Barlow, Hugh. Dead for Good: Martyrdom and the Rise of the Suicide Bomber. Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers, 2007. Call Number: BL 626.5 .B37 2007
Abstract: Written by a professor of Criminal Justice Studies. The first half of the work is dedicated to pre-modern Islamic martyrs across cultures and throughout history. This is where the true uniqueness of the book lies. The second half of the book focuses on the new predatory, and near-predatory, martyrs who die for the cause while killing indiscriminately.

Bloom, Mia. Dying to Kill: The Allure of Suicide Terror. New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 2005. Call Number: HV 6431 .B576 2005
Abstract: Good case studies of suicide bombings in Israel, Chechnya, Sri Lanka, and Turkey and global ones linked to Al Qaeda. The work also looks at the spread of suicide bombings to “increase market share” as a byproduct of competition with other terrorist organizations for funding and member recruitment.

Bunker, Robert J. Suicide (Homicide) Bombers. Training Keys #581 and #582. Alexandria, VA: International Association of Chiefs of Police, 2005.
Abstract: The keys were written as training documents for law enforcement use because of suicide bomber threat potentials to the U.S. They were published just as the London suicide bombings of 2005 took place. The keys provide an introduction to suicide (homicide) bombers and explain types of suicide bombers, suicide bomber operational advantages, tactical employment and operations, and suicide bomber pre-incident indicators. They also give a suicide bomber profile and suggest suicide bomber incident response protocols.

Bunker, Robert J. and John P. Sullivan. Suicide Bombings in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Land Warfare Paper No. 46W. Arlington, VA: The Institute of Land Warfare, Association of the United States Army, September 2004. [http://ausa.org.ilw] Note: Look up Land Warfare Papers.
Abstract: Discusses suicide operations within the three forms of military traditions -Western, Oriental, and Islamic- and within operations and strategic context. Useful tables showing terrorist
group target sets and delivery methods in suicide bombings are included. The first year of suicide bombings in OIF is then analyzed and grouped into pre-major, trans-major, and post-major combat phases, each with their own unique characteristics. Future potentials of suicide bombings in Iraq and an appendix listing each suicide bombing that took place are also provided.

Capan, Ergun, ed. Terror and Suicide Attacks: An Islamic Perspective. Somerset, NJ: The Light, Inc., 2005. Call Number: BP 190.5 .T47 2004
Abstract: Translated from Turkish. Turkish Islamic scholars go on record denouncing terrorism and suicide bombings as not being in accordance with the teachings of Islam. Islam is viewed as being a religion of peace and, even in times of war, suicide attacks against non-combatants and civilian targets are deemed prohibited by the teachings of Islam.

May Rivers Films. The Cult of the Suicide Bomber. New York, NY: The Disinformation Company, Ltd., 2006, DVD, 96 mins. Call Number: HV 6431 .C858 2006
Abstract: Narrated by former CIA agent Robert Baer. Primary source interviews and site visits in Iran, Lebanon, Palestine, and England. The documentary initially traces the Shia cult of martyrdom from its origins to its resurrection by Ayatollah Khomeini during the Iranian Revolution. Important information is then provided on 13-year-old Iranian Hossein Fahmideh who became the prototype of all future Islamic suicide bombers. Fahmideh, during a critical battle in the Iran and Iraq war, strapped on explosives and threw himself under an Iraqi tank. The evolution of suicide bombings in Lebanon and then in Israel are also documented.

Films et Marguerite. Wafa Idriss: The First Female Palestinian Suicide Bomber. Alternate title: Suicide Bomber no. 47. Princeton, NJ: Films for the Humanities & Sciences, 2004, DVD, 26 mins. Call Number: HV 6433. I75 S853 2004
Abstract: Interviews and chance documentary footage of Wafa Idriss among other Red Crescent ambulance workers piece together the life and suicide bombing death of a 28-year-old female Palestinian. Her martyrdom is celebrated in Palestinian circles as the first female suicide bomber which helped promote additional female suicide bombings to take place. Israeli forces, because of her actions, now view the Red Crescent as supportive of Palestinian terrorist activities and all female Palestinians as potential suicide bomber threats.

