Wenza Ali Mutlaq walked a bit uncertainly up the long street near the main government offices here on June 22, the hot wind stirring her heavy black abaya. She passed the concrete barricades put up to ward off suicide car bombers and made her way alone, almost haphazardly.
Suddenly, a police car zoomed in. A policeman got out to talk with her. And then their lives were over ”” torn apart, along with 14 other people, by the huge blast of fire from her concealed explosive vest.
Ms. Mutlaq, who was in her 30s and whose attack was captured on a security video, was the 18th female suicide bomber of the war to strike in Diyala Province, which has been hit by female attackers much more frequently than any other province of Iraq, according to Iraqi police records and the American military. So far, 11 of the 20 suicide bombings carried out by women in Iraq this year have occurred in Diyala.
Why so many women? Why now? In a particularly painful twist, the phenomenon seems to have arisen at least in part because of successes in detaining and killing local members of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, a homegrown Sunni insurgent group that American intelligence officials say is led by foreigners.
The article itself is better than the headline. It’s not “despair” but abusive pressure which makes these women do this:[blockquote]The subordinate role of women in conservative, rural Sunni families in Diyala makes them particularly vulnerable to pressure, said Sajar Qaduri, a member of the Diyala Provincial Council and the only woman on its security committee.[/blockquote]My husband’s comment about the phenomenon of women suicide bombers is that Islamists have no honor.
And it is a rich irony that so many feminists cannot distinguish Islamism from Chivalry.
honor? we’re dealing with a logic that leads to male relatives murdering rape victims to protect their “honor” …. as opposed to taking revenge on the attacker!
3. elanor:
You say,
“..honor? we’re dealing with a logic that leads to male relatives murdering rape victims to protect their ‘honor’ .
There is honor even among thieves. But there is no chivalry nor logic in killing the victim. There is also no chivalry nor logic in sending our women off to war. There is also no chivalry nor logic in feminism.
On the other hand, I do agree with #1 because I see these evil men as preserving their privilages at the expense of thier victims (especially women). If you know cultural history you will recognise the common application of this evil principle. As a Norwegian, I can look far back in my heritage where women would be used communally and then sacrificed to the gods; how convenient! It was Christianity that destroys these errant and evil means of “honor”.
Don