# Suicide Bombers in Iraq - Who are they? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 12, 2005, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicide-bombers-in-iraq-who-are-they/303580 "2005-05-12T17:36:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Atticus\_Finch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@Atticus\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atticus_Finch)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicide-bombers-in-iraq-who-are-they/303580/21 "2005-05-13T05:12:32Z")
> [@modernhamlet](#): > > I don’t see how your data necessarily relate to the topic. While it is fairly obvious that the majority of those resisting the occupation violently are Iraqis (mostly Sunnis), the point being made is that most of the **suicide bombers** are foreign. The two are by no means mutually exclusive. Why should certain people do most of the fighting, while others do most of the bombing? It doesn’t make sense. It’s technically possible, sure, but unless you have some evidence of most suicide bombers being non-Iraqis, the logical assumption is that those who form at least 90% of the resistance are largely responsible for the suicide bombings as well. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicide-bombers-in-iraq-who-are-they/303580/22 "2005-05-13T06:55:58Z")
> [@Atticus Finch](#): > > Why should certain people do most of the fighting, while others do most of the bombing? Personal preferences perhaps. The motivations of the two groups are bound to be divergent. The motivations of Iraqis are also likely to be more like those of their fellow Iraqis than those of the foreigners. > [@Atticus Finch](#): > > … the logical assumption is that those who form at least 90% of the resistance are largely responsible for the suicide bombings as well. I don’t think that there’s necessarily enough info for this to be the loigical conclusion. The two acts are not necessarily appealing to the same groups of people. I dunno. ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicide-bombers-in-iraq-who-are-they/303580/23 "2005-05-13T08:44:34Z")
I’ll see if I can dig up a cite but a TV report I saw recently said that the bombers turn out to largely be foreign ‘martyrs’ but that they are the tip of a local logistical spear, quoting unnamed US army and Iraqi sources. Which makes sense to me. You can’t be perpetrating such outrages on this large a scale without internal support. One of the things worrying the coalition is the ‘enemy of my enemy’ coming together of different insurgent groups. The report described the ‘taxi-rank’ methodology. Car-bombers drive around and local eyes and ears ‘call-in’ targets of opportunity on mobiles (as well as planned targets based on inside leaks). As to why they do it - it seems obvious. Targeting ‘collaborators’ like those seeking jobs in the govt or with the coalition and provoking a civil war. And I don’t think we can just cry ‘brainwashing’. These people fanatically believe in defending their faith as they see it, as much as the Christians who courted martydom in Rome. And as others have pointed out - its not like Iraq is free of people with real grievances. In a tribal, honour based society each time you bomb a wedding party or hose down a family car that appears threatening, no matter how righteous the call might be according to rules of engagement you will fuel the insurgency. It might not be ‘fair’, it might not be reasonable by our own light but that’s how it is. And we just keep on playing into their hands. ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicide-bombers-in-iraq-who-are-they/303580/24 "2005-05-13T09:04:21Z")
[Global Security Report](http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/iraq_insurgency.htm) > [@](#): > > In January 2005 Iraqi intelligence service director General Mohamed Abdullah Shahwani said that Iraq’s insurgency consited of at least 40,000 hardcore fighters, out of a total of more than 200,000 part-time fighters and volunteers who provide intelligence, logistics and shelter. Shahwani said the resistance enjoyed wide backing in the Sunni provinces of Baghdad, Babel, Salahuddin, Diyala, Nineveh and Tamim. Shahwani said the Baath, with a core fighting strength of more than 20,000, had split into three factions. The main one, still owing allegiance to jailed dictator Saddam Hussein, is operating out of Syria. It is led by Saddam’s half-brother Sabawi Ibrahim al-Hassan and former aide Mohamed Yunis al-Ahmed, who provide funding to their connections in Mosul, Samarra, Baquba, Kirkuk and Tikrit. Izzat Ibrahim al-Duri is still in Iraq. Two other factions have broken from Saddam, but have yet to mount any attacks. Islamist factions range from Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s al-Qaeda affiliate to Ansar al-Sunna and Ansar al-Islam. > > A picture of the composition of the insurgency, though in constant flux, has come into somewhat greater focus. London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies