Table of Contents 1. Nationalists and Baathists
2. Jihadi Salafis
3. Suicide Terrorism in Iraq4. Ideology of Martyrdom
5. Martyrdom Mythology6. Arab Fighters in Iraq
7. European Muslims in Iraq
8. Policy Implications | Approximately forty-one percent of suicide bombers in Iraq come from Saudi Arabia. The rest are from Libya, Yemen, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Jordan, Turkey, Egypt, and Europe. One of the latest bombers is Abdallah Salih al-Ajmi, a Kuwaiti that was detained in Guantánamo from 2002 to 2005. He became a suicide bomber for Al Qaeda in Iraq in April 2008. These martyrs without borders come mainly through Syria and are responsible for nearly ninety percent of suicide attacks in Iraq. Increasingly, Al Qaeda is recruiting female suicide bombers to carry out these deadly missions. Who are these suicide bombers? What motivates foreign fighters to fight and die in Iraq? Why are the Shiites and Iraqi security forces the main targets of suicide bombers in Iraq? How are the suicide bombers in Iraq foiling U.S. plans to stabilize the country and turn it into a democratic regime and an ally in a region of religious radicalism, entrenched dictatorships, and hostile states with nuclear ambitions? Offering clear and original analysis, Suicide Bombers in Iraq answers these and other vexing questions. This study, the first of its kind on the Iraqi insurgency, draws extensively on open-source intelligence and papers of record, primary sources from insurgent groups including online documents and videos, and interviews with U.S. servicemen who have served in Iraq. It examines the history of suicide bombing around the globe, theoretical perspectives on suicide terrorism, the varied factions that comprise the insurgency, the ideology and theology of martyrdom supporting suicide bombers, their national origins and characteristics, and the prospects for a “third generation” of transnational jihadists forged in the crucible of Iraq. 240 pp. ♦ 6 x 9 $17.50 (paper) United States Institute of Peace |
