Suicide Terror – How real is the danger and what could be done

By Henry Morgenstern
President
Security Solutions International (SSI)
www.securitysolutionsint.com

Security Solutions International is the leading national training company for Homeland Security from awareness training for first responders, to hospital and medical response and even helicopter and marine emergency response to acts of terror.

Many Police Departments view the threat of Suicide Terror on American Soil seriously but feel that if this happens it will happen somewhere else and therefore it is not a direct threat to their jurisdiction. Scarce funds are therefore not allocated to training for this possibility. We all hope this will never happen but events show that there are no good grounds for being optimistic about if, when and where terrorism could strike in our communities.

Everything happening in Iraq shows that the weapon is effective as far as terrorists are concerned. In training hundreds of Police Departments to deal with terrorist threats, we have learned a few things: number one is that are no red lines where terrorists are concerned; that terrorists will employ the most inconceivable methods in unpredictable places; experience in Middle East, in Asia and in Europe demonstrates that their targets are very difficult to determine.

In the light of this, it pays Police Departments – the first line of Homeland Security – to be aware of the mindset of terrorists, their modus operandi and some ideas for preventing or preempting these attacks.

Bombing of the Marine Barracks on Oct.23 1983

Suicide Terror in the Mind of Terrorists

The first attack of Suicide Terror occurred inLebanon in 1983. On April 19 th a car that had been watching the US Embassy there drove a few blocks and flashed its lights to a truck waiting for that signal. As the truck sped towards its destination, the many Embassy staff, including the entire Intelligence division, had no idea that their world was about to end. Within minutes, 63 Americans were dead and hundreds more were injured.

Within a few months the success of this first mission encouraged enemies of the US Peace mission in Lebanon to employ a far deadlier attack. In place of a 2000 pound bomb used against the Embassy, a 12,000 pound omb was used against the Marine Barracks. The deadly attack, pictured here, killed 242 Americans and caused the US to leave Lebanon.

The birth of the Vehicle Born Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED) heralded a new era.

Not only had the terrorists in Lebanon successfully attacked a super-power without having sophisticated weapons. In employing what is arguably the most sophisticated weapon available – a human bomb, one that can change its mind, defer delivery, change target or even decide not to deploy – they forced the US to leave Lebanon. That created the justification for use of Suicide Terror as a weapon.

Since then, the weapon has been used extensively by terrorists – and not only by Islamic Fundamentalists. The Tamil Tigers have even used it more than the Islamic groups.

The reason: it was successful from their point of view.

What is the Modus Operandi of Terrorists

Every terror group uses different methods in carrying out their heinous attacks against indiscriminate targets. In reviewing many case studies relating to the use of the weapon in Iraq and using classified information obtained by the Israeli Police after having interviewed many suicide terrorists, we have come to some important conclusions.

The idea that the act of Suicide Terrorism is the act of a deranged individual who is a young male and a fundamentalist fanatic is totally wrong. There is a well-oiled machine that deploys this weapon. It relies on:

• Funding to achieve its aims, usually in the guise of benevolent fund-raising but also utilizing crime such as cigarette smuggling, drug dealing and theft
• A recruitment procedure that uses the values of the Moslem Community to recruit even reluctant participants
• Religious justification – since Suicide itself is forbidden by most religions, this forms a vital factor in enabling recruits to contradict their religious faith.

Generally, Islamic Fundamentalist groups use the Mosque as the main focus of recruitment. By having cell members interact with the community, they can discover people that are fanatics, recently bereaved, even those whose moral standards are at odds with the community’s values. All these issues are used for recruitment.

So the potential Suicide Terrorist may come from a different backgrounds, different age groups, be male or female, educated or uneducated, an upstanding citizen, or a deviant.

When a potential suicide bomber is spotted, various means are employed to monitor their behavior but all result in the same. When the final approach is made it must result in success or risk the entire mission. After recruitment the “ticking bomb” goes through a process of preparation that can take weeks or hours.

Religious sanctification of the act is first and foremost. For this terrorists will rely on “Fatwas” or religious opinions such as the one of that most famous of “clerics” Osama Bin Laden in 1998 that attacking any American anywhere is completely justified. The well-known promise of 72 virgins in the after life is just one potential reward. Much more effective are promises that a family with a member of suspect moral standards will be redeemed completely as a result of his act.

When the recruit has the bomb operation explained to him, he will undergo mental preparation for the task at hand. This can involve lying in graves to prepare the recruit for death, careful analysis of the target and briefing about how and when, and finally the recruit will be sent to his or her target and rituals of purification before the end of this life.

Spot the Suicide Terrorist? – Answer: All of them!

 

What does all this have to do with the US? Right now in Mexico’s Chiapas region a very worrying increase in Islamic Fundamentalism is taking place among the impoverished of that area and could translate into fertile ground for recruitment. In Islamic communities across the US, there are families that are torn apart by the culture clash, when younger members adopt US standards of behavior. In these communities, the very suspicion of extra-marital affairs or even “dating” without the proper protocol may shame the family, lower their status drastically and create the conditions for successful recruitment.

