The Power of a Suicide Bomber

Suicide bombers.It’s a horrific reality that is happening almost in every nation in today’s world. Sadly, people do kill themselves to make sure others die, and I honestly find that to be one of the sickest things in the world. No, it’s not rape, but it definitely is murder. It is such an extreme form of murder that I don’t think anyone would ever be able to fathom the idea unless they were a suicide bomber themselves. So, what makes someone want to die while killing others? Is it a religious thing, are they suicidal, or are they scared to live?

In the movie The Hurt Locker, Sergeant First Class William James, played by Jeremy Renner, is the EOD (American Explosive Ordnance Disposal) leader. His job is to deactivate bombs, a very critical yet dangerous job that could kill him at any instance. Toward the end of the movie, he comes in contact with a suicide bomber. He does everything in his power to help him. Here is a clip from YouTube that will give you much more insight.

After watching the clip, was the suicide bomber innocent or guilty? In my own opinion, I think he was taken hostage, had bombs strapped to him, and was killed horrifically. Clearly, he was killed, but the unknown is everything leading up to the point between himself and Sergeant James. If you watch closely, right before the bombs detonate, the man prays up to his god, realizing that death has, in fact, met him. So, it may also be assumed that he could have done this for religious purposes.

As you can tell from the clip, suicide bombers can cause a lot of damage. The UN News Center reported recently that on September 29, 2013 a suicide bombing took place at a mosque in Timbuktu, Mali. Here is what the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization had to say about the bombing:

“Yesterday's attack, which targeted the military personnel of the Malian armed forces at the entrance of their base in Timbuktu, occurred near the Djingareyber Mosque. There was substantial damage to the mosque and many houses nearby, UNESCO said in a news release.

Many suicidal bombings, like this one, happen all the time. The damage is very substantial, and recovery can take a very long time.  Boston.com reports about a suicide bomber in their article “The Truth About Suicide Bombers”. Here is what they reported:

“’Qari Sami did something strange the day he killed himself. The university student from Kabul had long since grown a bushy, Taliban-style beard and favored the baggy tunics and trousers of the terrorists he idolized. He had even talked of waging jihad. But on the day in 2005 that he strapped the bomb to his chest and walked into the crowded Kabul Internet cafe, Sami kept walking — between the rows of tables, beyond the crowd, along the back wall, until he was in the bathroom, with the door closed. And that is where, alone, he set off his bomb. The blast killed a customer and a United Nations worker, and injured five more. But the carnage could have been far worse. Brian Williams, an associate professor of Islamic studies at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, was in Afghanistan at the time. One day after the attack, he stood before the cafe’s hollowed-out wreckage and wondered why any suicide bomber would do what Sami had done: deliberately walk away from the target before setting off the explosives. “[Sami] was the one that got me thinking about the state of mind of these guys,” Williams said. Eventually a fuller portrait emerged. Sami was a young man who kept to himself, a brooder. He was upset by the US forces’ ouster of the Taliban in the months following 9/11 — but mostly Sami was just upset. He took antidepressants daily. One of Sami’s few friends told the media he was “depressed.” Today Williams thinks that Sami never really cared for martyrdom; more likely, he was suicidal. “That’s why he went to the bathroom,” Williams said.”’

This report gives the idea that maybe the bombing took place because Sami was potentially suicidal. However, it does state that he grew a beard and began to wear a cloak and turban just like of someone like Osama bin Laden. Whatever his reason may have been, it definitely was a very personal matter. The main difference in this attack verses the one in “The Hurt Locker” is that in the movie, we see the man’s expression, his fear, and his plea. When someone goes to the restroom and blows the place up from that location, it’s clear that his purpose was to be extremely selfish and die while killing others.

The power of a suicide bomber, in my opinion, is determined by the reason(s) for the bombing in the first place. People are probably going to disagree with that, but I really feel that the man in the movie did not do that on purpose. It’s very clear that Sami’s intentions were to kill himself while killing others regardless of depression or religious views. Overall, suicide bombers are something that haunts the world. We honestly never know when they could be around.