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Face-to-Face With a Suicide Bomber

September 20, 2008 3:52 PM

By Jim Sciutto, ABC News Senior Foreign Correspondent

Watching the Marriott in Islamabad on fire is a jarring sight for any reporter who's covered Pakistan in the last few years. The Marriott is HQ for journalists, diplomats, U.S. politicians -- any foreigner visiting the country. It -- along with the Serena -- is one of the 'safe' hotels. Not today.

Covering Pakistan and Afghanistan, no place is truly safe. And I got a sense of why last month in Kabul when I met a captured Pakistani suicide bomber who was being held at a high-security prison in Kabul by Afghan intelligence.

Abc_ahmad_bomber4_080920_mn_3

Ahmad, an unemployed 30-year-old sheep herder, was caught outside a U.S. military post on the Afghan-Pakistan border wearing a suicide vest packed with explosives.

When I asked him what led him to attack, he told me it was his duty as a Muslim because "foreign invaders" were occupying Muslim land. That's a persistent rallying cry in the Muslim world -- and one I now hear even outside the ranks of jihadis like Ahmad. Men and women on the street, British-born Muslim teenagers, even Westernized democracy activists in Egypt and Iran will repeat the same rhetoric.

I asked Ahmad how he felt about the civilians he would have killed -- like the many civilians who died in today's attack. He said this is war -- and that U.S. bombing raids kill civilians as well.

Ahmad had a scary face -- cold and hard. He'd clearly had a tough life, looking far older than his 30 years, but more importantly, I could see no sign he had any regrets. He was committed to the cause. And he left me with a sobering thought: that there were many more like him willing to fight and die. Today, we saw he was right.

P.S. -- You'll get to see the bomber face-to-face in an upcoming profile to air on "World News with Charles Gibson"

September 20, 2008 in Jim Sciutto | Permalink | User Comments (52)

User Comments

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FANATIC it's really to bad people allow themselve's to be BRAINWASHED like this.

Posted by: Juan | Sep 20, 2008 5:07:59 PM

For Western civilization to survive, we must show the grit and determination of our ancestors, and put this enemy alien culture to the sword. Nuke them!

Posted by: Africanus | Sep 20, 2008 5:13:02 PM

so you hear the reason. solution is simple all you have to do americans out of the foreign countries.

Posted by: bosmara | Sep 20, 2008 5:21:03 PM

What is the big surprise? For 1200 years Islam has been the greatest enemy of the West. Islam swept out of the desert in AD 700's and conquered Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, North Africa, Lybia, Spain etc. They swept across the Pyranees mountains and attempted to conquer France. At the battle of Tours (October 10, 732 AD) they were for the first time beaten in battle. They fled back across the Pyranees and held sway over conquered Spain until the 1400's AD. They conquered Greece and took the great Christian capitol of Constaninople in 1452 AD, the last vestige of the Roamn Empire. They commence new conquest attempts of Europe. They conquered Roumania, Hungary and were in Southern Germany. They tried to conquer Austria. In the Battle for Vienna 1683 the invading Islamic horde was stopped and Islam went into retreat until this century. So why are you surprised?

Posted by: Wonderful Willie | Sep 20, 2008 5:39:17 PM

This man didn't say he hates us for our freedom. What a shock!?

Posted by: pyrite013 | Sep 20, 2008 7:51:35 PM

Too late to "nuke em" now, you would have to obliterate a major portion of the world including your own. Check out the '100 year plan of Islam' if you really don't need much sleep.

Posted by: jeff meska | Sep 20, 2008 7:57:28 PM

Cui bono in the Marriott attack? The crater looks like a JDAM made it. How do we know this bloody atrocity was not another false flag operation? When one learns of the 9/11 truck bombs that were blacked-out of the media, one has doubts.

http://michaelfury.wordpress.com/2008/08/18/movers-and-shakers/

Posted by: razor | Sep 20, 2008 8:55:05 PM

Hey there are over a million muslims here in the USA; so I don't feel so bad about bombing there home either.

Posted by: Bomb bomb bom Iran | Sep 20, 2008 10:08:50 PM

UH YEAH

Posted by: T | Sep 20, 2008 11:27:07 PM

As long as we support the criminal Semitic race that murders them the Muslims will fight back any way they can--we need to stop giving them the most financial aid every year--year after year--or we all will be held accountable.

Posted by: T | Sep 20, 2008 11:28:58 PM

Psst T...symantics I know but...arabs are semitic to. Maybe you should be a bit better informed before expressing such a potentially provocative opinion.

I suggest sticking to the word zionist for fanatics on that side of the fence, and maybe making a distinction between fanatics of whatever persuasion and the majority of people who just want to get on with their lives.

