IN THE IRAQI DESERT, 31 March 2003 — Saddam Hussein handsomely rewarded the army officer who targeted US forces in a suicide bombing, reportedly honoring him with a posthumous promotion, two new medals and a huge financial windfall for his family.
Calling the tactic a “routine military policy,” Saddam’s regime threatened more such attacks on Americans and Britons — even on their own soil.
The bomber, posing as a taxi driver, struck Saturday, killing himself and four soldiers. He pulled up close to a roadblock north of Najaf, waved to American troops for help, then blew up his vehicle when they approached.
Iraq’s vice president, Taha Yassin Ramadan, indicated the attack was part of a coordinated effort to thwart invaders who can’t be defeated by conventional warfare. He also raised the specter of attacks on US or British soil. “We will use any means to kill our enemy in our land and we will follow the enemy into its land,” Ramadan said. “This is just the beginning. You’ll hear more pleasant news later.”
The bomber — identified as Ali Jaafar Al-Noamani, a noncommissioned officer with several children — was posthumously promoted to colonel and awarded two medals — Al-Rafidin, or The Two Rivers, and the Mother of All Battles. His family reportedly was awarded 100 million dinars — the equivalent of $34,000, a fortune in Iraq.
The names of the Americans killed in the car bombing were not immediately released. They were from the Army’s 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division.
Reports on Iraqi state television called the attack a “blessed beginning,” and praised the bomber. “After he kissed a copy of the Qur’an, he got into his booby-trapped car and went to an area where enemy armored cars and tanks were gathered on the fringes of Najaf and turned his pure body and explosives-laden car into a rocket and blew himself up,” the statement said. “He wanted to teach the enemy a lesson in the manner used by our Palestinian brothers.”
Saddam is admired by Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, in part because he has doled out more than $35 million to the families of civilians, gunmen and suicide attackers killed in Israel. Families of suicide bombers have received between $10,000 and $25,000 from the Iraqi leader.
At a Gaza City rally held shortly after the US-led assault on Iraq began, the leader of the Hamas movement, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, said Iraqi fighters should learn from the examples of Palestinians, who have killed hundreds of Israeli civilians in suicide bombings and other attacks in the latest fighting.
