You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Submit your comments on this article
Israel-Palestine
Israelis Stop Teen Wearing Suicide Vest
2004-03-25
More on last night's post...
A 16-year-old Palestinian with a suicide bomb vest strapped to his torso was on a mission to kill the Israeli soldiers who caught and disarmed him before he could strike, the army said. The youngster told a newspaper he had been afraid to die.
"Really, I just wanted to hurt myself. I'm into pain, y'know. In school, when the bullies wuz handin' out dutch rubs, I usedta step right up..."
In an interview with the Yediot Ahronot newspaper Thursday, the boy, identified as Hussam Abdo, said he wanted to go to paradise but feared killing himself until he neared the Israeli army roadblock and was stopped. "When the soldiers stopped me, I didn't press the switch. I changed my mind. I didn't want to die anymore," Abdo said, according to the newspaper. "I'm sorry for what I did."
Not nearly as sorry as you'd have been — briefly — had you pressed the switch...
The military said Abdo's mission was to kill himself soldiers at the crowded West Bank checkpoint. "In addition to the fact that he would have harmed my soldiers, he would have also harmed the Palestinians waiting at the checkpoint, and there were 200 to 300 innocent Palestinians there," said the commander of the checkpoint, who identified himself only as Lt. Col. Guy.
As in "Big Guy"? Or simply the "Guy in Charge"?
During the tense encounter Wednesday, soldiers took cover behind concrete barricades and sent a yellow army robot with scissors to the teenager so he could cut off the vest. Before he finally was detained, the youngster was made to strip to his underwear to prove he had no other weapons.
... followed by a biopsy, I hope.
Leaders of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades militant group denied sending the boy, but local members in Nablus' Balata refugee camp said they did. The group has ties to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement. The family of the teenager said he was gullible and easily manipulated.
"Yeah. He's just stoopid."
"He doesn't know anything, and he has the intelligence of a 12-year-old," said his brother, Hosni.
"He was dropped on his head when he was young."
In the newspaper interview, Abdo said he wanted to reach paradise, which he was taught in school was the reward for suicide bombers. "A river of honey, a river of wine and 72 virgins. Since I have been studying Quran I know about the sweet life that waits there (in Paradise)," the newspaper quoted the boy as saying.
Posted by:Fred

#15  commander of the checkpoint, who identified himself only as Lt. Col. Guy.

I knew Lucky was never completely honest with us. ;>
Posted by: Shipman   2004-03-25 7:50:45 PM  

#14  
A 16-year-old boy might have a lot of physical energy for 72 virgins, but he still hasn't developed the maturely complex and perverse imagination that is necessary for subtle seduction and eternal endurance in such circumstances.

A 16-year-old boy's moronic and shallow dullness will gradually bore all 72 virgins and will drag them down to his own slutish stupidity.

A sophisticated, mature man -- especially one schooled in the Rantburg arts -- will gradually delight and elevate the playful, sylphic maidens up to his own sophisticated sensuality.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester   2004-03-25 7:10:05 PM  

#13  Via Allah, here's an actual quote from the kid:
Blowing myself up is the only chance I've got to have sex with 72 virgins in the Garden of Eden.
Unbelievable.
Posted by: someone   2004-03-25 6:57:09 PM  

#12  From what I hear this kids mother is seriously pissed at whoever talked her son into this. If we can get the mothers of the Muddle East to become overprotective domineering types maybe we can solve this problem.
Posted by: Cheddarhead   2004-03-25 5:47:10 PM  

#11  Mojo

According to the Koran all that is forbidden on earth is permitted the faithful (ie men, women don't count) in paradise. Everyone assumes that those 72 virgins are girls. Not necessarially.
Posted by: Anonymous   2004-03-25 3:24:27 PM  

#10  Sorta OT.

Have a look at todays Cox and Forkum, i think its hysterical.
Posted by: Evert Visser in NL   2004-03-25 3:22:59 PM  

#9  Moloch returns. I wonder if it's something in the water or genes to make this sort of stuff always happen in the same geographical area.

Hamas and Fatah are claiming that they are getting hundreds of volunteers for suicide ops. The reality is that they have to bribe retarded kids. How come the well fed guys at the protests with the fake explosive belts and the hoods never go boom? Instead its always the skinny, introspective types that in the US would be reading too much maudlin poetry and contemplating suicide anyway.
Posted by: 11A5S   2004-03-25 2:48:20 PM  

#8  "He doesn't know anything, and he has the intelligence of a 12-year-old,"

-insert any mullah/ayatollah/ or imam's name into that sentence.
Posted by: Jarhead   2004-03-25 2:21:44 PM  

#7  "He doesn't know anything, and he has the intelligence of a 12-year-old,
What's Hosni miffed about? That he didn't hold out for $35? Considering the result, I would say Hussam is one of the brighter kids in Paleostan.
Posted by: Rex Mundi   2004-03-25 2:17:49 PM  

#6  the great heroric paleo fighter
Posted by: Dan   2004-03-25 1:58:38 PM  

#5  someone shuld tell him he drop his sweater.
Posted by: muck4doo   2004-03-25 1:55:19 PM  

#4  The Washington Post actually put this teen boomer story in the paper today (not on the front page but in the A section -

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22184-2004Mar24.html).

They also had a serious piece by Jim Hoagland on why the convention wisdom (read PC meme) about the cycle of violence is wrong.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22433-2004Mar24.html

There may be hope yet.
Posted by: mhw   2004-03-25 1:36:06 PM  

#3  You're only allowed to gargle.
Posted by: Fred   2004-03-25 1:34:27 PM  

#2  If alcohol's so bad, why is there a river of wine in paradise?
Posted by: mojo   2004-03-25 1:32:44 PM  

#1  A river of honey, a river of wine and 72 virgins.

Let's see -- one river that's sticky and too thick to swim in, one that's haram and forbidden for Muslims, and 6 dozen women that are either hags, kids, or have no clue what they're doing.

That's paradise?
Posted by: Robert Crawford   2004-03-25 1:31:39 PM  

00:00