Saturday, December 03, 2005

Muriel Degauque - belgian suicide bomber

In November, among the normal run of the mill suicide bomb attacks on US troops in Iraq, one stood out. The suicide bomber was female which isn't very surprising considering the attacks in Jordan and Israel and their use by the LTTE of Sri Lanka, but she is arguably the first white female european suicide bomber.

The belgian press which covered the story, has put forward brainwashing by her husband as the major motivation for the act. What kind of brainwashing would be required for a woman to disregard a natural tendency for survival and travel half a world away and blow themselves up for an almost alien cause.

This act has characterized the steady shift from regional ties to religious ones and the growing chasm between knowledge of the cultures.

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