suicide bombers
term “suicide bombing” became commonplace after the attack on a US Marine barracks in Beirut in 83.
arabs: “human bomb”, “shahid” (martyr, “person who died in a Jihad in order to testify his faith in Allah”)
bush, 02: “homicide bombing”
jp samurais, jp ww2 (anti us),
vietnam (anti fr), kurdistan (anti tr),
palestina (anti isr/us), tamils,
iraqi (anti us)
Seppuku, honorable suicide, was part of samurai duty.
During the Crusades, the Knights Templar destroyed one of their own ships, killing 140 Christians in order to kill ten times as many Muslims.
In ww2, japanese kamikaze pilots acted as “human missiles” by flying their planes, heavily laden with explosives, directly into enemy warships. chiefly against United States Navy aircraft carriers.
The Japanese Navy also used both one and two man piloted torpedoes called kaitens (midget submarines) on suicide missions. After aiming a two-person kaiten at their target, the two crew members were to embrace and shoot each other in the head.
After ww2, Viet Minh “death volunteers” were used against the French colonial army.
Kurdistan Workers Party.
During the Al-Aqsa Intifada the Palestinians (groups Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade) have attempted to kill Israelis using suicide bombers nearly every single day. usually crowded civilian targets.
The Tamil Tigers have committed 75 (mostly female) suicide bombings since 80.
9/11 attack used large fully-fueled planes as enormous cruise missiles flown into buildings, killing the planes’ hijackers, and causing over 2,500 casualties in the process — making it the most destructive suicide bombing in history.
After the US occupied Iraq in 03, a wave of suicide bombings occurred. The suicide bombers target mainly US military targets although civilian targets such as Shiite mosques and intl offices of the UN and the Red Cross were also attacked.
Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri expresses the point clearly: “the method of martyrdom operation [is] the most successful way of inflicting damage against the opponent and the least costly to the mujahidin in terms of casualties.”
Soldiers who lay down their lives to protect their comrades are commonly awarded the highest recognition for courage in battle.
anthropologist Scott Atran in 03: Most bombers are educated, many with college or university experience, and come from middle class homes. Many do show signs of psychological imbalance, and often had trouble relating socially as children.
saddam platil rodinam suicide bomberov $10-25k,
palestinci platia tiez, izraelci im nicia domy
while a man can be checked to see if he’s carrying an explosive belt by simply lifting his shirt, ordering a woman to do so contradicts Jewish norms of modesty.
+ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxim_restaurant_suicide_bombing
+ http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/prem/200206/brooks