Smart Bombs vs. Intelligent Bombs

The Suicide Bomb Hocus
 By C. E. Carlson

Israel is justifying its continuing assassination of Palestinian civilians and destruction of their property on grounds that Palestinian terrorist bombers are intentionally killing innocent Israelis. What if, in fact, the human bombers attack military targets and not civilians...is this still terrorism?

Though the rest of the world sees it the other way around, most Americans seem to be persuaded that the Israelis are the good guys and the Palestinians are the bad guys. According to recent polls, these beliefs are derived largely from the media, which uses the label terrorist repeated day after day to describe Palestinians, while labeling Israeli actions as purely defensive. For instance, according to Fox News on May 5, 2002, a mother from Jenin and her three and four year old children were all shot to death, each hit in the head or upper body, and in a separate incident the same day a nine year old boy from Tulkarem was shot twice in the chest and killed...all in one day. But Israel excused these as military targets and provided various excuses. The media has persuaded many Americans that if Palestinians kill Israeli civilians, that's terrorism which must be fiercely punished; but, when Israelis kill Palestinian civilians, often children, that's collateral damage. Israelis shrug and say they were aiming at government buildings; that civilians were acting suspiciously; or children just got in the way.

A majority of Americans buy into the label terrorist state to describe Palestinians based on the acts of 55 Palestinian human bombers. This number and our information regarding these acts, comes to us from military press releases prepared by Ariel Sharon's government, previous governments, and also from this author's personal observation of military presence in Israel. It can be shown that all or most Israeli death reports carried in the US media purposely omit mentioning of persons who happen to be in the Israeli Defense Forces or paramilitary, and that the 55 terrorist bombing of innocent civilians were undoubtedly aimed at Military personal.

WHTT thinks it is time to examine the one-sided use of the label terrorist, and to ask whether there is any real difference between Israeli smart bombs and Palestinian human bombs that warrants one being called terrorist, but not the other. 

Touring Israel on a Military Bus

The station at Ashqelon where I boarded the noon bus for Jerusalem was like every one of the half-dozen stations I had seen in my tour. Except for military passengers in uniform, it was nearly empty; tourism is at a halt countrywide. Those in uniform were of both sexes, in their early twenties or younger, wearing the khaki colors of the Israeli Defense Forces. Most men and women were armed with short, banana clipped carbines slung, barrel down, from the shoulder. Several other military-age men with short haircuts were present, but not in uniform, presumably off duty.

In Israel, the buses are owned and subsidized by the government; each is a military transport, dropping the armed forces off at bus stops and duty stations along the way where jeeps and trucks sometimes wait. The communication system appears to be the cell phone, which many carry. Though I had been through the stand-in-line-and-get-squeezed by people carrying guns exercise several times before, this was the first time it occurred to me that I was boarding a military transport, a natural target. (Note 2)

A young girl caught my eye, for it was fresh in my mind that several of the human bombers had been females. She did not quite look or act as the rest of the crowd. She was alone, she had a large handbag, which she did not stow, she was dressed in modestly loose clothes, she was not mixing with anyone and she appeared preoccupied. Her face could have been Arabic... My imagination began to run wild; could she be a human bomb?

The moment passed, and so did the bus ride; it was not bombed. But the lesson was not lost on me; anyone who boards an Israeli bus is taking a military position, just as if you hitchhiked through town in one of the Army's jeeps. This answered a question I had often wondered about--why buses have been bombed so often during the years I have been reading about suicide bombings. Now I knew why: every bus is full of armed Israelis. 

Not one of the four buses I rode on for a total of over a thousand kilometers while in Israel was less than 25% military-occupied at any time, and most was well in excess of that. It occurred to me, why would a Palestinian bomber waste his life on a civilian target, when he could target a busload of armed soldiers on their way to or from attacks on Jenin or Ramallah? The answer was obvious--Palestinian guerillas do target buses, and they hit buses more often than any other target, perhaps more often than all other targets combined.

The Israeli Foreign Minister has admitted the deaths of military personnel in only two of nine bus bombings in an official report. In the others, the victims were called Israelis without stating if they were civilian, military or both. Having seen the Israelis bend the truth before our eyes in Jenin, there is no reason to think they would not also make omissions about their IDF casualties in order to make the Palestinians out to be terrorists. *see note 

Because the body bombers act in a logical fashion, I have chosen to call them Intelligent Bombs and consider them more efficient than the American-made "smart bombs" used by Israel in their ability to select and hit military targets. Smart bombs have killed and injured many times the number of civilians than Intelligent Bombs have. The difference between them is not that one kills civilians and the other doesn't. The difference is that one targets Israelis and the other targets Palestinians.

