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oberon
Lieutenant, Junior Grade
Joined: 26 Sep 2005
Posts: 106
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 Thu Dec 01, 2005 1:25 pm 'Belgian Kamikaze' Shocks a Nation |
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| Quote: | Local Woman Dies in Failed Attack Against U.S. Troops in Iraq
By RAF CASERT, AP
MONCEAU-SUR-SAMBRE, Belgium (Dec. 1) - How could a young woman turn from Belgian baker's assistant to Baghdad suicide bomber?
Belgium has been shocked by revelations that Muriel Degauque, an unassuming woman who grew up near the rust belt city of Charleroi, had entered Iraq from Syria and detonated explosives strapped to her body in a failed attack against U.S. troops.
The 38-year-old woman's mother, Liliane Degauque, told local TV networks that her daughter was "so nice'' - but began to change when she married an Algerian man and turned to Islamic fundamentalism.
The case underscored the growing reach of international terrorism.
"It is the first time that we see that a Western woman, a Belgian, marrying a radical Muslim, and is converted up to the point of becoming a jihad fighter,'' federal police director Glenn Audenaert said.
In her younger years, Muriel Degauque lived a conventional life in an industrial belt of southern Belgium. Media reports said she finished high school before taking on several jobs, including selling bread in a bakery. They also said that as an adolescent she had run into problems with drugs and alcohol.
Authorities say Degauque went on to become a member of a terror cell that embraced al-Qaida's ideology. It included her second husband, a man of Moroccan origin who died in a separate terror attack in Iraq.
"This is our Belgian kamikaze killed in Iraq,'' read the headline of Thursday's La Derniere Heure newspaper, over a picture of a smiling young woman looking into the camera.
When Liliane Degauque saw police coming to her doorstep on Wednesday, she immediately knew what it was about. She had heard reports the evening before there had been a terrorist attack on Nov. 9 by a Belgian woman.
"For three weeks already I tried to contact her by telephone but I got the answering machine,'' she told the RTBF network on Thursday.
Authorities on Thursday formally arrested 5 of the 14 suspects detained in dawn raids the day before and charged them with involvement in a terrorist network that sent volunteers to Iraq, including Muriel Degauque.
Nine were released. Those placed under arrest were a Tunisian and four Belgians, three of whom had North African roots.
"This action shows how international terrorism tries to set up networks in western European nations, recruit for terror attacks in conflict areas and look for funds to finance terrorism,'' said Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt.
In France on Wednesday, police in the Paris region arrested a 15th suspect, a 27-year-old Tunisian man thought to have had contacts with the Belgian group.
Authorities said the Belgian network had been planning to send more volunteers to Iraq for attacks.
The raids in Brussels and three other cities across the country involving more than 200 police officers followed media reports of the Belgian woman's suicide.
Nine of the 14 suspects were Belgian citizens. Three were Moroccan and two were Tunisian.
Police carried out raids and detained 11 people in the capital Brussels, and one each in southern Charleroi, northern Antwerp and eastern Riemst.
Belgium has been mentioned as a breeding ground for terrorists in the past and there are currently 13 Belgian and Moroccan nationals on trial for allegedly being members of an Islamic group suspected in recent bomb attacks in Spain and Morocco.
Islamic radical groups linked to al-Qaida terror network are suspected of setting up networks in Belgium and other European nations with large Muslim communities.
For many in Belgium though, Wednesday's arrests were a chilling reminder that no one is immune.
"Belgium is directly involved in the terrorist threat,'' said Justice Minister Laurette Onkelinx.
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. |
How horribly sad..  But notice, she went to Iraq to attack US troops, not Iraqis. It's time for this to stop. The US must make plans to withdraw.
From now on: please put articles in quotes. Read the WN rules. Thank you- IIM
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borgslayer
Rear Admiral
Joined: 27 Aug 2003
Posts: 2646
Location: Las Vegas
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| Thu Dec 01, 2005 7:30 pm |
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Withdrawing would mean that the Iraqis would suffer more attacks and possible civil war by insurgence. The insurgency must be defeated before the U.S. Military leave. Alright...no to withdrawl until it is certain that we have crushed the evil insurgency.
Your basically implying that the U.S. Military should just run away from danger, which is not the military way. The Military way is to face danger in the face and stop it.
I will rest my case in this topic. 
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Republican_Man
STV's Premier Conservative
Joined: 26 Mar 2004
Posts: 14823
Location: Classified
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| Thu Dec 01, 2005 7:35 pm |
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Exactly. You know, there are two other topics about Iraq and withdrawal already. I think that debating it even further in here is too much. Therefore, I won't post in this topic any longer as well.
But borgslayer is right.
-------signature-------
"Rights are only as good as the willingness of some to exercise responsibility for those rights- Fmr. Colorado Senate Pres. John Andrews
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