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It's no easy task getting inside the mind of your average, U.S.-loathing Islamic militant, much less talking them out of their missions of destruction. Newsweek.com reports that an LA-based production company, funded by a shadowy cabal of anonymous "mystery donors," has taken the somewhat counterintuitive route of producing a slick, Hollywood-style PSA that hopes to do just that. Shot in downtown LA, and intended for broadcast on Iraqi TV, the spot's producers hope its fancy, bullet-time effects will wow potential suicide bombers out of going through with their assignments:

At least 60 extras dressed in hijabs, kaffiyehs and polyester-wool blend slacks were herded onto the set to simulate an average shopping day. [...]

Onlookers were later asked to stand back as the pyrotechnic crew blew up a poor old Yugo coupe and stunt men and women, padded under their Arab garb, were thrust into the air with ropes and pulleys to simulate the impact of a bomb exploding. "We all watch it on the evening news," says 900 Frames partner Drew Plotkin, "but we're using a 120-camera set up that was used in films like 'The Matrix.' It gives a frozen-in-time feeling.

We're not sure if giving potential suicide bombers the ability to see a 360-degree pan of a dismembered fruit vendor's arm suspended in space will effectively discourage them from their self-appointed task. If anything, it seems it would merely add a compelling, V For Vendetta-style veneer to their cause. Phones at agencies and studios could soon be ringing as up-and-coming "terror-artists" try to recruit A-list talent and get funding for better production values for their next suicide mission, while stubbornly resisting notes about the inadvisibility of ruining sequel possibilities by killing off their protagonist.