Nothing New
Under the Iraqi sun as al-Qaeda uses the mentally retarded to carry their bombs into the marketplace. Daily Mail:
Al Qaeda fanatics plumbed sickening new depths yesterday when they turned two women with Down’s syndrome into human bombs to kill 70 people in Baghdad.
The unwitting pawns were apparently fooled into wearing explosive vests which were then detonated remotely by mobile phones as the women mingled with crowds.
The two blasts caused carnage at two busy markets in the Iraqi capital’s deadliest atrocity since last spring.
A U.S. military spokesman conveyed the sense of outrage over the depravity of the masterminds.
“They have shown their true demonic character,” said Lieutenant-Colonel Steve Stover.
Nothing new about it at all. Their demonic character was evident a long time ago. But take a minute and think about what kind of person would take a retarded boy or a retarded woman, or anyone, strap explosive vests on them, and send them into a marketplace.
Involving women in fighting violates religious taboos in Iraq, but extremists are recruiting females and youths to stage suicide attacks in a desperate attempt to beat tightened security measures.
Women can avoid thorough searches at checkpoints because of Islamic sensitivities, and four have carried out suicide bombings since November.
Yesterday’s attacks are the first ever to have involved anyone with Down’s Syndrome.
Not quite. Unable to track down a link, but there are references here and here. Here we go. A clipping service turned up this from the Australian, Feb 1, 2005:
BAGHDAD: Militant groups might have recruited a mentally retarded man to carry out an election day suicide bombing at a Baghdad polling station that killed one person and injured 10 others, an Iraqi Interior Ministry official said yesterday.
Interior Ministry spokesman Colonel Adnan Abdul-Rahman said initial examinations of the suicide bomber’s head, which landed on the roof of the polling station, and witness reports indicated the man was mentally retarded.
“They (terrorists) are using any means to harm people,” Colonel Abdul-Rahman said.
“They have used donkey carts … won’t they use the mentally retarded?”
Terror groups have previously used animals in attacks on hotels and government installations.
Colonel Abdul-Rahman said insurgents might have chosen a mentally retarded bomber in an effort to bypass the intense security at the polls.
“I imagine this is how they think. That this person will not be searched and will be let in,” he said.
Yeah, that’s how they think. Back to the Daily Mail:
The first attack was in the central al-Ghazl market, where numerous birds and animals were on sale.
The weekly bazaar had been bombed several times but recently had re-emerged as a popular place to shop and stroll as Baghdad security improved and a Friday ban on driving was lifted.
The woman carrying the bomb, hidden under her traditional black Islamic robe, was a familiar figure at the market where she sold cream.
At least 46 people were killed and more than 100 wounded. Fire crews scooped up remains scattered among blood, clothing and pigeon carcasses.
About 20 minutes later, the second bomb blew up a bird market in a predominantly Shiite area in southeastern Baghdad, killing up to 22 people and wounding 65, according to police and hospital officials.
The women used in the attacks were unlikely to have been willing participants, said the chief Iraqi military spokesman in Baghdad, Brigadier-General Qassim al-Moussawi.
Topics: everything
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 10:24 pm on Friday, February 1, 2008
8 Responses to “Nothing New”
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February 1st, 2008 at 11:22 pm
Despicable act, by despicable ‘people’.
February 2nd, 2008 at 1:09 am
Already, however, radical antiwar types are celebrating the carnage, proclaiming today’s violence as proof that the surge not only failed, but that the shift in U.S. strategy under General David Petraeus was a scam, an “unscrupulous” bait-and-switch promotion full of “artificial manipulations” and “relative metrics” designed to hoodwink American public opinion.
See “Security in Iraq: Will Surge Gains Hold?”
http://americanpowerblog.blogspot.com/2008/02/security-in-iraq-will-surge-gains-hold.html
February 2nd, 2008 at 2:20 am
As despicable as terrorists are, those who would use acts like these to further bludgeon our own people are just as bad. These people like equivalence, then let’s give them equivalence. The users are the same ones who have acted as a propaganda arm of the enemy all along. Evil is as evil does.
February 2nd, 2008 at 2:44 am
So, if Al Qaeda in Iraq - oops, sorry, I mean “Mesopotamia” - forces/coerces poor folks into carrying out bombing attacks, why am I still seeing this story framed as done by “suicide bombers” in many media outlets?
Today’s American Left in WWII - “Oh no, the Germans of the Benelux have massacred American soldiers - Quick, run away, run away!!”
February 2nd, 2008 at 9:41 am
[...] Equal Opportunity Jihadis don’t exclude the mentally challenged. [...]
February 2nd, 2008 at 1:36 pm
A new meaning for “lower than the scum on a snake’s belly.”
February 2nd, 2008 at 2:45 pm
There are simply no words to adequately describe the people who do this stuff. They’ve completely abandoned their humanity.
February 3rd, 2008 at 6:09 am
‘“They have shown their true demonic character,” said Lieutenant-Colonel Steve Stover.’
Only about a zillion times. And, most people here still don’t get it.