On February 1, 2008, two female suicide bombers killed some 91 people and wounded another 150 at Baghdad pet markets. The two coordinated explosions marked the bloodiest day in the Iraqi capital during the past six months. Coming on the heels of increased U.S. military deaths in Iraq in January, after four months of declines, the bombings raised new doubts about the wild-eyed claims made by President Bush and Republican presidential candidate, John McCain, that the surge is working and the U.S. is winning in Iraq.
But, almost immediately, Iraq's chief military spokesman in Baghdad claimed that the female bombers appeared to be mentally retarded. Allegedly, an examination of the severed head of one of the bombers led to the conclusion that she suffered from Downs Syndrome. In addition, some Baghdad locals were reported to have claimed that the bomber was known as "the crazy lady."
Such reports, if correct, would lend substance to the assertions — which constitute the conventional wisdom — that the success of the Bush/Petraeus surge has caused al Qaeda in Iraq to adopt desperate measures. Americans, then, could rest assured that such attacks were merely an aberration, and, thus, more proof that, thanks to the surge, Iraq's insurgency is now in its final death throes.
Condoleezza Rice seized upon the news to decry al Qaeda as "the most
brutal and bankrupt of movements," conveniently overlooking the massive
bombing campaign unleashed by America's military during the surge and
conveniently overlooking the unmanned aerial vehicles, like the
Predator, which fire missiles at the command of brave airmen stationed
at computer consoles at Nellis Air Force base near Las Vegas. Sort of
like sitting in the White House and challenging the insurgents to
"Bring 'em on."
Most of the mainstream news media uncritically reported the assertion
that al Qaeda had stooped to manipulating mentally retarded women.
After all, such evidence better fits into the mantra of a successful
surge, than does the ominous possibility that al Qaeda has moved on to
a new tactic, one that employs female suicide bombers who have theirs
wits about them.
Thus, FOX News, CNN, ABC, MSNBC, CBS News and even The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer talked about the mentally ill suicide bombers. Lamentably, even the Huffington Post, uncritically posted an article sporting the headline, "Mentally Retarded Women Used To Set Off Massive Iraq Attacks."
Yet, during an interview with Stephen Farrell of the New York Times viewers of the NewsHour
were told that there were plenty of reasons to doubt the assertion made
by Iraq's chief military spokesman. First, there's a huge probability
that the bomber's severed head could have been distorted by the blast.
Second, Farrell talked about witnesses who saw the woman before the
explosion and claimed that she acted normally. Finally, as Farrell
noted online, "Iraqi officials have made similar claims in the past."
In addition, McClatchy's Washington Bureau ran an article in which the
reporters noted: "Other police officials expressed skepticism about the
claim, saying it was made too quickly for any investigation to have
taken place." Finally, Middle East expert Juan Cole weighed in with
this common sense observation: "The story that the women had Downs
syndrome seems unlikely to be true: you wouldn't trust a sensitive
terror plot to someone without their full faculties."
Cole also concluded: "The bombings show that Sunni Arab guerrillas
seeking to destabilize Iraq have not been defeated and are still
capable of making a big strike right under the noses of the surge
troops." Moreover, you can bet the farm that such big strikes will
occur as long as American troops do Bush's (or McCain's) bidding and
continue their illegal, immoral occupation of Iraq - surge or no surge.
Walter C. Uhler
is an independent scholar and freelance writer whose work has been
published in numerous publications, including The Nation, the Bulletin
of the Atomic Scientists, the Journal of Military History, the Moscow
Times and the San Francisco Chronicle. He also is President of the
Russian-American International Studies Association (RAISA).
Does it matter if these women were retarded and manipulated or willing and aware? We know that the leaders of "the insurgency" are brutal, manipulative, and competent. That they can find human weapons should not surprise. The question is what are we doing there in the first place and do we have competency?
1
February 03, 2008
PF: Why would insurgents blow up an animal market?
The mentally retarded women had 35 pounds of remote-controlled explosives attached to them, according to the BBC. We know that the American invaders have already killed upwards of one million people, tortured thousands, organized death squads, and utilized chemical weapons throughout this conflict. They have dropped far more tonnage on this small country than in all of World War 2 and Vietnam. Yet Ken says it is the insurgency that's "brutal, manipulative, and competent." No, it is the Americans who are highly skilled, cold-hearted murderers.
So who set up these women and detonated the explosives? Who has the most to gain by continued chaos in this brutalized country? Wake up. It was the occupying army that pulled off this hideous crime, as it has so many, many times before. "Al Queda in Iraq"? Yeah, right. We can all smell Blackwater here.
2
February 04, 2008
Pastor Doodah: ...
Holy phrenology! The army experts can measure I.Q. by reading the bumps on the head of an exploded person. No wonder we're winning with smart people like that on our side. No doubt it was the same dirty Iraqi's who threw all those babies out of incubators before the *first* war who are now doing these terrible things. Man! We bomb them and we bomb them but they just... won't... LEARN.
3
February 04, 2008
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