A Different Class of Warfare
How does one combat something like THIS?
Four suicide bombers believed to be women struck a Shiite pilgrimage in Baghdad and a Kurdish protest rally in northern Iraq on Monday, killing at least 57 people and wounding nearly 300 in one of this year’s deadliest attacks, police said.
The U.S. military is recruiting and training women in Iraq’s police force, and trying to enlist them to join U.S.-allied Sunni groups fighting against al-Qaida in Iraq. But such attacks are becoming increasingly common, even as overall violence is at the lowest level in four years.
Women are more easily able to hide explosives under their all-encompassing black Islamic robes, or abayas, and often are not searched at checkpoints because of sensitivities.
They’re playing with a different set of rules than we are. Or maybe they’re simply ignoring the rules altogether. Still, this doesn’t seem to be the solution:
After the explosion, dozens of angry Kurds opened fire on the offices of a Turkomen political party, which opposes Kurdish claims on Kirkuk.
A terribly tragic, frightening state of affairs, but how exactly is that going to help?
We are dealing with a very, very different mindset, it would seem. The careful and intentional cultivation of irrational rage is deeply troubling to me. Even if the situation calls for a response, that sort of outrage seems like it cannot possibly be helpful.
