U.S. General: Iraq Bombers Recruited Online

June 20, 2005 — -- As the number of suicide bombings in Iraq grows higher and higher, a top U.S. military intelligence official tells ABC News they are learning more about the true nature of the bombers.

According to Brig. Gen. John Custer, director of intelligence for U.S. Central Command, suicide bombers are "recruited on the Internet. They hear about the terrible atrocities perpetrated against the Iraqis in Iraq. They want to go and martyr themselves."

There have been more than 450 suicide bombings since August. The majority of the bombers are ages 18 to 25 and, with rare exception, male.

Officials say they know of only one suicide bomber who was Iraqi, with the others coming from countries that include Sudan, Yemen and Saudi Arabia.

Custer says once interest is shown, an elaborate network run by Jordanian militant Abu Musab Zarqawi secretly sends the potential bomber into Iraq.

The would-be suicide bombers, says Custer, are then "hooked up with facilitators, whether in their country or neighboring countries, and flown to a capital -- Damascus [Syria] is a place we've seen associated with this."

They then move across the border using false passports, Custer says, and are held in safe houses.

Once in Iraq, according to Custer, they are repeatedly exposed to videos showing civilian casualties of U.S. bombings or the photographs of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib. The indoctrination continues up until the moment the human bomber is given his suicide vest, bag or vehicle.

Officials say suicide car bombings often involve three vehicles. The first car leads the suicide driver to the target, the second contains the bomb, and in case the driver loses his nerve, a third car follows behind to detonate the vehicles by other means.

"In many cases, we think it's detonated for them," Custer said, "so they don't even know when they are going to die."

If a bombing is successful and then videotaped, it is used to recruit more bombers and raise more money for the cause. Each one of the operations costs thousands of dollars.

Custer is trying to track those who finance the suicide bombers because by the time the attackers get into Iraq, it is often too late to stop them.

ABC News' Martha Raddatz filed this report for "World News Tonight."