Posted by: L | Sep 21, 2008 2:00:14 AM

i don't think the rightheous muslim will agree on you son of a gun, do you really understand the real meaning of islam? i don't think so....you suicide bombers were no longer human.

Posted by: francis de guzman | Sep 21, 2008 3:01:23 AM

so you hear the reason. solution is simple all you have to do americans out of the foreign countries.
-bosmara

Simple? And wait for another 9/11? Another USS Cole? Another one of our embassies to be bombed by cowards? If we were to leave foreign countries, next it would be, "Don't support Israel," or "Don't publish cartoons disrespectful of Islam," or "Don't buy oil." Where will it stop? The fact is that we are in foreign lands, trying to root out the extremists, who, by the way, aren't condemned by people who think America should turn tail and go home. When will moderate Muslims condemn the terrorists? Hold rallies and carry signs telling the terrorists to stop sullying Islam's name?

Posted by: dennis1409 | Sep 21, 2008 4:25:05 AM

these are misguided youth with crushed identity and are taken to carry out the job by miguided intellactuals for religion and family assistance. nothing more. beard in Islam or Islam in beard. which one you will beleive.Education of islam is missing in these people.

Posted by: msk | Sep 21, 2008 6:44:36 AM

The west needs to wage a psychological war against these extremist minds. Muslim teachers need to counter the insanity with the true message of Islam. This problem has to be fixed from within the Muslim world.

Posted by: disillusioned2008 | Sep 21, 2008 7:51:41 AM

Apparently he doesn't realize that his efforts only feed the reason for westerners to be in the region. We would rather deal with them there than here. Since terrorist are not a part of a formal government military discipline doesn't that classify them as civilians?

Posted by: MBell_TX | Sep 21, 2008 8:07:02 AM

It is unfortunate some people allow themselves to be brainwashed into suicide bombing by their leaders.Why cant the leaders do the bombing themselves?what has suicide bombings changed over the years?Nothing!Is it not time to reflect on how to end all the violence and endless,avoidable deaths and fashion how we can leave in peace with one another?it is possible,if we think that we can achieve it.

Posted by: Tcan | Sep 21, 2008 9:33:35 AM

It is unfortunate some people allow themselves to be brainwashed into suicide bombing by their leaders.Why cant the leaders do the bombing themselves?what has suicide bombings changed over the years?Nothing!Is it not time to reflect on how to end all the violence and endless,avoidable deaths and fashion how we can leave in peace with one another?it is possible,if we think that we can achieve it.

Posted by: Tcan | Sep 21, 2008 9:33:54 AM

they r misguided people simply and have no concerns with Islam, rather they r being used by other.actually the war is between the invader and the people of the soil but they showed it as holy war of Islam, i don't agree with it.Islam is religion of humanity, brotherhood and peace,there is no cruelty in Islam.

Posted by: j azam khan | Sep 21, 2008 9:35:50 AM

The suicide terrorist has been brain washed long ago, " This is the duty of every muslim" and if u die, "you can gets 72 virgins and a river full of wines", so most of the guys attract in this type of words and there belive system. but they are always telling we are " fight with us and other invaders"
if u check the history every time they have some reasons.


Posted by: suspended donkey | Sep 21, 2008 10:23:53 AM

Mr disillioned2008, did u ever heard that any muslim teachers are condummed any suicide attact? never because they taught these all things to there followers,then how can they advice to there followers?

Posted by: suspended donkey | Sep 21, 2008 10:38:33 AM

He is going to hell for sure.

Posted by: Sameer | Sep 21, 2008 10:57:12 AM

What non-sense Ahmad and other Islamists talk in order to defend these attacks? Where was the US occupation pre 9/11 attack? What about India and Pakistan where the terror attacks are becoming common? do they have any thing to do with the occupation? Pakistan is muslim land and still they are killing their own people.

They are fanatics who are blinded by hatered and their obsession about cult called Islam which they have designed themselves.

Posted by: M. Kulkar | Sep 21, 2008 11:21:19 AM

Look at the money spent on the current war in the Holy Land. A while ago I calculated the USA could have just given a million dollars to each person in Isreal to either BUY some land for their country from the Arabs, or relocate to somewhere less disputed.
Holding the Arabs down by force is not workng. A better, more civilized plan is needed. No poplation can be expected to tolerate being "held down". Would you tolerate a foreign government dominating you? What doesn't work doesnt work! Lets try something else .

Posted by: Robin | Sep 21, 2008 12:34:33 PM

Suicide attacks, cowardly missile strikes. Same thing.

Posted by: M | Sep 21, 2008 12:44:58 PM

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