are we safer now?

The Rising Tide of Suicide Bombings

"Suicide bombings have increased in recent years, both in frequency and in the number of countries in which they occur. Since the early 1980s, the phenomenon has spread from Lebanon and Israel to more than 25 other countries. Since the invasion of Iraq in 2003, more suicide attacks have occurred in that country than in all other countries combined over the previous three decades. Since the Jan. 30 elections alone, at least 140 suicide attacks have occurred. Military occupation of a homeland is one contributing factor in the creation of a suicide bomber -- as evidenced by the Palestinian bombers in Israel and the occupied territories, Chechen militants and Sri Lanka's Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Suicide bombers also operate outside their home countries. Most of the suicide bombers in Iraq come from other countries, and of those, the majority are from Saudi Arabia. "