October 25, 2007:
Suicide bombs are becoming a more popular terrorist weapon in Pakistan.
The one last week, that attempted to kill former prime minister Benazir Bhutto,
was the deadliest to date, with a record 143 dead. Most of the 56 suicide bombs
used in Pakistan over the last five years, killed far fewer. The 55 previous
bombs killed an average of ten people. During this period, the deadliest bomb
was a 2003 attack in Baluchistan, that left 53 dead.
Over the last two years, al Qaeda and the Taliban have
put an enormous effort into creating a suicide bombing organization. As a
result, 52 percent of the last five years bombings have taken place in the
first ten months of this year. More people have died from other types of
terrorist violence, and there are many other Islamic militant operations in
Pakistan. The Sunni and Shia groups are particularly violent, as well as Moslem
groups that attack Christians, Hindus and other infidels (non-Moslems.) But the
suicide bombs get the most attention, which is one reason terrorists prefer
them. However, suicide bomber organizations are expensive to operate and take
time to set up. Each suicide bomber attack is supported by a team of ten or
more people. The "technicians" do things like make the bomb, and come
up with a costume the bomber can wear and carry the bomb undetected. There are
instructors to teach the bomber how to act, and then drill the bomber to make
sure he can do it under the stress of moving among alert security personnel
looking for him. There are also several "minders" who stay with the
volunteer bomber to make sure he doesn't un-volunteer. And then there are
recruiters, looking for more bombers. There are also administrative personnel,
to handle records and cash. A large cash payment (usually several thousand
dollars) is paid to the family of the suicide bomber, to insure that the kin
don't bad mouth the terrorists, and make it easier to pretend that their dead
son was truly a hero.
On the down side, most suicide bombings in
Pakistan, as in Iraq, have mainly killed innocent civilians. The Islamic
militants try to explain this away by declaring the dead civilians to be
involuntary "martyrs." That doesn't work when it comes to public attitudes
towards the bombings. But al Qaeda and the Taliban, like many previous
terrorist organizations, appear to believe that this backlash won't happen to
them. It will. It has, and it's going to get worse.