Bombshell Read online

  Rosemarie Skaine, Female Suicide Bombers. Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Company, 2006.

  Jessica Stern, Terror in the Name of God. New York: Ecco Press, 2004.

  ———, “When Bombers Are Women.” Washington Post, December 18, 2003.

  Stanley J. Tambiah, Sri Lanka, Ethnic Fratricide and the Dismantling of Democracy. New York: Oxford University Press, 1986.

  Lawrence Wright, The Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11. New York: Knopf, 2006.

  Debra D. Zedalis, Female Suicide Bombers. Honolulu, Hawaii: University Press of the Pacific, 2004.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  This book would not have been possible without the support of many people. First and foremost, I want to thank Westwood Creative Artists, in particular Bruce Westwood and Carolyn Forde, for their support and encouragement since the inception of the project. I will always be grateful to Thomas Homer-Dixon, who was a real advocate in seeing the potential for this book. I want to thank everyone at Penguin Canada, and especially my editors Diane Turbide and Jonathan Webb. I am grateful to Scott Steedman and Chandra Wohleber for their significant improvement of my writing, and Sandra Tooze for all of her production assistance. Many thanks to Vijay Vaitheeswaran for suggesting the title. I am also grateful to Roger Haydon at Cornell University Press, the smartest man I know, for his indomitable patience and for allowing me to put other projects on the backburner in order to finish this book. Roger, you are a saint!

  Writing can be both a labor of love and an intensely painful process. Ideas come at their own pace and not always at the most opportune times. This can mean crazy hours on my laptop or scrawling notes on bits of paper when coming up with a turn of phrase. The scarcest luxury of all is time. I owe a debt of gratitude to the academic departments who have given me leave to write, and especially to the Office of Naval Research, whose support allowed me to teach a little less and write a little more. I specifically want to thank Ivy Estabrooke and Harold Hawkins for their support of my research projects as well as Jo and Ted for all their hard work. I thank the staff and the director, John Horgan, of the International Center for the Study of Terrorism (ICST) at Penn State, as well as Machelle Seiner and all of my colleagues at ICST. I am grateful to the dean of Liberal Arts, Susan Welch, as well as to Ray Lombra, Denise Solomon, Avis Kunz, Carolyn Sachs, Chris Woods, Trish Alexander, and Chris Bundy for giving me the time to make this book a reality.

  I thank all the women who gave me their time to discuss their histories and their feelings about being involved in insurgent and terrorist movements. For obvious reasons, I will not be able to identify all those who offered their time and patience in responding to my questions about such difficult and sensitive issues. There are others, however, that I can thank and mention by name. Pat at Coíste and Evelyn at Tar Anal helped enormously with various introductions in Belfast, and Sree helped locate material about the women of the LTTE. The staff at the Linen Hall Library assisted me tirelessly in sifting through years of historical background material on the Provisional IRA. Alistair Gordon and Ross Moore deserve thanks for everything they did to help me over several visits to the NIPC Collection in Belfast.

  Ehud Sprinzak and Chuck Tilly continue to inspire me even in their absence. They both taught me so much and I will always be grateful for having known and studied with them. I am grateful to the research assistance of Shireen Judeh, Yael Miller, Lauren Coffey, Clare Hatfield, Mike Bartenfeld, Kelley Johnson, and Eleonora Rossi, in addition to all of my former students at UGA. Your questions in class often spurred me to delve deeper into this subject matter.

  To my research collaborators, Kathleen Deloughery, Alex Downes, David Edelstein, Paul Gill, Ian Roxborough, Tricia Sullivan, and Ike Wilson: it is great working with such a talented team of people. Thank you all.

  My friends and colleagues have always been wonderful sounding boards for new ideas. They brave extended discussions replete with all of the gory details about terrorist tactics. I am always grateful for their input and support. Due to the limitations of space I can only list but a few of you who have helped over the years: Farhana Ali, Nichole Argo, Victor Asal, Sammy Barkin, Irina Bazarya, Tore Bjørgo, David Burbach, Dan Byman, Erica Chenoweth, Dara Cohen, Helen Currie, Beth De Sombre, Adam Dolnik, Dan Drezner, Kathy Driehaus, Richard English, Roberto Farneti, James Forest, Boaz Ganor, Dipak Gupta, Chris Harmon, Ron Hassner, Bruce Hoffman, Karyn Holdsworth, Rick and Jennifer Jacobs, Philip Jenkins, Sidney Jones, Jenna Jordan, Keith Karako, Chaim Kaufman, Mike Kenney, Peter Krause, David Lake, Tom Lauth, Roy Licklider, Michael, Carol, and Ed Lipson, Orla Lynch, Bill and Julie Middleton, Judy Miller, Cecilia Mills, Helen Murphy, Alex, Katie, and Roux Novak, Reuven Paz, Ami Pedazhur, Daniela Pisoiu, Chris Preble, David Rapoport, Jean-François Ratelle, Christopher, Lori, and Jack Rudolph, Marc Sageman, Steve Saideman, Prakhar Sharma, Phil Shrodt, Amy Shuster, Marcia Sprules, Zack Taylor, Eileen Trauth, Maurits van der Veen, Leonard Weinberg, Paul and Sue Wilkinson, and Dan Winship. Thank you all for your ideas, insights, comments, critiques, and friendship.

