the problem with "homicide bomber" is that it is pure propaganda AND it does not fully describe the signified.
A "homicide bomber" doesn't have to commit suicide.
Tim McVeigh was a "homicide bomber"
Eric Rudolph was a "homicide bomber"
"suicide bomber" conveys the fact that the bomber killed themselves too...
if one committed suicide by blowing one's self up without killing anyone else, then one would be someone that "committed suicide."
"homicide bomber" is just a discursive trick by those that want to somehow make "suicide bomber" even worse...
It is really strange when ostensibly conservative people play the same sorts of post-modern word games that they claim to oppose amongst left wingers.
"suicide bomber" is the proper way to refer to terrorists that blow themselves up and take others with them.
I prefer "murder-suicide bomber" - it's the term I find most accurate.