The Cult of the Suicide Bomber
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DVD details
Actor: Robert BaerBrand: CAR
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 96 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-06-20
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Disinformation
Product features:
- Starring Robert Baer, former CIA Agent and the man who's book SEE NO EVIL was the basis for the film SYRIANA, and who George Clooney's character in the film is based. Modern-day suicide bombers who strike fear into the heart of Western cities are a relatively recent phenomenon. The Cult of the Suicide Bomber reveals the secret history of the suicide bomber, from the child martyrs of the I
DVD Reviews of The Cult of the Suicide Bomber
DVD Review: Outstanding documentary - hugely recommended!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
Hosted by former CIA agent Robert BAER (according to the sleeve of the DVD box George CLOONEY`s character in the SYRIANA movie is based upon him)the feature-length documentary THE CULT OF THE SUICIDE BOMBER provides viewers with an in-depth look at the horrifying phenomenon known in the West as "suicide bomber".
After a brief introduction concerning the July 2005 suicide attacks on London subway trains and a bus, which claimed over 50 deaths and hundreds of injured, BAER visits Iran. The concept of matyrdom, which is derived from the Shiite form of Islam is explained. The commander of the Iranian armed forces is interviewed and he states that, "they ( = the Americans) know that no army can stand in the way of martyrdom, so the Americans should know if they try to interfere with Iran they will dig their own graves". BAER details the story of the first known suicide bomber, 13 year old Hossein FAHMIDEH, who in 1980 in the battle of Kerbala during the Iran/Iraq war took explosives and threw himself in front of an advancing Iraqi tank. The explosion destroyed the tank and FAHMIDEH`s comrades, impressed by his act of self-sacrifice, were able to halt the Iraqi attack. (In my view the film makers fail to point out that this anti-tank tactic was also widely used by the Japanese in the later stages of the war in the pacific.) As is shown in the documentary, FAHMIDEH is celebrated as an Iranian hero to this very day.
Following the Israeli intervention in Lebanon in 1982, the concept of suicide bombing was introduced in that country by the Shiite Hezbollah resistance movement. On 11th November 1982 Ahmad QUASSIR drove a car, filled with explosives into the Israeli army HQ at Tyr - 74 Israeli soldiers died in the blast. QUASSIR became the first suicide car bomber. Many were to follow him.
As the documentary points out suicide bombing was considered a military tactic by Hezbollah at the time. It also shown that this tactic was also used by non-Islamic groups like the Lebanese pro-Syrian SSNP (Syrian Socialist National Party). Being a secular organisation there were also no objections against female suicide bombers. There is an interesting interview with the commanding officer of two female suicide bombers in the documentary. We get to see the last video message of 26 year old Norma Abi HASSAN (nicknamed "Hurricane Norma"), an attractive young woman, who does not appear to be coerced or brainwashed into the operation. Shortly after the video was shot, she drove a pick up truck filled with explosives into an Israeli army convoy, killing 10 soldiers in the process. It was in Lebanon, where the practice of the suicide bomber's last video messages and the filming of the attacks itself originated. These videos are then used for propagandistic purposes and often disseminated over the internet.
You also get to see in the documentary the horrible attacks on the US embassy and the US Marine barracks in Beirut. As BAER comments, almost all of the Beirut CIA staff was wiped out and he only survived because he was out of town at the time.
As is shown in the documentary, the suicide tactic proved to be successful. In excess of 350 Israeli soldiers died. BAER: "Southern Lebanon had become Israel's vietnam", and by 2000 Israel withdrew her forces.
In the Palestinian people's fight against Israeli occupation suicide bombing turned from a weapon of war into a weapon of terror. Starting in 1994 until now there were over 200 suicide attacks. It has to be said in the documentary`s favour, that, while it of course does NOT condone or even glorify suicide bombers, it does not demonize them either. In my view it is clearly shown who started this never ending cycle of violence. It should not be forgotten that the first suicide bombing in Israel was a reprisal for the murder of 29 Palestinians in a mosque (!) at the hand of militant Jewish settler Baruch GOLDSTEIN. There is a very moving interview with one of the few remaining Palestinian shop owners in Hebron, who says that the Jewish settlers who live in the apartments above his shop are in the habit of throwing rocks and pouring down boiling water (!) I mean, how can one live like that?
The documentary also details the hunt for Yahya AYYASH, a suicide bomber mastermind, who orchestrated a dozen or so attacks. Israeli intelligence Shin Beth only managed to kill him when a Palestinian traitor put an explosive device in his cell phone. Detonating, it decapitated AYYASH.
The docmentary concludes on the sombre note that suicide bombing is here to stay and has not lost his allure.
Filled with insightful interviews with surviving perpetrators and victims and their families, islamic scholars, intelligence personel and eyewitnesses, horrifying videos of suicide bombings and their aftermath and informative commentary THE CULT OF THE SUICIDE BOMBER is an outstanding and fairly balanced documentary. Hugely recommended - my only problem with the DVD is the complete lack of any extra features.
Description of The Cult of the Suicide Bomber
Features Robert Baer, former CIA Agent and the man whose book See No Evil was the basis for the film Syriana, and the man George Clooney?s character in the film is based upon.Their devastating and deadly actions punctuate the world news almost nightly, yet they remain faceless figures amidst the violence and turmoil that engulf the Middle East. And, whether it?s the C4-laden martyrs of Hezbollah or the car bombing insurgents of Iraq, what could possibly compel a suicide bomber to voluntarily take their own lives, along with those of hundreds of innocent victims? There is perhaps no one better equipped to investigate this terrifying practice than Robert Baer, a decorated, former Middle East CIA Agent and the man George Clooney?s character was based on in the Academy AwardŽ-winning film, Syriana.
Robert Baer returns to his former center of operations, the Middle East, to trace the origins of the modern day bomber. In this poignant documentary, Baer reveals the fascinating story of the world's first suicide bomber, 13-year-old Hossein Fahmideh?who was martyred in the Iran-Iraq war and is now a hero in Iran; and visits his highly decorated grave in the graveyard of martyrs just outside Tehran.
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