  I want to thank my family—my mother, Betty, Samara and Liam Archer-Bloom, Faygie Goldberg, Granda Martin, Louise and Rick Pygman—who are always the best cheerleaders for anything and everything I do.

  Last but certainly not least, I thank John for everything. Tá grá agam duit.

  All errors in this book are my sole responsibility and the views expressed represent those of the author and not of my academic institution, the International Center for the Study of Terrorism, or of the Department of the Navy.

  INDEX

  A

  Abbas, Mahmoud, 139

  Abdulhamid II, 101–2

  Abdullah, Noralwizah Lee Binti, 187–88, 190

  Abdurakhmenova, Djennet (Abdullaeva), 1–3, 4, 7

  Abu Ghraib, 223

  Abu Riesh Brigade, 131

  Abu Sayyaf, 177

  Adams, Gerry, 78

  ad-Din, Dr. Sa’ad, 218

  Adwan, Itisam, 217

  Afghanistan

  bin Laden in, 200, 231

  military camps, 226

  recruitment techniques, 247

  Taliban in, 201

  terrorists in, 192, 200

  training camps, 178, 200

  Afghan Services Bureau, 209

  Akras, Ayat, 23–24

  Al ‘Aqsa Intifada, 137

  Al ‘Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, 23, 131

  Al Aroud, Malika, 197–206, 207

  Al Aroud, Saida, 198

  Al Asadi, Adnan, 216

  Al Baghdadi, Abu Umar, 226

  Al Bis, Samir, 132

  Al Bis, Wafa, 130–134

  Al Dulaimi, Muhammed Hassan, 220

  Al Dulaymi, Amjad, 221–22

  Al Dulaymi, Sumaya, 221–22

  Al Faruq, Omar, 187

  Al Fitri, Munfiatun, 190–91

  Al Ghozi, Fathur Rohman, 194–95

  Al Habash, Dr. Muhammed, 230

  Al Hashlamoon, Noor, 129

  Al Husseini, Hajj Amin, 105–6

  Aliyeva, Sekilat, 55

  Al Janabi, Abir, 223

  Al Jazeera, 6, 52, 62, 129, 193

  Al Khansa’a, 208–9

  Al Khattab, Ibn, 41

  Al Maghribi, Dalal, 23

  Al Maliki, Nuri, 225

  Al Masri, Iyad, 116

  Al Masri, Izzedine as-Suheil, 98–99, 112–18, 119

  Al Masri, Salahaddin, 116

  Al Masri, Umm Iyad, 116

  Al Muhajir, Shaykh Abu Hamza, 226

  Al Qaeda

  affiliations, 177–78, 206, 209

  bombings by women, 214, 215

  creation, 21, 177, 209

  European links, 209

  first female bomber, 209–10

  funding of attacks, 180

  global nature, 206

  in Iraq, 215

  justification for attacks, 185

  marriages, 217, 222

  membership, 207

  and protection of Islam, 12

  purpo
se, 231

  recruitment techniques, 218–19, 220

  structure, 206

  training camps, 200

  weakness in, 215

  websites supporting, 32, 202, 208

  women in, 32, 201, 203, 208, 216, 226–230

  Al Qaradawi, Yusuf, 229, 230

  Al Qudsi, Shefa’a, 125–26, 137

  Al Rawi, Aby Ubaydah, 217

  Al Rawi, Umm Salamah, 217

  Al Rishawi, Mubarak Atrous, 213

  Al Rishawi, Sajida, 213

  Al Saud, Abdul Aziz bin Abdur Rahman (ibn Saud), 104, 105

  Al Siba’i, Hani, 229–30

  Al Takfir Wal Hirja, 209

  altruistic suicide, 120

  Al Wahhab, Muhammed ‘Abd, 184

  Al Zarqawi, Abu Musab, 209–14

  Al-Zawahiri, Ayman, 12, 32, 209, 213, 226–27, 228

  Amman, Pottu, 169

  Amnesty International, 27, 42

  Amsha, Hussein Omar Abu, 115

  anarchist attacks, 16

  Anas, Umm, 121, 122

  ANC, 150

  Andrianova, Anna, 49

  Ansar al-Sunnah terrorist group, 31, 223

  Anthony, Charles, 148

  anticolonial movement, 17–18

  anti-Semitism, 100, 101

  Arab Higher Committee, 106

  Arabs

  conflicts with Jews, 106–7

  cooperation with Jews, 112

  historic relations with Jews, 100, 102

  Arafat, Yasser, 109, 110, 111, 112

  Armagh, prison conditions, 80, 81–82

  Arnestad, Beate, 159

  ash-Shami, Abdullah, 121

  ash-Shammari, Nour Qaddour, 216

  assassinations

  attempts by LTTE, 170

  Dahmane, 201