estimates roughly 1,000 foreign Islamic jihadists have joined the insurgency. > [@](#): > > Recruitment > > Recruiting militants has been observed to take place in three stages. First, there is some form of contact initiated, perhaps in a mosque after daily prayers. In this first conversation, a later meeting is arranged. After this meeting, some of the prospective militants are eliminated, leaving the third round of candidates that will train in the campus. Accoring to the 12 August 2003 New York Times, these recruits are instructed to move away from their families and terminate communication with all outsiders. > > Foreign fighters are a small component of the insurgency and comprise a very small percentage of all detainees. Syrian, Saudi, Egyptian, Jordanian and Iranian nationals make up the majority of foreign fighters. Fighters, arms and other supplies continue to enter Iraq from virtually all of its neighbors despite increased border security. [Analysis of Arab fighters killed](http://haganah.org.il/harchives/003756.html) (Make of the source what you will, an offshoot of an Israeli militia) > [@](#): > > It is important to note that this list contains only those Arabs who joined the Jihadi-Salafi insurgency, primarily of Abu Mus’ab al-Zarqawi’s group, and supporters of Qaedat al-Jihad. Even though the list is incomplete, it provides us with some interesting insights about the phenomenon of foreign volunteers for Jihad, which shows no signs of subsiding. > [@](#): > > Analysis > Sorted by their countries of origin, the 154 Arabs killed in Iraq in the past six months have the following distribution: > Country Number Percent > Saudi Arabia: 94 61% > Syria: 16 10.4% > Iraq: 13 8.4% > Kuwait: 11 7.1% > Jordan: 4 > Lebanon: 3 (one was living in Denmark) > Libya: 2 > Algeria: 2 > Morocco: 2 (one was living in Spain) > Yemen: 2 > Tunisia: 2 > Palestine: 1 > Dubai: 1 > Sudan: 1 (living in Saudi Arabia) note the prominence of our great pals - the Saudi’s. ---
**Author:** ![wayward](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a87d85/32.png) [@wayward](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wayward)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicide-bombers-in-iraq-who-are-they/303580/25 "2005-05-13T11:10:15Z")
Not sure if this throws any light on the motivation behind the attacks, or if it has much relevance to Iraq, but it answers the question of where they keep coming from. I got speaking to a guy recently who had served in the Israeli military and according to him, the bombers themselves are often not actually extremists. The _real_ terrorists will take a family hostage, supply one member with a bomb and tell them that if they don’t detonate it at a particular time and place, the rest of the family dies. ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicide-bombers-in-iraq-who-are-they/303580/26 "2005-05-13T13:05:40Z")
> [@wayward](#): > > Not sure if this throws any light on the motivation behind the attacks, or if it has much relevance to Iraq, but it answers the question of where they keep coming from. > I got speaking to a guy recently who had served in the Israeli military and according to him, the bombers themselves are often not actually extremists. The _real_ terrorists will take a family hostage, supply one member with a bomb and tell them that if they don’t detonate it at a particular time and place, the rest of the family dies. Giant pinches of salt all round on that one short of an authoritative cite. I don’t think we need to look for fanciful explanations as to why martyrdom is saught. This to me looks like a blatant propaganda attempt to deny Palestinians have legitimate grievances however illegitimate and disgusting suicide bombing is as a tactic. Maybe it happens on occasion but from the many interviews I’ve seen by investigative journalists there seems no shortage of angry or despairing young men willing to buy into the whole martyrdom thing. It wouldn’t surprise me if it happened occasionally but I’m sure the majority embrace martydom as they see it, voluntarily. Certainly seems to be the case in Iraq. ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicide-bombers-in-iraq-who-are-they/303580/27 "2005-05-13T14:01:26Z")
