Suicide bombers in Iraq : the strategy and ideology of martyrdom / Mohammed M. Hafez.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hafez, Mohammed M., 1970-

Contributor:

United States Institute of Peace.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Suicide bombers--Iraq.

Suicide bombers.

Suicide bombings--Iraq.

Suicide bombings.

Terrorism--Iraq.

Terrorism.

Iraq.

Insurgency--Iraq.

Insurgency.

Martyrdom--Islam.

Martyrdom.

Physical Description:

xviii, 285 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Washington, D.C. : United States Institute of Peace Press, 2007.

Summary:

The war in Iraq was supposed to be easy. Instead it has shown that Islamic resistance and martyrdom can defeat the only remaining superpower, just as jihadists drove the Soviet Union from Afghanistan during the 1980s. Now a haven for jihadists, Iraq has entered a civil war whose duration, scope, and magnitude have yet to be determined.

The overwhelming majority of suicide attacks in Iraq have targeted Iraqi security forces and Shia civilians, not coalition forces. The perpetrators appear to be largely non-Iraqi volunteers. Many are from Saudi Arabia, but significant numbers have come from Europe, Syria, Kuwait, Jordan, and North Africa. They are 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 authoritarianism, and hostile states with nuclear ambitions.

Understanding the phenomenon of suicide bombing in Iraq is therefore vitally important for U.S. national security, foreign policy in the Muslim world, and the war on terrorism. 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. service members who have served in Iraq; Examines the history of suicide bombing in Iraq and many other countries, theoretical perspectives on suicide bombing, and the varied factions that comprise the insurgency; Explores 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.

Contents:

Introduction: Suicide bombers in historical and theoretical perspective

Nationalists and Baathists

The jihadi Salafis

Suicide terrorism in the Iraqi insurgency

The ideology and theology of martyrdom

Martyrdom mythology in Iraq

Arab fighters in Iraq

European Muslims in Iraq

Implications for theory and policy

Appendix 1: List of Sunni insurgent groups in Iraq, 2003-2006

Appendix 2: Names and nationalities of known suicide bombers in Iraq

Appendix 3: Zarqawi's men

Appendix 4: Al Qaeda's evolution in Iraq.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781601270047

1601270046

OCLC:

124036176