  McKinley, 16

  Noordin Top, 196

  Rajiv Gandhi, 70, 140–42

  by Sri Lanka, 170–71

  Assassins (Muslim), 10–12

  at-Tamimi, Ahlam, 32, 98–99, 112–15, 119, 121, 122, 126–27, 134–36, 137, 138, 139, 246

  Aum Shinrikyo, 20

  Australian embassy bombing (2004), 180

  Ayub, Abdul Rahim, 192

  Ayyash, Yahya, 29

  Azzam, ‘Abdallah, 20–21

  az-Zaqq, Yusuf, 129

  B

  Baader-Meinhof Gang, 33, 150, 244

  Ba’asyir, Abu Bakar, 173, 181–83, 184, 188, 192

  Balasingham, Anton, 155

  Balfour, Arthur, 104

  Balfour Declaration, 104, 105

  Bali

  bombing (2002), 175, 179, 186

  bombing (2005), 179, 180

  bombings, 183

  as target, 179–180

  Bandaranaike, Solomon West Ridgeway Dias, 145

  Bandaranaike, Srimavo, 145

  Barayev, Adlan, 67

  Barayev, Arbi (Movsar), 43, 44, 45, 46, 48, 49, 53, 67

  Barayev, Arbi (warlord), 41, 42–43, 57

  Barayev, Bukhari, 53

  Barayeva, Khava, 42, 59

  Barayeva, Zura, 57, 59

  Baraykova, Medna, 55

  Barghouti, Abdullah, 98

  Basayev, Shamil, 4, 41, 42, 43, 53, 59, 61, 185

  Bassam, Ayachi, 199

  Bassam, Sheikh, 199

  Battle of Grozny, 40

  Battle of Karameh (1968), 109

  Battle of Okinawa, 13

  Begin, Menachem, 112

  Bektasevic, Mirsad, 212

  Ben Gurion, David, 107

  Ben Zur, Raanan, 136

  Berko, Anat, 128–29, 238, 245

  bin Abas, Hashim, 174

  bin Abas, Mohd Nasir, 174, 186, 187

  bin Abas, Nurhayati, 174

  bin Abas, Paridah, 187. See also binti Abas, Paridah

  bin ‘Ali, Hussein, 103, 105

  bin Hussein, Shamsul Bahri, 174

  bin Laden, Osama

  admiration of, 29, 185

  in Afghanistan, 200–1

  creation of al-Qaeda, 209

  goals, 12

  and Hutchison, 192

  and JI, 177–78

  selection of female bomber, 203

  sponsoring terrorists, 43

  training camp, 174

  views on female terrorists, 211

  on women’s role, 228

  bin Nurhasyim, Ali Ghufron (Mukhlas), 173

  bin Talal, King Hussein, 110

  binti Abas, Paridah, 173–75

  bin Yusuf, Abas, 173

  Black Panthers, 33

  Black Tigers, 155, 158, 159, 160, 162, 164, 167, 168

  Black Widows of Chechnya, 52

  bomb smuggling, in Belfast, 89

  Bono, 92

  booby traps, in Belfast, 88

  Brown, Gordon, 202

  Bruguière, Jean-Louis, 212

  Buda, Mario, 16

  Burns, John, 165

  Bush, George, 207, 230

  C

  car bombs, 150

  Carson, Sir Edward, 72

  Catherine the Great, 36, 37

  Centre Islamique Belge (CIB), 199

  Charles, Prince of Wales, 95

  Chechnya

  birth of terrorism in, 42–43

  Black Widows, 52

  culture/social structure, 38

  desire for independence, 39–40

  First War, 19, 39–40

  geography of, 35–36

  Islam in, 36–38

  people of, 36

  radicalization of women, 44

  rape in, 236

  Russian destruction of, 52

  Second War, 41–42, 58, 61, 66

  and suicide terrorism, 42–43

  terrorist organizations, 32

  wars, 35–43

  women’s involvement in war, 61

  women suicide bombers in, 137

  Cheikho, Khaled, 193

  children

  abduction of, 170

  as bombing victims, 136

  as collateral damage, 124

  co-opted by terrorists, 194, 195, 247

  deaths, in First Chechen War, 40, 52

  in Dubrovka siege, 53

  as human shields, 124

  in JI, 195

  in LTTE, 166

  as martyrs, 125

  as prisoners, 126, 129

  as soldiers, 170

  as targets, 120–121, 123, 124, 125

  as weapons, 214

  Christmas Eve bombing, 183

  civilian deaths

  endorsing of, 120

  in First Chechen War, 40

  by Indian peace keepers, 152

  justification for, 121, 123

  civil rights marches, 75

  coercion, 30, 62, 131, 134, 167, 218, 219, 220, 221, 225, 234–35, 241. See also recruitment techniques