The reason Americans are told that every attack by a Palestinian human bomb is against innocent Jewish civilians and every Israeli smart bomb attack is against terrorists, even though Arab casualties are mainly civilian, is because the Israeli government and its American media supporters are the ones who issue the reports. These biased reports always paint Israel's objective as military, even when snipers kill four-year-old children who slip out of their mothers' grasp. And Israelis are always said to be responding to acts of terrorism, even when they are slaughtering civilians in their beds, as I witnessed from a rooftop in Gaza, when four civilians were killed an 30 injured by an Apache smart bomb attack launched from 1.5 miles away.

To Israelis, the American Press and the Celebrity Christian leadership in America, there is no such thing as an innocent Palestinian, regardless of age or occupation, and there is no such thing as a guilty Israeli, even one who murders children. It is inexcusable that Americans, particularly Christians, should adopt this racist Israeli mindset. 

Lest there be doubt, this writer supports the Palestinian right to launch bombs on Israelis any way they know how, because they are the victims. A talk show host asked me recently, "What is the difference between a suicide bombing and a very dangerous, volunteers-only mission," such as many Americans undertook in WWII and Korea and in every other war? I do not condemn Intelligent Bombs, as so many others do. Many people have recently begun to correctly observe that the Palestinians are using the only tactic left to them. I grieve for these young people and their families, and it pains me that it is my country--America--that has deprived them of hope.

Are we to believe that every body-bomber is an irrational sub-human who cleverly manages to single out "innocent civilians" and never hits at military targets, as Mr. Bush and Mr. Netanyahu suggest? The primary objective of my trip to Gaza was to answer these questions: Do body bombers target innocent civilians, and if so, do they do this because it is impossible to get at the military? The answers, I discovered, are no and no. No, the bombers do not purposely set out to harm children, though Israelis have targeted over 400 school-aged Palestinian juveniles, and this number includes only those killed and not the wounded. And no, it is not hard to find Israeli military targets to strike at; if one can get into Israel, the huge military is everywhere and anywhere, day and night.

In the 18 months since the start of the Intifada II uprising, there have been a few more than the 55 human bombings that Ariel Sharon recently referenced as the cause of Israeli violence. One occurred at the bus stop at the Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem on April 12th, and another on a bus in Haifa on April 10th. An unsuccessful attempt killed only the Intelligent Bomb, and no one else was hurt. And there was an attack on a settlement by two persons who, according to the Israelis, escaped. We Hold These Truths has discussed settler attacks in "Are Settlers Squatters."

In the same period of time, Israel tortured to death more than a hundred persons in documented cases; it killed about 1100 civilians before the Jenin massacre, and tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians--many of them children--have been wounded or crippled by the IDF for life. Many of the children, some four years old or less, were shot by snipers. Are we supposed to believe they, too, were terrorists? Are we supposed to accept and excuse any crime that Israel commits because of the acts of the 55 suicide bombers? 

The Jerusalem bus stop bombing report on April 12, 2002, tells part of the story. A young woman, presumably Arab, detonated a bomb in a crowd of Israeli civilians at a bus stop. A bystander's report stated she first tried to enter the market but was turned away and went directly to the bus stop; being an Intelligent Bomb, she probably had an alternate target. According to the official Israeli report, six people were killed and 70 wounded. The report did not mention the loss of military persons, leading us to assume they were all civilians, but were they?

Jerusalem was known to be teeming with military on April 12, the very day Colin Powell was arriving. Would it not be logical for a human bomb to detonate herself next to the enemy--the Israeli military? I doubt if there was a bus stop in Israel at which 76 people were assembled where half or more were not military. I was there one month earlier, and I saw mostly soldiers at every stop. Let us look more closely at the numbers. 

Israel is an armed camp with over 200,000 armed and uniformed soldiers actively patrolling. They swarm over a small part of a very small country. In addition, there are 400,000 reservists who perform some active duty annually, and many of these have been called up. They travel about on the State-owned public bus system. There are enough Defense Force soldiers to station five of them on every square mile of space in Israel and Palestine; most are concentrated around the tiny West Bank and Gaza. 

How many tens of thousands were in Jerusalem during the siege of the Church of the Nativity, when this bombing occurred? The report was made by the Israeli press, and the Palestinian press was denied access to the site of the explosion. The incident was called a "terrorist attack." Are we supposed to believe this young girl could not find a single IDF uniform to stand next to when she detonated the charge that ended her life? How convenient for Mr. Sharon, bent on showing the Arabs to be the villains of Jenin.

