Information Warfare: August 9, 2005

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: Do you want to be a suicide bomber? There is one country that allows open recruiting for such adventurers. The Iranian armed forces has established an organization called the "Lovers of Martyrdom Garrison," which will recruit, screen and train suicide bombers, for attacks on Western targets. The application form, and an English translation, can be seen here . This offer is apparently only open to Iranian citizens. 

The effort, which has less than two months old, has already attracted over 50,000 applicants. Openly using these fanatics in attacks against Western targets could result in some unpleasant counterattacks against Iran. The Iranians know that if they turn a lot of these volunteers loose outside the country, their origins will be found out. Some of the volunteers will be captured alive, and the Iranians are now aware of how effective Western forensic capabilities are (you can identify an Iranian from DNA analysis body parts.) Its more likely that these fanatical volunteers will be used against internal enemies. Not necessarily as suicide bombers, but as true believers who will do anything for the cause. 

The Iranians are not the only ones recruiting suicide bombers. In Sri Lanka, the Hindu Tamil Tigers (also known as the LTTE) recruit suicide bombers from among their existing troops (many of whom are kidnapped and brainwashed teenagers). The LTTE were the first to use suicide bombers, and were the most active users until the Palestinian terrorists and al Qaeda began using the tactic more widely after September 11, 2001. The Palestinian terrorists and al Qaeda also recruit suicide bombers, via a network of recruiters. Arab media, in general, tends to speak highly of suicide bombers (calling them martyrs), thus making it easier to recruit more.

 

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