> [@Atticus Finch](#): > > Why should certain people do most of the fighting, while others do most of the bombing? It doesn’t make sense. It’s technically possible, sure, but unless you have some evidence of most suicide bombers being non-Iraqis, the logical assumption is that those who form at least 90% of the resistance are largely responsible for the suicide bombings as well. I see them as pretty distinct things, although of course they are still striking at the same enemy, and may have the same masterminds/funding/planning efforts behind them. I am not sure I can articulate why they seem somewhat distinct to me, and why it’s belieable to me that fighters and suicide bombers may have different profiles. A suicide bombing is a one-off. The person who sacrifices himself or herself is the weapon, deployed one time. You may not hit that many people, or you may hit a lot, but at the end of it you will not be around to continue the struggle (or enjoy the fruits of your labors). I also think there is a strong religious component to it–that is, it’s worth it because of what martyrdom supposedly brings to you in the afterlife. The act is part of a holy war, at least to the person who’s strapping on the explosives. I think it takes a special sort of person to do this and to want to do this. Insurgency, however, is an ongoing effort to rid the country of a foreign army, and could be motivated by nationalism alone (you don’t have to be religious to believe you have something to gain from it). Picking up a gun or building a roadside bomb to help with this effort feels like it would be a different sort of decision. Maybe it’s a misconception, but I never saw Iraq as a country of fervent islamic faith. I don’t think of the overall insurgency as a holy war (although some of the participating fighters may indeed see it that way). ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicide-bombers-in-iraq-who-are-they/303580/28 "2005-05-13T15:26:36Z")
Americans have always had problems understanding suicide attacks. In WWII, we were baffled by the kamakazies. Myself, I could see joining a guerilla army if my country were invaded and blowing up infrastructure and enemy military equipment. If the situation got desperate enough, I might even go on missions that were suicidally dangerous. But there ain’t no way no how I’d strap a bomb on and blow myself up, even if it were to kill collaborators or enemy troops. I guess the difference is the gap between what people would do for nationalism and freedom and what they do because they think god told them to do it. I don’t think the role of religion in either the kamakazie or the current Iraqi suicide bombers can be overlooked. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicide-bombers-in-iraq-who-are-they/303580/29 "2005-05-13T16:32:53Z")
> [@tagos](#): > > [Global Security Report](http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/iraq_insurgency.htm) > > [Analysis of Arab fighters killed](http://haganah.org.il/harchives/003756.html) (Make of the source what you will, an offshoot of an Israeli militia) > > note the prominence of our great pals - the Saudi’s. (That would explain why all my students are taking long sabbaticals.) ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicide-bombers-in-iraq-who-are-they/303580/30 "2005-05-13T16:53:42Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > When you’ve taken everything away from a man, so he has nothing left to lose… > I dunno, the “brainwashing” excuse seems to me to be a bit of denial at work: “There’s _no reason_ for them to hate us! We’re wholesome and right and pure of heart! The only way for them to be turned against us is if they’re brainwashed/deceived/insane!” > > (Not to mention, brainwashing doesn’t work anyway, as [Cecil himself wrote recently](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/050318.html)) Well, I was using “brainwashing” in the nontechnical sense. I probably should have said “indoctrination techniques”. But I have to admit, trying to understand the “logic” of suicide bombers is not something I find very easy to do. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicide-bombers-in-iraq-who-are-they/303580/31 "2005-05-15T22:50:04Z")
According to the Washington Post many of the suicide bombers are from Saudi Arabia. I have even heard reports saying that not one suicide bomber has been an Iraqi. I tend to believe the reports that say most are outsiders. This is not to say that the Iraqis aren’t doing anything. Most if not all of the roadside bombs have been set by the Sunnis, because they have found this the best way to attack Americans. ---
**Author:** ![Eolbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@Eolbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eolbo)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicide-bombers-in-iraq-who-are-they/303580/32 "2005-05-15T23:24:34Z")
[QUOTE=kniz] According to the Washington Post many of the suicide bombers are from Saudi Arabia. I have even heard reports saying that not one suicide bomber has been an Iraqi. QUOTE] Thanks for that, I knew I had read the same thing but couldn’t remember where. From the Washington Post [U.S. and Iraqi authorities say suicide drivers are invariably foreign fighters. Officers here said they knew of no documented case in which a suicide attacker turned out to have been an Iraqi.](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/08/AR2005050800838.html) Take it for what it’s worth. Personally I’d be surprised if none of them at all were Iraqi but I find it very believable that its primarily foreigners who would view Iraqi civilians as just background noise to sacrifice for the cause. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2005, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicide-bombers-in-iraq-who-are-they/303580/33 "2005-05-16T01:14:45Z")