  Collins, Michael, 73, 74, 94

  Colombo bus station bombing (1987), 150

  Corvera, Edwin, 193, 194

  counter-terrorism policies/efforts, 19, 49, 124, 125, 185, 194, 238–39, 238–41, 246–49

  Cruickshank, Paul, 203

  Cumann na mBan (Union of Women), 85

  D

  Daghlas, Muhammed Wail, 119

  Dahmane, Abdessater, 199, 200, 201, 203, 204

  Daly, Edward, 78

  Darshika, 158–61, 163, 164, 165, 168

  Darul Al Islam, 176

  Daughters of Iraq, 214, 231, 246, 247

  Dayan, Moshe, 102

  Dedukh, Sergey, 46

  Degauque, Muriel, 202, 211–13, 214, 234

  Deltsova, Tatyana, 46

  democracy, and counter-terrorism, 239–41

  Department of Homeland Security, 233

  de Valera, Eamonn, 73, 74, 94

  Dhat an-Nitaqayan Martyrdom Brigade, 217, 225

  Diana, Princess of Wales, 95

  Doctors Without Borders, 27, 64

  Dolphinarium disco attack, 119

  Doyle, Mary, 84

  Dreyfus, Alfred, 101

  Drumm, Maire, 88

  Dubrov
ka House of Culture, 43–52, 53, 62, 66–67

  Dudayev, Dzhokhar, 39, 40

  Dugayeva, Madina, 54–55

  Durkheim, Émile, 120

  Dursina, Sejarahtul, 188

  E

  Easter Uprising (Dublin 1916), 73

  education

  relationship with violence, 237

  for women, 240

  Egyptian Islamic Jihad, 209

  el Alami, Hamza, 206

  el Aroud, Malika, 211

  Elihadžiev, Danilahan (Žaga), 59

  Elihadžieva, Zulihan, 59

  El Ouaer, Rachid Bouraoui, 201

  Erambu, Madhivadhani, 166

  Ernesto, Steven, 214

  Esterhazy, Ferdinand, 101

  ethnic cleansing, 238

  Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA), 25

  F

  Fadillah, Haris, 187

  Fadillah, Mira Augustina, 187, 190

  Fadl, Dr., 228

  Fadlallah, Muhammed Hussein, 129, 229, 230

  Fahmideh, Hossein, 23

  Faisal, Prince, 105

  family, as recruiters, 30, 135, 167, 186, 220, 221, 222, 235–36

  family traditions, 30

  Farina, Umm Yahya Aysha, 207

  Farrell, Mairéad, 79–82, 83, 84–85, 89–90, 91, 92, 94, 95

  Fatah, 23, 109, 126

  Faul, Father Denis, 80

  Fawkes, Guy, 15

  Federal Party (FP), 145

  Federal Security Forces (FSB), 3, 5, 7, 40, 49–51, 61, 67

  Female Awakening Councils, 214

  feminists

  opinion of women in PIRA, 84

  and terrorism, 245

  Filipova, Irina, 55

  Fisher, Dan, 110

  Fisk, Robert, 99

  Fonseka, Sarath, 170

  Freedom Birds, 32, 142, 158

  Fyodorov, Lev, 50

  G

  Gandhi, Rajiv, 140–42, 151

  Ganiyev, Rustam (Aslan), 59, 60, 61

  Ganiyeva, Khadizhat (Milana), 57, 58, 59, 65

  Ganiyeva, Larissa (Fatima), 57, 58, 59, 65

  Ganiyeva, Raisa (Reshat), 61

  Garsallaoui, Moaz, 201–2, 203

  Gayatri. See Rajaratnam, Thenmuli (Gayatri)

  Gelvin, James, 104

  Genghis Khan, 11

  George III, 71

  George IV, 71

  Ghufron, Ali, 174, 175, 179, 186, 187, 188, 190, 196

  Ghufron, Amrozi, 196

  Gishnurkayeva, Aset (Asya), 54, 63–64

  Gorbachev, Mikhauk, 39

  Gordienko, Irina, 7

  Goris, Issam, 212

  Government of Ireland Act (1920), 73

  Grozny Ivan (Ivan the Terrible), 36

  Gubden Jamaat group, 6

  H

  Halim, Ferial Muchlis bin Abdul, 187

  Halutz, Dan, 123–24

  Hamas, 20, 24, 32, 112, 113, 115, 126, 127, 243, 246

  Hambali, 180, 182, 183, 187, 188