which came first: the tamil suicide bomber or the arab one?

The LTTE’s “diary of murders” had its first entry on July 27, 1975 with the killing of Jaffna Mayor Alfred Duraiappa of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party.

In May 1986, it hunted down and shot dead Sri Sabarathnam, the charismatic leader of the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO), as the organisation’s proximity to India posed a threat to the Tigers’ hegemony. Sri Sabarathnam was killed in a betel pl antation in the Jaffna peninsula. The Tigers then executed several hundred TELO militants.

The LTTE has a horrible record of cold-blooded murder of individuals, mostly unarmed, who sought a peaceful resolution of the Sri Lankan ethnic strife. It has also indulged in an intense fratricidal war, killing members of other Tamil militant organisati ons. The devices used by the LTTE have been varied – members of its Black Tiger suicide squad who wore belt bombs or rode motorcycles or bicycles after strapping explosives to their bodies; assault rifles; pistols; landmines; grenades and so forth. It ha s also resorted to the hanging of “traitors” from lamp-posts.

The LTTE’s “diary of murders” had its first entry on July 27, 1975 with the killing of Jaffna Mayor Alfred Duraiappa of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party.

In May 1986, it hunted down and shot dead Sri Sabarathnam, the charismatic leader of the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO), as the organisation’s proximity to India posed a threat to the Tigers’ hegemony. Sri Sabarathnam was killed in a betel pl antation in the Jaffna peninsula. The Tigers then executed several hundred TELO militants.

The LTTE has a horrible record of cold-blooded murder of individuals, mostly unarmed, who sought a peaceful resolution of the Sri Lankan ethnic strife. It has also indulged in an intense fratricidal war, killing members of other Tamil militant organisati ons. The devices used by the LTTE have been varied – members of its Black Tiger suicide squad who wore belt bombs or rode motorcycles or bicycles after strapping explosives to their bodies; assault rifles; pistols; landmines; grenades and so forth. It ha s also resorted to the hanging of “traitors” from lamp-posts.

The LTTE’s “diary of murders” had its first entry on July 27, 1975 with the killing of Jaffna Mayor Alfred Duraiappa of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party.

In May 1986, it hunted down and shot dead Sri Sabarathnam, the charismatic leader of the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO), as the organisation’s proximity to India posed a threat to the Tigers’ hegemony. Sri Sabarathnam was killed in a betel pl antation in the Jaffna peninsula. The Tigers then executed several hundred TELO militants.

The LTTE also had the temerity to carry out its operations outside Sri Lanka. On June 19, 1990, the Tigers stormed into an apartment at Zachria Colony in Kodambakkam, Chennai, when the central committee m eeting of the EPRLF was under way, and sprayed bullets. Thirteen top EPRLF leaders, including its soft-spoken secretary-general K. Padmanabha, Finance Minister in the now defunct Northeastern Provincial Council P. Kirubakaran, and Member of Parliament Yo gasankari, were killed. While escaping in a car after the attack, they killed two local people. The killers fled to the Jaffna peninsula from the Vedaranyam coast of Tamil Nadu.

FULL STORY: http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl1617/16171020.htm

I think some arab groups have used ‘special needs’ suicide bombers before

by all means necessary i guess.

First time though that an actual person carrying out a bombing (as opposed to car/truck suicide bombings, which jihadist groups have often released in the past) has been caught so clearly, and thanks to the relatively small amount of explosives used, with the aftermath visible.

So far (s)he has guessed wrong 100% of the time.

It’s no use being quick on the trigger unless you can hit your mark.

1) understanding the context and the reason for the conflict taking place. For example, as the recent Human Rights Watch report indicated (linked here on PP), the Sri Lankan govt also has a huge case to answer for state-sponsored terrorism, and that must also be condemned and dealt with if one is standing up for human rights. (I think this is what Joy1) is referring to.

2) Justifying acts of indiscriminate killing. This is where someone says that given the situation we covered in point 1, where there is grave injustice, it must only follow that the suicide bomber is a victim of circumstances and is therefore blameless.

This is the wrong position to take because suicide bombers get created not just by the situations they are in but also by manipulative political forces who have deeply ingrained hatred that goes past simply demanding basic justice.

This is why they are frequently happy to kill their own to attain their political goals. Many Sikh Khalistanis did it in Punjab over the 80s and Muslim groups kill each other all the time in the Middle East.

This ‘what would you do?’ argument is asinine. Who knows what I’d do? If I was in the concentration camps, would I support Israeli aggression? If I lost family in Operation Blue Star, would I hate Congress? It’s a pointless discussion.

You can justify anything in that case, as there is no line that can be drawn; it would be arbitrarily designated. OJ Simpson (legal: allegedly) killed his wife because she had an affair. How would I feel if my wife cheated? I don’t know. Ah but cheating isn’t bad enough to kill someone for. 10pts for cheating. What about if my wife was raped? 50pts? Do I get to kill yet? What if my Dad was murdered? Now I get the bra-bomb out, I’m totally justified!

Your argument would also hold more water if a) the LTTE didn’t kill numerous of their own and b) didn’t kill innocents.

Having said I don’t know how I would react, I sure as hell wouldn’t strap a bomb to myself, it’s pathetic.

“Joy1, if Tamils are being persecuted by the Sinhalese, why are Tamils killing Tamils in Sri Lanka?”

That is a pretty good point, though it is known that Sri Lankan cabinet minister Douglas Devananda was a tamil tiger in his youth, and now has been branded a traitor. So far there have been ten failed attempts against his life.

Suicide bombers are a not a special breed of tyrants. A normal person does not have the will to suicide in such a brutal way no matter how strongly he/she believes in the cause. It requires a lot of mental preparation and brainwashing. Humans are highly susceptible. That is why for every suicide bomber, there is an organisation behind it: Al Qaeda, LTTE.

The only way to stop a terrorist organisation like LTTE is to stop financing them.