Grand Guignol, Islamism-Style

--Denial, Nik Scott, Australia

Adaptation is a profound process.
Means you figure out how to thrive in the world.
--Adaptation (2002)
___________

Sticky Bombs? What are these?

First they are trying to sell me terrorism as a New World Paradigm Shift, now the old Soap Dish becomes a Sticky Bomb? Ranger first heard the term in the film, Saving Ryan's Privates. But anyone knows that one-pound blocks of C-4 feature one side with a removable strip covering a sticky surface. Isn't this a "sticky bomb"?

The point is not nomenclature when talking about the employment of explosives. What is significant is the nature of the target and the nature of the bomber. The NYT coverage says "militants" use the sticky bombs, but the article itself uses the terms "militant," "insurgent," and "terrorist" interchangeably (Militants Turn to Small Bombs in Iraq Attacks.)

Ranger understands the writer's casting a large net in the hopes of encompassing all the bases. The U.S. military and government fail the rhetorical precision test, so they report on what they are provided. The military should know better.

Militants, terrorists and insurgents in all probability use different targeting objectives. All will attack soft targets as a matter of choice, but insurgents and militants will be more discriminate in target selection. These groups hope to gain support and increased membership as a result of their activities.

In contrast, terrorists are less likely to discriminate. The more grotesque the attack, the better for the terrorist. Terrorists aim for a government overreaction, as their goal reaches beyond the target.

Back to soap dishes, those wonderful little tools for spreading death, destruction and mayhem. Ranger is encouraged by their use as this is an indicator that the groups are degraded into smaller mini-attacks which are more irritant than militant. This indicates a breakdown in the groups' internal structure.

Bombers and bomb makers are the stars of any given group, so when everyone becomes "bomb capable," this is a good thing for the authorities. It is much better than 2,000 pounds being detonated in a marketplace.

This also indicates that surveillance and intel capabilities of the groups are shrinking. In effect, everything becomes a target of opportunity. At this point, the actions have degraded into "street theatre," incapable of significant direction or results.

“Iraqi and United States officials acknowledge that 'sticky bombs' have been an effective means of spreading terror among Iraqi urban populations but note that, paradoxically, the bombs are also a sign that terrorists are finding it harder to move freely.”

Adaptation is occurring. After years of war, this is an embarrassing yet unavoidable fact.