[If only more people understood the terrorists like the expert quoted below. We have GOT to stop thinking of them as having the same values and mindsets as we do.]

Miami Herald

Published Friday, September 14, 2001

For bombers, getting ready takes years

BY MEG LAUGHLIN mlaughlin@herald.com

Along with the mind-boggling enormity of this tragedy, the knowledge, organization and discipline that went into training the terrorists who pulled off such crimes seem nearly unimagineable.

If, as intelligence agencies are saying, it is the work of suicide bombers from the Middle East, the devastating moments of destruction came after years of testing and teaching.

It starts with recruiting young Jihad devotees in the mosque, says Bob Baer of Washington, D.C., a former CIA counterintelligence officer who worked with people who infiltrated terrorist camps in Lebanon, Iraq, Palestinian territories and northern Africa, in his study of suicide bombers. ``The imam, the head of the mosque, looks for young men who are especially quiet, polite and devout enough to die for a cause. They are separated from the group and the training begins.''

These training groups, often made up of two or three brothers from several families, usually number about 20 in a group. They train for years together. Among the things Baer has seen them do: spend hours on their knees in the hot sun (often on prayer mats on concrete) to show their discipline.

``I have seem them pass out and throw up, but never complain, never quit,'' Baer says.

He has also seen their leaders shoot within inches of their heads as they kneel, in order to see who flinches.

``I once saw a young man remain perfectly still when the top of his ear was shot off,'' Baer said.

He has also witnessed their ``trials by fire.'' Most of the people put on suicide missions burn to death, he says. So, they are trained and tested for years to make sure that being close to fire will not make them panic.

They dive through burning tires, crawl on their bellies under burning hurdles. They come out burned and coughing, he says, but they do it over and over, rehearsing for the final moment.

Some trainers require recruits to be repeatedly slapped in the face by men with razor blades between their fingers. To keep them from being afraid of blood and to build character, Baer says.

``It amazes me that our political leaders call them cowards and lunatics. They are neither. They are not the kind of people who pull the wings off insects. They are determined, well-trained men who love their families, but will do anything to carry out their missions,'' he says.

Along with physical tests, recruits study the Quran (Koran), which like most religious literature, lends itself to a multitude of interpretations. They work in study groups 15 to 18 hours a day. Unlike the great majority of peace-loving Muslims, these young men are always taught the interpretation that would justify violence, Baer says.

``They are true believers, not thugs,'' he says.

Many of them spend summers in the United States or years in school here -- at community colleges, business schools, technical schools, universities and even flight schools. They learn English. They like American TV, music, action films and fast food. But they rarely socialize with Americans, remaining steadfast in the belief that Americans are the power behind their oppressors and must be stopped.

``What really bothers me,'' Baer says, ``is that my many Muslim friends in the U.S. are not like this. But they could be lumped in and treated so unfairly.''

Suicide mission recruits often get psychological training in hijacking -- how a few can control many, he says. They learn how to subdue passengers and crew who far outnumber them so that they can commandeer a plane.

``You immediately kill someone to show you mean business -- usually by slitting their throat from ear to ear because it's so dramatic. Then you take a hostage but tell everyone that no one else will get hurt as long as they do what they're told,'' he says.

They are trained in how to get weapons on a plane, how to set up a network of support on all levels in order to pull off acts of terrorism.

Paul Hudson, director of the Aviation Consumer Action Project in Washington, D.C.: ``Our present airport security systems are a sieve. As they are, terrorists can go through them like water, and they know this.''

Billie Vincent, a security consultant to commercial airlines and to airports, says there are many ways these terrorists could get weapons past security and onto planes. At Logan airport in Boston, where two of the planes in this disaster originated, the most common breach in security, Vincent said, used to be at the X-ray machines for carry-on baggage.

``When we studied Logan a few years back,'' he said, ``we found insiders hired.''

But, Vincent says, perhaps this problem had been remedied, and the suicide bombers chose to hijack planes from Logan for other reasons: ``Proximity to their targets and the support teams in safe houses in the area.''

``You can be sure that anyone who takes the time and work necessary to fly a 757 or a 767 jet, as these terrorists did, will not to be deterred by airport security. They tested the security systems on dry runs before they did this,'' Vincent says.

He said that another common hole in security is through catering -- food brought on planes. An American Airlines pilot, who asked not to be named, agreed with him.

``I worry about what could get on one of my planes through the people who load the food,'' the pilot said.

``They make $5 an hour and they're not screened for employment.''

But, Vincent said, if all the terrorists used were box cutters with removable blades and pocket knives, they could have gone right through security with either.

``You can legally get through security with things that could slit a throat,'' he said.

Vincent also noted that the hijacking pilots were not just trained to fly a plane well enough to hit their targets. In at least two of the planes -- those flying into the World Trade Center -- the terrorists were sophisticated enough to simulate an electrical problem to keep from being closely tracked.

``By turning off the transponders, their secondary radar systems, and the radios, they drew less suspicion,'' he said.

The American pilot agreed: ``This kind of electrical problem is not uncommon. You'd go to the nearest airport and this would explain to the tower why you're off course.''

Several things impressed the pilot about the level of the terrorists' training: Hitting the Pentagon took a lot of flying skill -- ``getting that low and coming in at that angle.'' They also knew that a commercial airline pilot feels bound to protect everyone on the plane and would leave the cockpit if passengers or crew were in danger.

``They knew how we think,'' he said.

-- Anonymous, September 15, 2001

Answers

they are going to have to arm the planes with sleepy gas.

In the event of another attempt to hijack, the flight crew can gas the cabin [and baggage area!] while they wear oxygen masks.

then, after fifteen minutes or so, they can go into the cabin, truss up the perps, and then land. Perhaps they should truss up everyone, just to be sure.

What do you think of that idea?

-- Anonymous, September 15, 2001

Brilliant!

-- Anonymous, September 15, 2001