Friday, February 01, 2008

What is the incentive for female suicide bommers?

Today 2 women blew themselves up in a suicide attack on a pet market. In this case the women were supposedly mentally disabled, but there seems to have been a rash of female suicide attack recently. This got me to thinking, what is the incentive for women to do this type of thing. The men of course have the glory of Allah, as well as the promise of 70 virgins when they get to heaven. Women can, of course, glorify Allah by doing this sort of thing, but is there an equivalent promise to the 70 virgins for the women? I'm being serious here, no disrespect intended at all. I doubt any of our readers know the answer to this question, but it does seem vexing to me. Thoughts....?

4 comments:

quizwedge said...

perhaps the promise of guaranteed salvation for them and/or their family and/or money for their family?

Nomad said...

This is not so mysterious, actually, and pretty much what you'd expect from what I have read. I am no expert, but according to my reading most suicide bombers in Iraq and elsewhere do it because they are promised a large cash reward for their family for being an explosive delivery system. Sadaam Hussein himself did this prior to the invasion, but Saudi princes and even Al Qaeda is well known for seeking out poor Arabs and offering their families a small fortune (almost nothing in American dollars, but enough to ensure they can live for decades) to send their sons (and now daughters) to die. They die knowing they ensured their family's comfort for a long, long time, and escape the shame of being unable to find work.

Sam said...

It has been documented that many suicide bombers have had some disability. Bomber body parts have been recovered with tumors, deformed limbs, previously amputated limbs, and their families have reported that they were mentally disabled.

The biggest benefit is probably to the family that doesn't have to carry the burden of caring for the person, presuming they were complicit in turning their family member into a killing device. otherwise the only benefit is to the sick people who send the most vulnerable among them off to be weapons of terror.

Sam said...

Disabled Often Carry Out Afghan Suicide Missions