NYT: Experts Fear Suicide Bomb Is Spreading Into the West

[DeepModem Mom]

Experts Fear Suicide Bomb Is Spreading Into the West
By DOUGLAS JEHL
Published: July 13, 2005


WASHINGTON, July 12 - A suicide bombing may be the ultimate act of devotion, and so it also represents the ultimate security nightmare: an attack in which the one essential ingredient is not training or technology but commitment.

It is a tactic that has proved so effective in cities like Beirut, Jerusalem and Baghdad that it would only be a matter of time, security experts have warned, before it would migrate to other parts of the world.

In London, that moment may have arrived with the police announcement that one bomber had died in the wreckage and property belonging to three others had been found at the locations of the other blasts.

If the attacks in London do prove to have been suicide attacks, the outlines of life could change, with new fears of copycat attacks and a new awareness of the impotence of measures like immigration checks and public address announcements urging a lookout for suspicious parcels.

"A suicide attacker could be anyone," said Daniel Benjamin, a former Clinton administration official and terrorism expert who is the author of "The Next Attack," due to be published this fall. "He doesn't have to be trained, just indoctrinated. There's no profile; that's what makes it so hard to defend against."...


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/13/international/europe/13suicide.html?oref=login

[meganmonkey]

1. It's a miracle it hasn't started to happen sooner, AFAIC

I have often wondered about that. That is when the 'terror' will really reach our shores.

:scared:

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

2. Raise everybody as atheists. Then no one will blow themselves up. (nt)

[trotsky]

3. Kind of hard to promise eternal reward

if there's no afterlife! Of course if everyone was raised atheists you wouldn't have the religious conflict in the first place...

[GTS]

4. Hey, most of the attacks are not motivated by religious reasons

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

8. You obviously haven't seen that little diatribe from the killer of the

Dutch director.

Also: what part of "72 virgins in Heaven" and "infidels" don't you understand?

[HEyHEY]

14. No, but religion is the method used to justify them

It also allows people to gain courage beleiving they will be rewarded in heaven.

[trotsky]

17. Hey - what?

One of bin Laden's primary beefs with the US was the stationing of our troops on HOLY LAND.

You can't have a holy land without religious reasons.

Another item: Israel exists primarily because the Jews believe that land is promised to them by God. The fight over Israeli territory is one of the primary motivations for terrorism today. Are you going to tell me that believing God promised you a parcel of land isn't a religious reason?

[HEyHEY]

19. No, it's a legally binding agreement!

[donco6]

27. They sure seem to be to me. eom

[Beware the Beast Man]

6. If religion did not exist, mankind would find new, exciting reasons

to kill each other.

Put that in your devil's advocate pipe & smoke it! :P :D

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

7. Yes, but the suicide bomb tactic would be rather unpopular

You don't see FARC people blowing THEMSELVES up in Colombia, do you?

[Zuni]

10. You are more brilliant than Beastman

:eyes:

-----> it is eyes roll smiley day in the lounge. I am just here stoking the oncoming flame war

[Beware the Beast Man]

11. You're an asshead.

But I love you anyway, Zuni. :eyes:

[Zuni]

12. I meant to tell you that you are the true genius of this argument

CPD just can't cut it anymore :eyes:


:D

[Beware the Beast Man]

13. CPD needs to accept Jesus Christ as his personal lord and savior.

Those who use suicide bombs are heretics.


:nuke: :P

[HEyHEY]

15. May the lord bless and keep you both

:-)

[Javaman]

25. I believe if there was no religion, in many ways there would be more...

Killing.

I'm a big supporter of religion, but think of it this way. There are many religions that still believe it a sin to kill and that we will pay for our sins in the after life.

Now imagine what would happen if that was removed? Then any limit that was placed upon a person because of an afterlife hell would be gone.