The Bomb – Knowing how to recognize materials

One of the areas we find most lacking here in the US is knowledge of improvised explosives. Such knowledge could lead to successful prevention. After the infamous attack on the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma, everyone knows what fertilizer can do. But that is being reactive and not proactive. We must know something about the materials used in these attacks so that we can help officers recognize a potential bomb lab. Apart from necessary but easily recognizable materials such as the detonator, there are many materials available to the terrorists to create a bomb that should be instantly recognized as such.

Shrapnel used in a terrorist bomb to make it more effective

Our training programs try to instill an awareness of what these materials are and the effects they cause. Also, with Force safety in mind, we try and teach how they act or react. Should a patrol man called to a house to investigate something else, notice that extensive corrosion is present on metal objects because the place is being used to mix explosives? What should he or she do?

The types of improvised explosives are wide spread, easy to obtain and readily commercially available. Terrorist instructions for making them are available on the Internet. But good intelligence, by knowing these materials well, can reveal an impending attack more keenly than other methods.

Is there anything that can be done to stop terror attacks

One of the frequent questions we are asked as we explain the way terrorists work is this: How realistic is it to think that an attacks carried out in this way, with very few people involved – maybe a small cell– be effectively deterred?

The experience in Israel, where over the last four years some 850 people have been killed in these attacks, effectively answers this question.

Translating that figure to US population would mean something like 38,000 deaths. This caused social and economic devastation. It took time for the Israeli authorities to understand the nature of the weapon being employed against them from 2000 to the present. Yet, in the last year, some 90% of attacks have been stalled. We here in the US can learn some valuable lessons from the hard-won and very costly Israeli experience.

1. Intelligence
One of the critical factors in the Israeli success is intelligence. By utilizing the law-abiding Moslem American citizens and knowing how they think and paying attention to their social rules, Law Enforcement could develop very effective intelligence into the communities, their fund-raising activities and monitor potential trouble. This requires some cultural sensitivity, language ability but these skills are obtainable.

In addition, Intelligence must take a less technological approach and see the value in knowing what is happening in the community, despite the tremendous case-log that most officers are faced with. For example, a 10,000 pound theft of fertilizer may not rank up there with a homicide investigation but it could lead to a very important prevention of a much greater homicide attack. Was the theft of a few detonators from a local factory significant? Were the Drug Dealers background interests investigated thoroughly?

For example, in the aftermath of 9/11, some Middle Easterners asking questions about crop-sprayers like they did in Belle Glades, Florida or others learning to fly, but not land, a Jet certainly would raise the concern of authorities. What other examples can you think of that might raise your concern now?

Local intelligence about these types of incidents can be a powerful force and may even be more effective than federal agencies usually responsible for this. You are the person closest to the potential incident and can learn the most.

2. Force Coordination
This is a readily understood concept that gets a lot of lip service but ends up being buried under turf wars and real technological difficulties. Without the complete cooperation of Federal, State and Local enforcement, there is no possibility of preventing these attacks.

This cooperation must seek to duplicate the Israeli model where everyone has served in that Nation’s army. Therefore, people know each other across the spectrum of Law Enforcement activities and have access to each other across units and jurisdictions. Clearly, Israel is a very small country but a lot more could be done to make cooperation a reality in the US despite its size. Apart from the joint exercises conducted by Homeland Security – usually an annual event at best – the regular training schedule of forces could include observers and participants from other units.

Technological barriers like communication equipment and access to information have to be more centralized.

3. Training
Our experience is that US Law Enforcement takes a back seat to no other law enforcement in any other country. With the volume of dangerous crime here, and the constant volume of cases, the experience of Law Enforcement here could be a model for other countries to follow in the prevention, solution and prosecution of crimes.

However, in terms of terrorism this is a new field of activity for most law enforcement. We have found that a small amount of training could make a major difference. Taking the example of SWAT or Special Op Forces, it would take a few days to drill teams in the very subtly different but extremely dangerous situation of dealing with people whose mission in life is dying and taking as many with them as they can. When taking a building where there are hostages in the hands of terrorists (that may be armed with devastating bombs) should the same tactics be used for breaching? Certainly not! But teaching these very experienced and skilled forces the differences of dealing with Suicide Terror may only take a few days of training because of their underlying skills.

The focus on Homeland Security has definitely made a difference. Two years ago few were interested in our training offerings and now we are inundated with requests. However, training

in Counter-terrorism should be an ongoing (at the very least annually) part of law enforcement’s training program.

Remember: the enemy in this case is a very creative, and well-organized foe and we need to keep up with their mindset, methods and activities to avoid their vicious weapons becoming a fact of life in the US.