Ladies Of The Death Cult
Compelling piece by Alissa J. Rubin in New York Times Magazine about the ladies who launch -- suicide bombing attacks, that is:
BAIDA, HAVING JOINED the group, initially did not plan to become a suicide bomber. She was drawn to it gradually as she became more deeply involved with the cell. Her cell members announced their readiness for a suicide mission in front of others in the group, making a public commitment, signaling they had crossed an invisible border and embraced the idea of a certain kind of death that would also bring membership in a holy community.The group dynamic seemed designed to make participants feel as if they were freely choosing their destiny. That sense of freedom was an important component of their metamorphosis into suicide bombers. It was certainly important to Baida, who felt she controlled little in her life, to feel in control of her death. Her goal was to take revenge on her brothers' killers -- American soldiers. When I brought up the reality that the vast majority of suicide bombings in Iraq kill ordinary Iraqis, she would only say that she thought killing Iraqis was haram, or forbidden.
"We had meetings of 11 people; some people came to the meeting with their faces covered," Baida told me. "There were three women in the group. Sometimes we were having discussions of Koran, sometimes we were meeting to see who is ready to do jihad. You could choose whether you wanted to do it. They wanted me to wear the explosive belt against the police, but I refused. I said, 'I will not do it against Iraqis.' I said: 'If I do it against the police I will go to hell because the police are Muslims. But if I do it against the Americans then I will go to heaven.' "
A few weeks later, when I met Baida again, she tried to explain to me the line dividing when it is halal (permitted) to kill a person and when it is forbidden. She said she followed the rules of her group, but her cousins had different rules: they would kill anybody. Was there a difference, I wondered, between killing American soldiers and killing American civilians, like reconstruction workers? No, she said: "I am willing to explode them, even civilians, because they are invaders and blasphemers and Jewish. I will explode them first because they are Jewish and because they feel free to take our lands."
...She spoke with enthusiasm, her face animated, vividly alive. Unlike her prison companion Ranya -- who claimed, implausibly, that she did not know that she was wearing a suicide belt -- Baida was proud of her mission and determined to complete it.
Her choice of suicide was not entirely hers to make. The suicide vests the cell gave to participants were outfitted with remote detonators so that someone else could explode the would-be bomber if she somehow failed to do it herself. This was a relatively new aspect of suicide bombing in Iraq. A second person, with a second detonator, would go on the mission to ensure against changes of heart. "One day this woman, Shaima, said, 'I am ready.' I saw Shaima when they put the vest on her. It was very heavy. With Shaima, they exploded her, she did not explode herself. There were five or six killed."
...A mother of two boys and a girl, all under 8, she had not seen them since her arrest last year. When I asked if they missed her, she said, almost airily, "Allah will take care of them."
The stories get to seem like fearporn after awhile.
"...She spoke with enthusiasm, her face animated, vividly alive.
?
Crid [CridComment @ gmail] at August 15, 2009 1:07 AM
She spoke with enthusiasm, her face animated, vividly alive.
If you are unfamilliar with the visual crid walk into any bible thumping congregation on Sunday around 11am
lujlp at August 15, 2009 3:51 AM
Lujlp is correct about the visual. (btw- I've always wanted to ask what your name meant. It almost looks like an anagram.)
I feel so much pity for these poor misguided fools, but that whole wanting to kill the Jews kind of gets to me. Yes, they are uneducated, but have they not eyes to see with? And a brain to think with? Can they not see that the massive hordes of Jews are NOT coming?
I can understand about wanting control of something, even if it's death, but even that's been taken away and these people still follow blindly.
I don't think I'll ever be able to understand how someone can drink the kool aid to the point of giving ones life for it.
Truth at August 15, 2009 9:17 AM
OT- Amy, does it hurt your ad revenue if I can't see them? Or do I have to click on the ads in order for you to get paid? I have all ads blocked so all I can see is a little thing telling me that the web page/ link can't be loaded. (Makes for faster & more secure browsing) If it impacts your income in anyway, I'll turn it off for this site.
Truth at August 15, 2009 9:23 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2009/08/15/ladies_of_the_d.html#comment-1663005">comment from TruthOT- Amy, does it hurt your ad revenue if I can't see them? Or do I have to click on the ads in order for you to get paid?
Per my agreement, I'm not allowed to tell you, but I'm guessing you can guess!
Some days are wildly great, and other days, not so much.
Amy Alkon at August 15, 2009 9:30 AM
Truth, the lu is a phonetical shortenin of the first sylable of both my middle name and a nickname I had in highschool, the jlp is my initials
lujlp at August 15, 2009 9:37 AM
Thanks for continuing to post these.
Lujlp:
She spoke with enthusiasm, her face animated, vividly alive.
If you are unfamilliar with the visual crid walk into any bible thumping congregation on Sunday around 11am
- - - - - - - - - - -
... the obvious difference being that the Christian congregants are more likely getting excited over building a hospital in the 3rd world.
I'm an Orthodox Jew - and I've encountered more than my share of narrow-minded, fundamentalists Christians.
But this comparison is just infantile.
This sort of knee-jerk anti-religious jibe betrays the equally rabid fundamentalism of many left-liberals.
Yes, there IS a difference between Jewish or Christian fanatics and Muslim fanatics. If you can't parse that, it says more about you than us.
Ben-David at August 15, 2009 12:05 PM
Never said there wasnt a difference, just saying where someone could see the visual without fear of being raped, tortured and beheaded.
The fact that you attempted to make it seem like I was lumping the violent nutjobs with the nominally harmless delusionals such as yourself says far more about you.
Dont you think?
lujlp at August 15, 2009 2:10 PM
Who says Islam is not all about gender equality?
Jay R at August 15, 2009 4:11 PM
Who says Islam is not all about gender equality?
Holy fuck Jay R...I hope that you are being a smart ass. If not, take a view of what happened to this 17 year old girl when she left her house "with another guy who was not her husband".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/02/taliban-pakistan-justice-women-flogging
Julie at August 15, 2009 7:51 PM
> just saying where someone could see
> the visual without fear of being
> raped, tortured and beheaded.
What is it with you and 'visuals'? Aren't you the one who wanted us to look at video of shredded genitalia? Just how violent is the planet you live on, the life you lead?
> This sort of knee-jerk
> anti-religious jibe betrays the
> equally rabid fundamentalism of
> many left-liberals.
BD's right about this. Some anti-religious types are so eager to play tit-for-tat that they lose perspective.
Crid [CridComment @ gmail] at August 16, 2009 12:14 AM
What is it with me and visuals you ask?
There is a reason they say a picture is worth a thousand words crid.
A simple photograph can tell a story better than any of the worlds greatest authors
lujlp at August 16, 2009 12:23 AM
Or it can deceive and evade context.
Crid [CridComment @ gmail] at August 16, 2009 12:51 AM
Blowing up an invading army doesn't count as being psycho.
If the Iraqi army landed in Philly, I would cheerfully blow them up, and I would expect others to do the same.
That's just war.
Which isn't to say that she isn't a psycho, or that Islam isn't psycho for other reasons. Just that when you invade a country, you gotta expect some people to want to blow you up.
NicoleK at August 16, 2009 8:57 AM
... ok, I probably wouldn't -cheerfully- blow them up, but if a bunch of Iraqi soldiers were trying to impose Iraqi lifestyles on me, I would not hesitate to blow them up.
NicoleK at August 16, 2009 9:10 AM
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