Call me cynical, but would the “U.S. and Iraqi authorities” really say otherwise? “Okay, we fess up, the bulk of the suicide bombers are locals who are totally pissed off at us because we bungled the whole mess.” You can’t even get these folks to admit that the whole we-invaded-Iraq-to-liberate-its-people bushit isn’t retroactive ass-covering; what makes you think they’d be telling the truth about this? ---
**Author:** ![Eolbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@Eolbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eolbo)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2005, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicide-bombers-in-iraq-who-are-they/303580/34 "2005-05-16T09:09:39Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > Call me cynical, but would the “U.S. and Iraqi authorities” really say otherwise? > > “Okay, we fess up, the bulk of the suicide bombers are locals who are totally pissed off at us because we bungled the whole mess.” > > You can’t even get these folks to admit that the whole we-invaded-Iraq-to-liberate-its-people bushit isn’t retroactive ass-covering; what makes you think they’d be telling the truth about this? I think in the scheme of things the propaganda point of whether its an Iraqi or a foreigner isnt a very big one. It may be right it may be wrong but the idea that iraqis identify more with their own countrymen and are less likely to blow up random civilians seems plausible to me regardless of who said it. ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2005, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicide-bombers-in-iraq-who-are-they/303580/35 "2005-05-16T09:15:51Z")
> [@Eolbo](#): > > I think in the scheme of things the propaganda point of whether its an Iraqi or a foreigner isnt a very big one. It may be right it may be wrong but the idea that iraqis identify more with their own countrymen and are less likely to blow up random civilians seems plausible to me regardless of who said it. Referring to my own post and the evidence there. It’s not either/or. Suicide bombers are primarily from outside Iraq but they are the weapons of indigineous groups who seem to provide the logistical support and targeting. ---
**Author:** ![OliverTwistofLime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/b487fb/32.png) [@OliverTwistofLime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OliverTwistofLime)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2005, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicide-bombers-in-iraq-who-are-they/303580/36 "2005-05-23T07:44:30Z")
Correct me if I’m wrong but I have not seen any cites that any educated person has been a suicide bomber… Anyone willing to kill innocent men, women, and children as well as his own life doing this has to be an idiot and stupid. For those of you who feel they have a legitimate reason to be murderous bombers, I say hogwash…the financiers involved do NOT commit suicide. ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2005, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicide-bombers-in-iraq-who-are-they/303580/37 "2005-05-23T10:15:03Z")
> [@MadSam](#): > > Correct me if I’m wrong but I have not seen any cites that any educated person has been a suicide bomber… Anyone willing to kill innocent men, women, and children as well as his own life doing this has to be an idiot and stupid. > > For those of you who feel they have a legitimate reason to be murderous bombers, I say hogwash…the financiers involved do NOT commit suicide. Well the 9/11 hijackers were highly educated Saudi’s if that helps. If we are to understand and so defeat our enemy it’s no use clinging onto the belief they are somehow stupid, misguided cowards. They have a perfectly legitimate reason in their own eyes and that is the only legitimacy that practically counts, regardless of how we feel about it. It’s the legitimacy we have to undermine to stem the endless flow of ‘martyrs.’ You don’t get rid of mosquitoes by swatting them, there will always be others. As a tactic it’s working for them and for a fanatically motivated insurgent, who sees less fanatical Muslims and those who co-operate with us let alone the occupying forces as their enemies, that is what counts. It’s effective, it works and no amount of ranting and name-calling is going to change that. ---
