan descent, Malika Al-Aroud, was charged in June with managing a terrorist Web site, al-minbar.sos, which displayed beheadings, kidnappings and extolled violent jihad. Al-Aroud has publicly declared her love for bin Laden and the Taliban's spiritual guide, Mullah Mohammed Omar.
--United Kingdom. Other women likely to stand trial in the United Kingdom include sisters Yeshiembet Girma and Muembembet Girma, who are accused of helping the male jihadists involved in the July 21, 2005 attempted bombings escape; Samina Malik, a woman from West London accused of possessing information likely to be useful to a terrorist; and Mehreen Haji, who with her husband is suspected of terrorism fundraising.
Re: Women suicide bombers
@davidbfpo
I suspect the London event you are referring to is this one;
http://www.iiss.org/conferences/coun...ing-and-europe
Held at IISS in March 2007. The link above has some of the papers and presentations; did you also attend?
I believe the Israeli academic you are referring to is Yoram Schweitzer. He has a website here: http://www.labat.co.il/
GH
An understanding of Islamic Jihad(in the AQ sense)
Since the initial invasion of Iraq, we’ve seen a significant increase in suicide bombings. Prior to our invasion, this tactic was limited to very insignificant miscreants. Some claim that the advance of the suicide bomber is the primary question of our time.
Out of whatever desperation, what drives a man (or woman) to engage in such an activity- intentional suicide with the direct results of destroying civilians? Outside of military engagements(Japanese kamikazes and Tamil Tigers) and suburban recluses (Columbine), this venture is unheard of.
As a target of suicide bombers, I always questioned their decision making process. What made them so desperate?
Is it simply the way of the Arabs/Muslims- a tendacy towards violence? Is it a neglected childhood? Is it sexual repression? Is it rejection from love? Is it the defunct repressions from post-colonialism? Is it desperation out of a sense of or lack of manliness or Thurmos as defined by the Greeks?
What say you?
One thing you might look at also
Quote:
Originally Posted by
MikeF
Since the initial invasion of Iraq, we’ve seen a significant increase in suicide bombings. Prior to our invasion, this tactic was limited to very insignificant miscreants. Some claim that the advance of the suicide bomber is the primary question of our time.
Out of whatever desperation, what drives a man (or woman) to engage in such an activity- intentional suicide with the direct results of destroying civilians? Outside of military engagements(Japanese kamikazes and Tamil Tigers) and suburban recluses (Columbine), this venture is unheard of.
As a target of suicide bombers, I always questioned their decision making process. What made them so desperate?
Is it simply the way of the Arabs/Muslims- a tendacy towards violence? Is it a neglected childhood? Is it sexual repression? Is it rejection from love? Is it the defunct repressions from post-colonialism? Is it desperation out of a sense of or lack of manliness or Thurmos as defined by the Greeks?
What say you?
Is the fact that there may not be quite as much distance between the western and other cultures in this particular arena.
When looking at this in the past I got to looking at how common suicides or attempted suicides are even here. Now generally here it is a more private affair but that doesn't necessarily differentiate it. Imagine if someone were to be focusing on those here most likely to attempt it and were to
1- provide them with a assurance that they won't fail in their attempt
2- Place a nugget of purpose behind why its ok to do it(easy enough considering the already scewed state of mind)
3- Possibly offer incentives such as money for those they leave behind in order to get past that last piece of guilt
Just another way to look at it
Israeli strategy and suicide bombing
Someone has re-discovered an old Isreali article: http://entitledtoanopinion.wordpress...-about-israel/
and linked it via the Kings of War website, with a comment as a guide to the current campaign in Gaza: http://kingsofwar.wordpress.com/
Not seen the data before and needs a lengthy read, probably in hard copy and undoubtedly controversial. I will copy this thread to the current Gaza thread.
davidbfpo
The making of a suicide bomber
An article from 2004 (pre-dating this thread) and found today, appears to be a good summary: http://www.newscientist.com/article/...er.html?page=1
davidbfpo