Counter-Terrorism: Selling Suicide To Children

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January 27, 2010:  Palestinian terror groups have developed a unique method of recruiting suicide bombers; childrens' television. The programming directed at children has, for over a decade, increasingly encouraged kids to aspire to be a suicide bomber. Since these shows are in Arabic, they rarely attract the attention of Western media, and there is no media outrage at the practice.

The Palestinian method is a departure from the more common approach, using religious schools to indoctrinate young men to be suicide bombers. Those schools are only open to boys. The Palestinian method is more effective, as they encourage little girls, as well as boys, to seek eternal salvation as suicide bombers.

Interrogations of Afghan suicide bombers reveals a similar recruiting approach. These guys usually attended a religious school run by Islamic conservatives (often of the Saudi Wahabi form of Islam), who preached hatred of non-Moslems, and Moslems who did not share an appreciation for a conservative form of Islam. The bombers were often infuriated by tales of women in Afghanistan not dressing properly (showing hair, faces, ankles and so on), or being educated in schools that taught other subjects (like reading and writing) than just religion. Taliban terrorists have destroyed hundreds of these non-religious schools so far.
 
Meanwhile, the religious schools continue to thrive, in the tribal territories, or by being better at hiding what they are really doing.Saudi Arabia, and other Islamic nations, have tried to eliminate the indoctrination of children to be suicide bombers, or Islamic terrorists in general. These efforts have not been a success. The indoctrination continues, and another generation of eager suicide bombers is on the way.