Talk:Proxy bomb

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Effect of the tactic[edit]

At the moment the section limits itself to political effects. It would be interesting to have a paragraph on the changes that were made to the security of likely targets for proxy bombs, both physical alterations to gateways and changes in tactics. --Philip Baird Shearer (talk) 15:53, 28 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Earlier than you'd think[edit]

Hansard (http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1974/jul/02/northern-ireland) references proxy bombing in the 1970s —Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.215.169.32 (talk) 13:12, 12 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The use of "proxy bomber" does not refer to the organisation using it or describe it in a manner equivalent to the tactic used in this article, therefore I have reverted your addition. O Fenian (talk) 17:17, 12 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry - wrong URL: http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/written_answers/1974/jul/31/portglenore-bombing - this is one of the occasions I remember from the summer of 1974: not the first, or even the last, but the only one I could find on Google (it didn't help that "Portglenore" is an OCR typo for "Portglenone"). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.215.169.32 (talk) 08:47, 13 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

That still does not have any detail about the "proxy" being an involuntary suicide bomber. It also does not say that the first use of it was in 1974 either, only that one such incident occurred in that year. O Fenian (talk) 20:58, 13 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I'm sorry. I'm adding material in good faith here - the point is that proxy bombing was happening, and happening under that name, back in the seventies? Who does it profit to say it didn't? Or, if you can think of some other way of including the same information, I'd be grateful for advice? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.215.169.32 (talk) 21:08, 13 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

It's ok. It's just that the term "proxy bomb" as used by the academics used as sources refers to a specific tactic where the "proxy" is in effect an involuntary suicide bomber, so earlier uses of the term by non-academic sources (or in the case of a recent edit, by a novel!) of "proxy bomber" or "proxy" while useful for background information are not really the same thing. I will try and add a sentence or two tomorrow detailing that the IRA had used a less controversial variation of the tactic before, as I am aware they also used a delivery driver as a proxy when carrying out one of many attacks on the Europa Hotel. O Fenian (talk) 01:37, 14 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Murder of proxy bomb drivers[edit]

One of my recent edits - removing the statement that the drivers of proxy bombs were usually given time to escape - was reverted as "restore sourced content." However this content was not sourced. Only the first three kidnapped drivers were allowed time to escape; later victims were frequently handcuffed to the bomb vehiocle or the vehicle itself was rigged to detonate when they opened the door. Restoring that statement as if it applied generally serves, inadvertently or otherwise, to disguise the fact that PIRA generally either made no effort to let the drivers escape or actively tried to kill them. Massively POV, so reverted.--FergusM1970^{Let's play Freckles} 18:41, 11 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

If you'd read the first section of the article you'd find that the content is sourced. The IRA carried out many proxy bombings from 1973 to 1993, and generally the drivers were given enough time to flee. In the October 1990 attacks, they weren't. That's why the 1990 attacks caused so much outrage and partly why we have a Wikipedia article about it. The article notes that "Several more 'human proxy bombings' were planned, but the operations were called-off, partly because of the outrage it drew from all sections of the community". ~Asarlaí 19:02, 11 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Well, no. The source cites exactly one pre-1990 proxy bomb which was set up to give the driver time to escape. Every one I'm aware of from 1990 on was deliberately set up to murder the driver, either by rigging an anti-handling device between the IED and the courtesy light or simply handcuffing the poor bastard to the steering wheel. The fact is that as the terrorists regarded the victims as "collaborators" they didn't care if they escaped or not, and in fact killing them was encouraged by the Sweenies as it eliminated potential witnesses both to the bombings and to the threats against the drivers' families. People who're concerned about avoiding innocent casualties don't use massive IEDs as a weapon. Not rocket science, I have to say.--FergusM1970^{Let's play Freckles} 23:43, 13 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I feel it is well elaborated. Toomuch definations scuttle the meaning. Maurice Atieno (talk) 05:56, 24 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Retitle[edit]

How about retitling this to IRA Proxy bomb? The term Proxy bomb by itself is not very informative. Fergananim (talk) 16:19, 23 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The tactic was not exclusive of the IRA per cited sources (see lede).--Darius (talk) 23:36, 23 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

All the more reason to denote the particular attacks. Fergananim (talk) 17:23, 24 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]