**Author:** ![OliverTwistofLime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/b487fb/32.png) [@OliverTwistofLime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OliverTwistofLime)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2005, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicide-bombers-in-iraq-who-are-they/303580/38 "2005-05-23T18:29:03Z")
[QUOTEs. If we are to understand and so defeat our enemy it’s no use clinging onto the belief they are somehow stupid, misguided cowards. They have a perfectly legitimate reason in their own eyes and that is the only legitimacy that practically counts, regardless of how we feel about it. It’s the legitimacy we have to undermine to stem the endless flow of ‘martyrs.’ You don’t get rid of mosquitoes by swatting them, there will always be others. As a tactic it’s working for them and for a fanatically motivated insurgent, who sees less fanatical Muslims and those who co-operate with us let alone the occupying forces as their enemies, that is what counts. It’s effective, it works and no amount of ranting and name-calling is going to change that.[/QUOTE] Murderers, rapists, kidnappers ALSO have a perfectly legitimate reason in their own eyes for what they do…You jump a world of explanation and end with (Its effective and works…see above…I also believe that name calling is not going to work… However, the real planners of these killings do NOT after the 9/11 affair submit themselves to being suicide bombers…generally the uneducated, poor, unsophisticated people. ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicide-bombers-in-iraq-who-are-they/303580/39 "2005-05-24T10:30:57Z")
> [@MadSam](#): > > Murderers, rapists, kidnappers ALSO have a perfectly legitimate reason in their own eyes for what they do…You jump a world of explanation and end with (Its effective and works…see above…I also believe that name calling is not going to work… > > However, the real planners of these killings do NOT after the 9/11 affair submit themselves to being suicide bombers…generally the uneducated, poor, unsophisticated people. I have absolutely no idea what this means or what you are trying to say. My post can be summed up as - ‘Know thine enemy.’ We mustn’t delude ourselves as to their nature or their support or the reasons that motivate them. It’s irrelevant how poor or uneducated they may or may not be so long as the motivation exists for a never-ending supply. Frankly I have no idea why you fixate on these factors beyond some need to denigrate them. And that doesn’t help. I want the factors that drive support and organisation of these attacks to be understood and countered so they can be defeated and that requires a clear and conscious understanding of what motivates them, not dismissive name calling. Can you please, as this is not the PIT, provide a cite to support your contention and then explain how this knowledge in any way helps us to defeat the insurgency? ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicide-bombers-in-iraq-who-are-they/303580/40 "2005-05-24T12:39:55Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > Well, I was using “brainwashing” in the nontechnical sense. I probably should have said “indoctrination techniques”. But I have to admit, trying to understand the “logic” of suicide bombers is not something I find very easy to do. It’s really not that much different from a run of the mill suicide. You just have to pump up the anger a bit. Start off with hardship, usually economic and personal. Throw in a heavy dash of frustration for that handy trapped and desperate feeling. A bit of depression helps but may not be necessary depending on circumstances. You essentially have a recipe for suicide. Things can’t possibly get any better so why stick around to get kicked around. This next part calls for an extra degree of desperation or a fair amount of gullibility. You throw in an enemy, a reason for all the suckitude in your life. In school and workplace shootings, you have peers, coworkers, bullies, etc. In Iraq, you have America: The Great Satan. How’s that for marketing? America has blown up large bits of your country. America has killed innocents. America captures and tortures your fellow Iraqis. If it weren’t for America, you’d probably still have a job. Boy, everything sure would be great if it weren’t for that America. For added spice, throw in some radical religion. America now is bringing about the moral decay of the country you live in and love with their cable tv and miniskirts. America wants to corrupt you with their heathen religion. They abuse your holy book. Plus, blow yourself up now and get special room rates in heaven, or the deluxe package with extra virgins. Let simmer for a while and you have yourself a person with a low value of their own life who sees a chance to give meaning to their death and knows that something better waits for them afterwards. All they need is a target. See that line of people waiting to join the Iraqi army? They’re working with the Americans. Those people over there look happy. They must love the Americans. I know I’m oversimplifying things quite a bit, but the formula isn’t that different from school shootings, workplace shootings, and even cult suicides. It’s just angrier. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicide-bombers-in-iraq-who-are-they/303580.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicide-bombers-in-iraq-who-are-they/303580.md?page=3)