Giduck, John. Terror at Beslan. Golden, CO: Archangel Group, Inc., 2005.
Call Number: HV 6433 .R9 G53 2005
Abstract: Author conducted three on-site visits, is fluent in Russian, and had access to the school because of his close training ties to Russian special forces. This is a definitive review, study, and analysis of the September 2004 Beslan, Russia school takeover and massacre by Chechen terrorists and their Al Qaeda affiliated Arab allies. These forces used a combination of small arms, rocket propelled grenades, explosive devices, and female suicide bombers. Written as an applied “counterterrorism manual,” this work tactically and operationally critiques the methods of the terrorists. It then dedicates a significant section of the work to preparing the U.S. in case of future terrorist suicide operations based on the Beslan model.

Hafez, Mohammed M. Manufacturing Human Bombs: The Making of Palestinian Suicide Bombers.Washington, DC: United States Institute of Peace, 2006.
Call Number: HV 6433 .P25 H34 2006
Abstract: Overview of Palestinian suicide bombers which covers explanations of suicide terrorism, suicide bombings from 1993-2005, and organizational, individual, and societal motives for suicide bombings. Final sections look at policy implications, chronology of the bombings, selected wills and testaments of the suicide bombers, and profiles of the Palestinian groups that field suicide bombers.

Erased in a Moment: Suicide Bombing Attacks Against Israeli Civilians. New York, NY: Human Rights Watch, 2002. Call Number: JC 599 .I87 S76 2002
Abstract: Chapters of interest for law enforcement focus on attacks on civilians, legal standards, organizational structures and strategies of terrorist organizations, financial and logistical support and a chronology of attacks on Israeli civilians from September 30, 2000 through August 31, 2002.

Countering Suicide Terrorism: An International Conference. Herzliya, Israel: The International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism, 2001. Call Number: HV 6431 .C68 2001
Abstract: Papers from a conference held from February 20-23, 2000 in Israel are divided in themes based on international terrorism, fundamentalist terrorism, suicide terrorism, and psychological and sociological dimensions of suicide terrorism. Excellent chapters on suicide bombers in Sri Lanka and India, Turkey, Lebanon, and Israel.

Katz, Samuel M. Jihad in Brooklyn: The NYPD Raid that Stopped America’s First Suicide Bombers. New York, NY: New American Library, 2005. Call Number: HV 8079 .T47 K38 2005
Abstract: Gripping account of how the NYPD stopped an attempted suicide bombing by two Palestinian “affinity terrorists” on July 31, 1997 against the Brooklyn metro system. Important lessons learned concerning hasty operational coordination and tactical entry into an apartment with live IEDs and bombers intent on carrying out a double-suicide operation later that day.

Khosrokhavar, Farhad. David Macey, trans. Suicide Bombers: Allah’s New Martyrs. London: Pluto Press, 2005. Call Number: HV 6431 .K568 2005
Abstract: Translated from French and written by a French Professor specializing in Iran and Islamic studies. The work is based on numerous interviews with jailed Islamic militants and highlights the development of two types of martyrs-those from the developing world and those from the disenfranchised middle-class in the Middle East.

Murphy, Paul. The Wolves of Islam: Russia and the Face of Chechen Terror. Washington, DC: Brassey’s Inc., 2004. Call Number: HV 6433 .R9 M87 2004
Abstract: Written by a former U.S. senior counterterrorism official and regional expert. It chronicles the lives of Shamil Basayev, al-Khattab “The Black Arab,” and lesser known terrorists and their involvement with terrorism, guerilla warfare, and the use of suicide bombers in Chechnya, Dagestan, and Russia. Also discusses more complex operations-the armed takeover of hospitals (Budennovsk & Kizlyar), a theatre (Moscow), and a school (Beslan) with female suicide bomber cells attached as a countermeasure to hostage rescue attempts.

