Studies: Suicide bombers overwhelmingly from outside Iraq; Number of bombings passes world-wide total since early 1980s

Above: People flee one of several suicide bombs on April 18th in Baghdad, which left over 200 dead and hundreds more wounded.

WASHINGTON - Suicide bombers in Iraq are overwhelmingly foreigners bent on destabilizing the government and undermining American interests there, two independent studies have concluded.

The studies report that the number of suicide bombings in Iraq has now surpassed those conducted worldwide since the early 1980s. The findings suggest that extremists from throughout the region and around the world are fueling Iraq's violence.

"The war on terrorism, and certainly the war in Iraq, has failed in decreasing the number of suicide attacks and has really radicalized the Muslim world to create this concept of martyrs without borders," said Mohammed Hafez, a visiting professor at the University of Missouri in Kansas City and the author of one of the two studies.

Read the rest at the Arizona Star

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