Compare this to the bus bombing that occurred in Hebron only two days before, on April 10th, where the Arab-friendly Palestinian Chronicle issued this report: "A bomb detonated in a bus near the northern Israeli town of Haifa, killing at least 10 people and wounding 20 others, mostly soldiers, “but I did not see this in the US Press. Israeli radio reported the bombing, and the Israeli police sources say the suicide bomber detonated himself on the bus. The bus was on its way to Jerusalem." Here we are told the official sources admit on radio that most of those killed and injured were soldiers, which indicates that most of those on the bus were soldiers. This is consistent with my own experience on buses to and from Jerusalem and everywhere else in Israel. 

There is more deception in this April 10th report; for the official sources fail to mention that every third soldier is a female. How many of those killed were females? I have yet to see the Israeli media admit to a female casualty--ask yourself why? The Israeli military can be readily recognized by their age, even when they are out of uniform. All Israeli boys and girls have to serve, so everyone over high school age up to about 40 can be reasonably presumed to be a soldier, no matter where he (or she) is found! Men must stay in for three years and women 1.5 years, so one would expect every third solder to be a girl, and this is observable. So why no female soldiers are reported killed? The reason is that most of the world finds it disgusting that the decadent state of Israel uses rifle-armed women in combat. So, Israeli propaganda hides the fact through its omissions in its reports.

A few of the Intelligent Bombs have attacked malls, fast food joints and discos. McDonald's swarms with uniformed men and women during daylight hours and at night the bars and restaurants cater to them while off duty, dressed in civilian clothes. I did not visit a single business establishment where food, liquor, music or any kind of entertainment was offered where there were not military customers. In effect, they are 200,000 young tourists after duty hours.

The Jerusalem bombing the week of March 6th near Ariel Sharon's house in a "Jerusalem restaurant" occurred at about midnight! What an inviting military target, barrooms full of mellow young Israeli soldiers in their street clothes. But the Israeli account of the incident mentioned no military casualties and neglected to mention the late hour. At midnight in a Jerusalem bar, with tourism at ground zero, it is doubtful that anyone would be present except military, but who would know them, if they are not in uniform...only their mothers and Ariel Sharon, certainly not the American public. The only time I can recall an American press account of dead military from an Intelligent Bomb was when it was at a checkpoint, where only military persons could have been present, or when a settlement was attacked inside Palestinian territory where Palestinian observers might be looking.

I talked over dinner to a Russian poolroom owner in a strip shopping center in seaside Ashqelon near the rundown hotel where I spent the night of March 6th. He told me his business was OK, but not for tourists. Most of his 21 pool tables were being used on that Monday night, mostly by peachy-faced youths of both sexes. "Do you get much military business?" I asked. "Sure, all of them," he said with a wave of an arm. "They are the only ones with money and time." But not one was in uniform. Another military target, I thought. A bomber could have blasted the place and hit nothing but soldiers and soldier girls, except for the owner, the waitresses and me. I could see the report from Ariel Sharon's staff: "Suicide Terrorist Targets Innocent Israeli Teenagers in Ashqelon Recreation Establishment." 

The recent press reports of the posh hotel bombing on Passover stressed the horror of attacking a religious celebration, but reports also pointed out that several young adults were killed. If the truth were known, no military were probably reported killed because all were out of uniform regulars and reservists. We may never know. Those who did the complaining are the same folks who besieged the Church of the Nativity, killing the bell ringer with a rifle shot.

After seeing the sheer numbers, it is clear that an Intelligent Bomb would have no trouble finding a military target anywhere in Israel. It is likely that they miss military targets only when the bomb does not work or when they are recognized and forced to detonate before the target can be reached. We cannot know for sure, because the bomber never lives to tell the story. The reason Israelis are not bombed more is that the Palestinians are confined to the Gulag and it must take an act of amazing resourcefulness just to sneak out. To deliver a blow to the enemy military, he or she must first escape from a prison and do this while carrying a bomb--no small trick when surrounded by at least 200,000 Defense Forces and flown over by countless U.S. planes and choppers.

How easy it is to omit mentioning the deaths and injuries to military persons, when there is no neutral press present, and when the American press will never look beyond what Israeli propaganda tells them. I now understand why I have never seen a report listing the names of the victims of a bombing--it is because such a listing would have to identify military! Has any reader ever seen such a report? The before-mentioned April 12th Jerusalem bus stop bombing again supports this. Palestinian press reports said that "moments after the explosion, rescue workers covered the bodies with white sheets." They were unable to see who was injured. If a report states for instance, that five men and four women were killed in a bus attack, American readers most likely conclude all were civilians simply because nothing is said to the contrary. Few American readers know that about one of every three active duty military are women who carry rifles and ride the buses along with the men. 

