Monday, November 14, 2005

Jihadi-bomber lady's story sounds like a story



I'm having a hard time completely buying the story of the would-be Iraqi suicide bomber lady caught in Jordan. Does this make any sense:

"My husband wore a belt and put one on me. He taught me how to use it, how to pull the (primer cord) and operate it," she said, wringing her hands.

"My husband detonated (his bomb). I tried to explode (my belt) but it wouldn't. I left, people fled running and I left running with them."

Muasher said al-Rishawi's husband noticed her struggle and pushed her out of the ballroom in order not to attract attention before blowing himself up.


Jon Lovitz would be proud. First she says her husband blew himself up, then her belt failed. Then she says her husband pushed her out of the room, presumably because hers failed to ignite. This was done before he blew himself up (of course), yet I'm thinking if a woman standing in a crowd had tried to pull a cord inside her gown, and was having trouble, and her husband then "pushed" her out of the room, somebody might notice.

Since he pushed her out of the room, that means he left and came back. Presuming someone saw this happen, why wouldn't they have already alerted security? She also says she panicked and ran out with "everyone else". Why run out when you're already out? She had to be at least some distance from her husband's bomb lest she be injured.

Finally, why would the husband push this woman out at all? Why not just allow her to be blown up with his bomb, since she was going to die anyway? Surely he had to assume the Jordanians could capture her. Now we've got the woman and her unexploded bomb with all it's components to study. Thanks dude.

I think it was more like this--moments before zero hour she got a burst of sanity and thought "what the hell am I doing standing here with RDX strapped on my body?", at which point she pushed her own butt out the door as fast as possible.

MORE 11/14
I was remiss in forgetting to post the link to this story. In looking for it this morning, it can no longer be easily found. Corresponding versions from CNN and Haaretz do not have all of the above comments. If memory serves, my source was AP.

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