14 killed by female bomber in Iraq

[maddezmom]

Source: Associated Press

BAGHDAD - A female suicide bomber exploded herself in a crowd of police recruits northeast of Baghdad on Tuesday, killing at least 14 people, police and hospital officials said.


The woman, wearing a black abaya, walked into a crowd of about 200 police recruits at the main gate of the Muqdadiyah police station, a police officer on the scene said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

At least 14 people were killed and 20 injured, according to an official at Muqdadiyah General Hospital.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070410/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq;

[Big Pappa]

1. This is what

I have never been able to understand. Blowing yourself up. I can see hating someone so bad that you throw caution to the wind, but to send your body hurtling in hundreds of pieces just boggles my mind. It is this very thing that makes me wonder when I hear people call them savages.

[Skittles]

3. it's the power of religious brainwashing

remember Jim Jones?

[bluerum]

4. Not pieces. Vapor. If the bomb is big enough, the bomber is vaporised.

When you have lost your family, all chances of earning a living, your way of life, watch your country occupied and destroyed by foreign armies intent on changing the way you live your life and run your country, death starts to look like a step in a positive direction.

[Divernan]

5. So how can anyone be positive the bomber was a woman?

"The abaya is an overgarment worn by some women in Muslim-majority countries. It is the traditional form of hijab / Jilbab, or Islamic dress, for many countries of the Arabian peninsula. It is sometimes adopted in other parts of Islamic world. Traditional abayas are black, and may be either a large square of fabric draped from the shoulders or head, or a long black caftan. The abaya should cover the whole body save face, feet, and hands. It can be worn with the niqab, a face veil covering all but the eyes. Some women choose to also wear long black gloves, so their hands are covered underneath the abaya." (from Wikipedia)

Security concerns about women wearing abayas (or chadors, as they are called in Iran),
are that it could just as well be a man as a woman inside that garment, and that such loose garments easily hide explosives. I doubt that the local police department has the forensic lab for sophisticated testing of small pieces of flesh, let alone vapor, as the previous poster refers to (sorry for the gruesome imagery).

The bomber might have been a woman, but it also could be that the insurgents have determined that disguising oneself as a woman is a clever tactic - it certainly was massively effective in this instance. Whether the bomber was a man or woman, the incident is another scene from the hell created by Bush/Cheney & their bloodthirsty supporters in that poor country.

[Igel]

6. The Israelis say that suicide belts have a characteristic

that's a bit gross: The body's trashed, but the head gets hurled away, mostly intact (well, the brain's mush, but the skull and much of the face usually survives).

Otherwise, you're right. Cross-dressing seems to be the way many Islamists demonstrate their manhood.

[bluerum]

7. I suppose if nothing else they may be able to scrape up some dna.

But you are right - depending on the size of the device it is possible that some parts may be recovered.

[mallard]

2. Dorothy Surrender

This one changes the imagery in favor of a struggling rebellion, not just a dwindling armed insurgency; and with it coming alongside peaceful but politically ambitious rallies for US withdrawl, one tends to wonder how the 'stay the course' program is meant to avoid running into a loggerhead of serious violent opposition, icluding from folks who'd probably have been managing to live normal lives these days if not for an unwarranted (unlawful) invasion and extended occupation of their already isolated country.

While there are warnings and reasons given for NOT withdrawing, the major easing of internal Iraqi tensions which would result by the US's doing so gracefully gets absolutely zero acknowledgement from Ranch W DC. There never was a justifiable claim for US authority in seizing palaces, airports and destroying national infrastructure. It is authentically a continual travesty of unnecessary war crime inaugurated by the US President March 19, 2003 and yet unsettled.

Seems to me the Iraqi PM should just say 'leave' to save the day, his own arse, and to quietly remind W that collective suffering of Iraqis was the prime legal requiste for Saddam's execution, should that ever come back to haunt in him in a legitimate international court appearance, that he'll be in touch on it and that 'no' is not an answer to be taken.

Turning point indicators - like this sympathetic character/recruit image suicide bomber - favor taking another look at withdrawl as a way to restore peace and order much better than having marines kicking doors in to see who doen't like American occupiers kicking in their doors. Most arguments to the contrary are elitist, colonial bunk with a distinct taste of anti-Arab racism.

Who really backs foreign occupation, ever?


There is no such thing as a 'win' on this one, George, you bloody idiot.