Now don't get me wrong, just because I don't believe in religion means that I will suddenly go out and murder for no good reason, however, there are people right now that are religious and murder for any reason and I think they would regardless of how the observe their form of "religion" but my point being is: the few that are out there, that are a fringe element that are only kept in check because of the religion issue, would then suddenly feel that they could commit murder with impunity. No retribution in the afterlife. This would release an addition section of society upon the population.

I believe a great majority of the worlds population is populated by good honest people who have an ethical bend to wards peace, it's the various sociopaths that run various gov'ts, that control the minds, thoughts and faiths of these same people that are the members of the fringe element that would benefit the most from the no religion issue.

Yes, religion has been the cause for countess years of death destruction and misery. And most of all that is as a result of people misconstruing religion to fit their own means. Now image our same world without religion, the killing would still continue, but without even a threat of guilt.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

28. I could go into a lengthy discussion of this but I won't.

My point was specific to the suicide attack method. Without a belief in an afterlife it becomes much less attractive. That's all.

[HEyHEY]

29. Those who don't answer to a god and feel true responsibility

For their actions allow compasion to govern their morality... problem is too many religions have loopholes... and the mindless sheep who follow them have no moral compass of their own. This allows them to use these loopholes to justify their murderous ways cause they can always ask forgivness.
A world in which people didn't have religion doing their thinking for them would be less violent.

[CJCRANE]

24. Like the "honeypot" theory -

Put 150,000 troops in an illegal war, then leave them there without sufficient armour or support and wait to what see what they attract.

[fedsron2us]

18. Nice idea, but Russian nihilists and anarchists

more or less invented the modern suicide bomb attack in the nineteenth century and they were non-believers to a man.

[HEyHEY]

20. It's not like it takes alot of thought to come up with the idea

Plus, are they doing it now?

[muriel_volestrangler]

23. The Tamil Tigers have used suicide bombers a lot

and they are a nationalist, rather than religious, movement:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/526407.stm

[HEyHEY]

26. We're not talking about sports!

[muriel_volestrangler]

31. Ah, so that's what 'long bomb' means ... (n/t)

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

30. Hm. One small, localized group vs. a worldwide problem. Yeah.

Besides, how do you know those Tigers DON'T use the afterlife shpiel in their indoctrination?

[muriel_volestrangler]

33. Not that small

In 1987, a decade before anyone had heard of Osama bin Laden, the Black Tigers staged their first suicide bombing attack, killing 40 Sri Lankan soldiers. Since then, they have carried out more than 240 suicide bombings -- including one in 1991 that killed Rajiv Gandhi, the former PM of India.

http://www.spur.asn.au/News_2003_July_27.htm

And they control a significant part of Sri Lanka. OK, I haven't sat through their indoctrination; but it's always described as an ethnic or nationalist conflict, not religious.

[bemildred]

5. New technical innovations often spread.

This should be expected.

[The_Casual_Observer]

9. What did they think would happen? Did they think because

bushboy and rove are having a "war on terror" that that would fix anything? Only Americans are stupid enough to believe that bush is going to do them some good.

[NNN0LHI]

16. I thought Boosh smoked em all out and got em on the run long time ago? n/t

[CJCRANE]

21. Invading Iraq

just turned the US-UK/Iraq into a bigger version of Israel/Palestine, which seems to be precisely what the neocons wanted.

[Toots]

22. It is impossible... Saddam has been removed and we are all safe now.

:shrug:

[frictionlessO]

32. and how much money do they pay these people to figure this out?

All very predictable, anyone who was against the Iraq war knew this would be coming as a potential problem. I am surprised that it hasn't happened more already and that makes me wonder if there aren't still a few good people left in the intelligence community.

Of course this is all under the speculation of this particular article. As far as I know there may not have been suicide bombers, rather patsies who were a delivery system and didnt know... Point being that no, we still dont know what really happened.

This piece is mere speculation at this point going beyond anything other than that is slightly irresponsible and fear mongering.

[Zorra]

34. Globalist fascism creates poverty, hopelessness and powerlessness.

Poverty, hopelessness, and powerlessness creates suicide bombers.