Oliver, Anne Marie and Paul F. Steinberg. The Road to Martyr’s Square: A Journey into the World of the Suicide Bomber. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2005. Call Number: HV 6433 .G39 O55 2005
Abstract: The authors spent six months of field work in a refugee camp in the Gaza strip at the beginning of the intifada and then for the next six years collected street media (posters, video tapes, graffiti) in one hundred towns in the West Bank and Gaza. This work provides an insiders’ view of the fantasy world of the suicide bomber that is becoming global in scope. It includes eighty-six illustrations of Palestinian martyr street media.

O’Neill, Richard. Suicide Squads of World War II. New York, NY: Military Heritage Press, 1988, c 1981. Call Number: D 777 .O54 1988
Abstract: Suicide operations in World War II, as military force on military force engagement, were far in advance of anything yet seen in the current Global War on Terrorism (GWOT). The work is of value to law enforcement in presenting potential futures of where suicide bombings and operations against U.S. citizens and infrastructure may evolve. It contains information primarily on Japanese, German, and Italian suicide forces with an emphasis on Japanese air and naval suicide forces. The work contains 180 figures and pictures.

Pape, Robert A. Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism. New York, NY: Random House, 2005.
Abstract: The author, a political scientist, dismisses religious explanations for suicide bombings. Instead, based on a dataset of suicide bombings going back to 1980, he argues that a rational and strategic logic is at work that is secular and political in nature: every suicide terrorist campaign seeks “to compel a modern democracy to withdraw military forces from the territory that the terrorists view as their homeland.”

Pedahzur, Ami. Suicide Terrorism. Malden, MA: Polity Press, 2005.
Call Number: HV 6431 .P43 2005 Abstract: Cross-cultural analysis of suicide bombings in Lebanon, Israel, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Chechnya, and Iraq with an afterword on the 2005 London suicide bombings. The counter-terrorism model provided focuses on the short- and long-term and the offensive and defensive components of coping with suicide terrorism. Also included is an appendix of suicide bombings from December 1981 to June 2005.

______________. Root Causes of Suicide Terrorism: The Globalization of Martyrdom. New York, NY: Routledge, 2006. Call Number: HV 6432 .R66 2006
Abstract: Edited collection of contributions by scholars in the field of terrorism and suicide terrorism studies. Contributions cover characteristics and definitions of suicide terrorism, motivations to conduct it, the symbolic dimension, a multi-causal approach to its roots, secular aspects of suicide terrorism, Islam and Al Qaeda, suicide attacks launched by Al Qaeda, analyzing and predicting terrorist decisions with a focus on Osama bin Laden, and religious radicalization processes in Spain.

Reuter, Christoph. My Life is a Weapon: A Modern History of Suicide Bombing. Princeton, MA: Princeton University Press, 2004. Call Number: BP 190.5 .V56 R4813 2004
Abstract: Translated from German. Primary focus is upon Islamic suicide bombers with very useful chapters on Iran’s suicide battalions during the Iran-Iraq War and the dueling Fatwas (religious edicts) ruling suicide bombings as either suicide (prohibited) or martyrdom (sanctioned) by Islam.

Shai, Shaul. The Shahids: Islam and Suicide Attacks. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 2004. Call Number: HV 6431 .S4659 2004
Abstract: Translated from Hebrew. Definitions and an historical review of the topic provided. Suicide attacks by Hizballah and Palestinian groups are discussed, followed by broader and comprehensive treatment of suicide attacks throughout the world. Summary and appendices also included. Projections are made for the future use of non-conventional suicide attacks, in the form of “mass killing for strategic objectives,” using chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear weaponry.

Victor, Barbara. Army of Roses: Inside the World of Palestinian Women Suicide Bombers. Emmaus, PA: Rodale, 2003. Call Number: HV 6433 .I75 V53 2003
Abstract: Profiles of female Palestinian suicide bombers beginning with Wafa Idriss. The author uses extensive interviews of relatives and friends of the women. Interesting insights provided into the status of unmarried Palestinian women and why many would prefer to blow themselves up rather than be forced into an arranged marriage.

Compiled by Dr. Robert J. Bunker, 2007 FIR, 5/07.