Female Suicide Bombers: The Latest Weapon

On Hasna's wasiya, her face is uncovered; her long dark hair is loose. She stares straight at the camera and speaks in a low, unchanging voice. Although she doesn't seem to be consulting any notes, she never pauses to collect her thoughts. The 15-min. monologue is entirely about her little brother--about how he was an obedient child who loved his family and would do anything for their happiness. Hasna relates anecdotes about Thamer's precociousness in school, his skill at drawing, his talent for fixing household electronics. There's not a single religious or political utterance in the entire monologue, which may explain why it has not been posted on the usual jihadi websites. There's only one passing reference to the U.S. presence in Iraq. "When the Americans first came to the village," Hasna says, "my brother made a sketch of their Hummers and gave it to their commander. He was very impressed by how quickly Thamer was able to make such an accurate drawing."

Hasna ends with a simple declaration: "Now I am going to join him in paradise."

Although Hasna may have realized her wish for martyrdom, the legacy of her murderous deed haunts her family. A friend told Sadiya that the families of the policemen killed at Kilometer 5 have sworn to kill her if she returns to Iraq. "Our lives are finished," she says. "Thamer and Hasna ... they are lucky that they are dead. I am the unlucky one to keep living."