The funeral was reaching its end, so perhaps in the midst of their grief it was not surprising that the mourners took little notice of the late arrival of a teenage boy wearing a black leather jacket. But the boy had not come to mourn. He had come to kill. Moments after joining the crowd, he detonated his suicide vest.
The explosion on April 4 2008 in Diyala killed six mourners instantly and wounded another 34. Nearly all were so seriously injured that they had to be evacuated to medical facilities by helicopter; one of the injured died on the way.
But this was not merely the act of yet another suicide bomber. The 16- to 17-year-old boy was described in the log recording the event as “mentally retarded”. He had, the log noted, “facial features of a person with Down’s syndrome”.
IED components confiscated in Baghdad. Credit: Zoriah
The report concludes that this incident was not an isolated one, but part of an ongoing strategy to recruit “mentally handicapped” individuals; a result, the logs suggest, of al Qaeda’s increasing struggle to find willing participants:
April 4 2008
The use of a mentally handicapped individual to be a S-PBIED (suicide bomber) demonstrates the decline in AQIs [al Qaeda in Iraq] ability to recruit members and, more specifically, people willing to be suicide bombers.
A couple of months earlier, the logs detail the arrest of a doctor who had allegedly sold a list of female patients with learning difficulties to insurgents.
During questioning, the doctor said he had been approached by someone claiming to work for Iraqi security and was asked to provide details of patients.
October 2 2008
He did say that he was approached by a man called Number 1 and asked for the names of girls. Number 1 said that he worked for the security of Iraq. … the suspect [name redacted] allegedly received unspecified payment from [name redacted](LNU) and [name redacted] (LNU) to provide a list of female patients to them. These females were likely used in the 1 February 2008 dual suicide attack on markets in Thawra. It is unknown at this time whether or not [name redacted] is associated with AQI [al Qaeda in Iraq].
The logs mention only that the man was detained – we do not know if he was found guilty.
Related article: 15,000 new civilian deaths uncovered in files
Co-ordinated suicide bombings
The documents suggest that the twin market bombings in Baghdad earlier in the month, which killed at least 50 people, had involved suicide bombers on the hospital list.
The files relating to one of these bombings noted:
February 1 2008
C2 Assessment is that the Rusafa in Iraq AQI network was responsible for this attack. This incident cannot be directly tied to other attacks that have previously taken place in this market area. It is believed that the suicide bomber was unwitting and appears to have been handicapped.
A second bombing on the same day was also put down to a bomber with learning difficulties.
On February 28 2008, a log reports the attempted kidnapping of a mentally ill teenage boy. It is assumed that he was being kidnapped for use as a suicide bomber. As he attempted to flee his would-be kidnappers, it appeared the boy was shot and injured by a US patrol.
These reports proved useful justification for coalition forces facing mounting hostility at home, but they also reflect the depravity that was still haunting the streets of Iraq a year after the launch of the Surge.
They are not the only logs that show a callous manipulation of the vulnerable in the conflict.
Related article: al Qaeda’s deadly exploitation of Iraqi children
October 23rd, 2010at 12:33 pm(#)
shame
October 24th, 2010at 3:49 am(#)
This story reminds me of The Kuwaiti Incubator Hoax http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nurse_Nayirah
October 24th, 2010at 3:57 pm(#)
Over 10% of those born in Iraq do not live to age 5, due to the US led war. That certainly dwarfs anything al Qaeda has done.
October 24th, 2010at 9:32 pm(#)
Children in Iraq rarely made it past 5 years because of the horrific sanctions imposed on Iraq. My God when you understand how many years we bombed that country to hell and back, is it any wonder they “hate us”. The american corporate media withheld the truth, the Pentagon, and Bush adm. lied….all should be subject now, to a new Nuremberg Trial. We as americans who believe in the Consitution, and international law, cannot permit this stain on our country to continue. Its the Justice Dept to prove they are just, fair and equal. No muslim country will ever believe the US, UK and Coalition forces were not out to “kill Muslims”. We will be haunted and hunted for decades to come. I wait for the corporate press (and their million dollar talking heads) to start calling wikileaks “terrorists”, or traitors. The real traitors ARE the american press who were embedded with forces and never reported on these horrors. Who ever leaked this material to Wikileaks is a hero in my book. The Pentagon Papers helped end the god awful Vietnam war, perhaps Wikileaks dump will end both illegal wars, Iraq and Afganistan.
October 24th, 2010at 11:21 pm(#)
[...] Y aunque no hayan sido los que iniciaron el conflicto, los mismos irakíes han matado a gente inocente. Muchos de los insurgentes se podría decir que están intentando de defenderse contra los invasores, pero hay otros que son igual de culpables de propagar la violencia y la crueldad en Irak. Al Qaeda In Irak, por ejemplo, se le acusa de recrutar niños para montar ataques suicidas, además de personas con discapacidad mental como Síndrome de Down. [...]
October 25th, 2010at 7:26 am(#)
woowwwwww
There’s just no words to truly grapple with how despicable and sick this is.
May 22nd, 2011at 11:30 pm(#)
yes the US has done horrible things, but this article is about the Al Queda using mentally handicapped people due to the inability to find willing suicide bombers… you people don’t seem to be commenting on the proper article…