The Palestinians must rely on hand-detonated weapons because they do not have McDonald Douglass smart bombs. While I was in Gaza, a 60-ton tank was destroyed by a home-made bomb and most of the crew was killed. The bomb had no scientific detonator; it was a pit full of explosives with a hand-detonated fuse manned by a volunteer. He had to wait till the tank drove over the bomb and detonated it via a wire. A Palestinian boy took the whole risk, as do the Intelligent Bombs. How is an Intelligent Bomb more a terrorist than the youth with a fuse to the anti-tank bomb? Both risk life to kill IDF. The American press would declare David's slingshot a terrorist weapon if the Palestinians had one.

On less than 60 occasions a single warrior has delivered a few pounds of homemade explosive to an enemy military meeting place. All the suicide bombings in Israel have probably not exploded as much killing power as one Apache helicopter, a single F-16, and 500-pound guided smart missile deliver in one mission. Palestinians carry out intelligent bombings because they have no other way of inflicting damage on the Israeli military that mauls and terrifies them daily. In his press statement early in April, Binyamin Netanyahu, the former Prime Minister of Israel, in answer to Bush's weak request for Israel to stop the killing, stated Israel would not withdraw because it needed more time to find and disarm those who practice the reprehensible act of suicide bombings against innocent civilians.

It is no exaggeration to say these few acts of sacrifice, most of them by minors, have brought the second most powerful military state in the world to the gate of economic and moral collapse. Only the gushing support of the American taxpayer is holding off national default. It is tragic when a youth is so desperate at the age of 16 or 19 that he or she decides he has no future and wants to sacrifice his life in order to inflict a blow against an awful enemy. But it is more shameful that almost everyone condemns the children of the bomb without appreciating the terrible conditions under which they have lived, and what they have endured from a hated occupier force that treats them as animals. How dare anyone, even Yassar Arafat, condemn youth for choosing to sacrifice their lives for something in which they believe? Who that condemns them has walked in their shoes, lived in their ghetto, watched their fathers beaten, lived without hope? If you have done so speak out...otherwise be quiet! Lowell wrote:

“How can man die better
When facing fearful odds,
But for the ashes of his fathers
And the temples of his Gods."

It is clear that the odds are very fearful for the Intelligent Bomb. But there are a few things Benjamin Netanyahu did not tell you about those less than a hundred brave young Palestinians who chose that route. He lied when he said they bombed innocent civilians. That is what the Israeli army does. No Intelligent Bomb would waste himself on less than a hated Israeli military targets. In militarized Israel every bus, bar, restaurant and theater is a potential military target. Each wedding, Passover celebration or Bar Mitzvah is a potential military target with active military present, either in or out of uniform. Almost every young Israeli is military--they are all proper war targets. This is a price Israel must pay for being the most militarized state in the world. 

I would never encourage an Intelligent Bomb, and I would be in agony if it were my son or daughter who did it. But I salute the 58 Intelligent Bombs; they were not cowards, nor were they "homicide bombers," as President George W. Bush calls them. They understood the odds, and they have brought Israel's economy to its dirty knees. They have also brought terrible retribution upon the entire population of their parents. In so doing, they alone have exposed the nature of the pit bull, and the diabolical wrath of its handler, the U.S. government, and the Pit Bull's master--world Zionism.

The Intelligent Bombs have done every one of us a favor we cannot repay. I pray for these sad children and do not join those who condemn them. We should grieve for them but never apologize for them. Many more Palestinians may be killed, but Israel cannot survive what it is doing. Its diabolical evil is exposed. It is the Israelis, and not the Intelligent Bombers, who are committing ultimate suicide.

*Note: A Israeli Foreign Minister's study of 16 reported "suicide bombing" incidents during Intifada I, between April l, 1994 and October 29, 1998, revealed that nine (56%) of the attacks were against busses and bus stops, three (19%) were direct attacks upon military checkpoints, posts and vehicles, and one each (6%) each in cafe, shopping center, market and mall. The Israeli's Ministry admitted the deaths of military personal in only two of the bus bombings, reciting only civilian statistics for the rest. Having seen the Israelis bend the truth before our eyes in Jenin, there is no reason to think they would not also lie about their casualties in order to make the Palestinian out to be terrorists. It is their sole justification for their acts are what 55 people are alleged to have done. But the State of Israel ran the bus lines as military transports during the first Intifada, as they do now. And every bombing occurred in Israeli territory, where they alone controlled the press. The results of this study indicate that quasi-military transports and military posts total 75% of all the human bomb targets.