Iraqi insurgents use down syndrome woman for bomb(remote con

[AAAhmed46]

http://abcnews.go.com/International/Wir ... 818&page=2

Basically, some down syndrome woman had remote control bombs strapped to them, they were sent out, then the bombs were detonated.


Support or don't support the war, that is Fukked up.

Seriously.

Atleast 'normal' suicide bombers do it with free will. But this? Did those woman even understand what was going to happen with them?

Damn.

[Bill Glasheen]

It was very, very "fukked up", Adam. Make no mistake about it; there's nothing noble about this kind of "insurgency."

It's this very kind of war by atrocity that's driving all other factions to the Americans, and allowing them to help the Iraqis help themselves. It started in Anbar province, and has been spreading. Now the Iraqis are singing like canaries, and giving up the locations of these scumbags. The thought that this kind of warfare can intimidate a population into submission is faulty to its core. It cannot sustain itself. By comparison even an occupying army looks like a convoy of saints. Enough people are repulsed by it all to put the safety of themselves and their family at risk in order to fight it.

When you see this kind of nonsense, it's no mystery that a tyrant like Saddam could be tolerated. Law and order by any means necessary begins not to look so bad.

This is going to be a long and nasty struggle. But with every abhorrent act such as the above, the country is one step closer to unity and a civil government. As odd as it may seem, I remain hopeful for the Iraqi people.

- Bill

[Bill Glasheen]

Adam

Here's more of the same "war by atrocity" from Al Qaeda in Iraq. In the attached USA Today article, there's a 3-minute video of kids being trained to kidnap.

Al-Qaeda video shows boys training to kill, kidnap

And what do they want other than to hit with the unexpected? They want to create a situation where troops will be called "baby killers" or troops will think twice before firing - to their peril. This was similar to tactics used by the Viet Cong in the Vietnam War. They would strap a child with explosives and then have them run to the enemy during a battle.

In his book On Killing, Grossman talks quite a bit about this "war by atrocity." The bottom line is that it generally doesn't pay in the long run. But in the short run, many innocent and noble lives are lost and/or ruined.

- Bill

[MikeK]

Remember boys and girls, water boarding is bad.

[Bill Glasheen]

One thing is for certain in this Middle East struggle for the minds and hearts of the average citizen. Nothing stays the same. All sides are adapting to the tactics of their enemies, and learning from their mistakes.

Still... Read to the end of this USA Today article. The details are pretty telling.

- Bill

Al-Qaeda tries to salvage image

MOSUL, Iraq — Al-Qaeda militants operating here have shifted tactics to try to improve their image among Iraqis and avoid the mass civilian killings that alienated the public in Baghdad and other cities, the U.S. military says.

The changes include warning locals to take cover before bomb attacks, relaxing the enforcement of strict Islamic laws and staging fewer attacks on Iraqi police.

The strategy has made the population of Mosul less likely to follow the example of Iraqis elsewhere who have turned on al-Qaeda, U.S. commanders say. U.S. and Iraqi forces may have to work harder to retake Iraq's third-largest city, which is the militant group's largest remaining urban stronghold.

"It appears (al-Qaeda) learned from their past mistakes," says Capt. Pat Ryan, an Army intelligence officer in Mosul.

President Bush has cited the recent shift in popular opinion against al-Qaeda as a major reason for declining violence in Iraq. In Baghdad and Anbar province, many former insurgents took up arms against the hard-line Islamic group out of frustration with its indiscriminate killing of civilians.

Lt. Jason Dickinson, the executive officer for a U.S. Army unit struggling to tame violence in Mosul, says al-Qaeda "pushed their luck a little too hard" in Baghdad but is more careful here.

"I don't believe you're going to see the same sort of night-and-day turnaround" against al-Qaeda in Mosul, he says.

There are as many as 30 attacks a day against U.S. and Iraqi forces in Mosul, according to the U.S. military. However, insurgents take precautions such as warning shopkeepers before bombings, Ryan says.

After a child was hit by a stray bullet during an attack against a U.S. patrol last month, local insurgent leaders moved quickly to rein in their members, according to intercepted al-Qaeda intelligence traffic. "The leadership was unhappy that it had gone that far that they had wounded the locals," Ryan says. "The traffic said, 'Take it back a notch. We need to make sure that the locals aren't getting too upset with us.' " Ryan declined to elaborate on how the information was gathered.

There have been few reports in Mosul of al-Qaeda trying to impose its extreme interpretation of Islamic law by beheading barbers for shaving beards or executing women accused of immodest behavior, says Lt. Col. Chris Johnson, who commands a battalion in charge of the eastern part of the city.

Although the tactics of insurgents here may have shifted, less cautious foreign al-Qaeda fighters have streamed into Mosul before a possible U.S.-Iraqi offensive, resulting in injuries to civilians.

Capt. Josh McLaughlin, operations officer for the Army battalion in eastern Mosul, said the increase in civilian casualties was "unfortunate," but he added, "That's the best way to get the population to say 'Enough is enough.'