Terrorist Profiling: The New Face

Terrorist Profiling: The New Face of Islamic Terror

Since 9/11 the accepted profile of the 'typical' terrorist has undergone a seismic shift. Before, it was often assumed, even by experts, that most radical Islamic suicide bombers sought martyrdom because they had little to lose, personally and economically. Their average age was twenty-two, and they were recruited and indoctrinated for short, intense periods of time to minimize the chance that they would have second thoughts. Also, the perceived advantage of suicide bombing was its rough simplicity, from a technical point-of-view, in terms of its use of explosive detonation and minimal planning (Wilgoren 2001:1).

However, the oldest terrorist involved in the 9/11 attacks was forty-one. Richard Reid, the 'shoe bomber' was thirty-two (McGrory & Hussein 2005). Furthermore, the relatively educated men behind the Al Qaeda organization had "spent years studying and training in the United States, collecting valuable commercial skills and facing many opportunities to change their minds" (Wilgoren 2001:1). They also had a more flexible attitude to their religion, were often seen drinking alcohol with non-Muslims at sports bars and many had held professional jobs. This 'blending in' is still practiced as a technique today by terrorists. One terrorists training camp in Pakistan is staffed by radical Muslims still living in the UK, and a teacher is said to have instructed some British recruits: "don't go to well-known radical mosques in the UK, as they are under police surveillance. Don't wander into bookshops which sell violent videos and militant literature as they too are being watched' (McGrory & Hussein 2005).

The 9/11 attackers had strong societal ties characteristic of the middle-aged, and one of them behind a wife and young children. Perhaps the only 'obvious' indication that these men might be terrorists was their fascination with flight, and their fixation upon learning how to fly, rather than to land an airplane. Monitoring flight school enrollment and communications technology thus is important when profiling potential suspects, more so than an expressed ideological affinity with militant Islam. A key weapon for Islamic militants is new communications technology like the Internet that enables them to rally support and recruit from all over the world, at little expense, shift funds electronically and use the Internet to keep in contact with the rest of their deliberately dispersed organization, while they "gather information about their targets and publicize their threats" (Nicolson, 2004).

Many terrorists have lived in the countries they are targeting, or are natives, and may even be converts to Islam, as terrorist organizations have begun to put aside their usual resistance to recruiting from outside the faith. "The new terrorists are global citizens, resourceful and meticulous, skilled with technology and with the patience to wait years for the opportunity to attack" (Nicolson, 2004). Their disaffection with society is just as likely to be ideological as economic -- many, regardless of age and status, are still 'finding themselves' and militancy provides an easy answer and life's purpose. This may have been true of the perpetrators of the most recent attacks in Great Brittan, where non-whites often feel a sense of alienation and rejection from still class-bound, post-Imperial Britain (McGrory & Hussein 2005). A frustration of societal expectations, rather than outright poverty and rejection, were characteristic of these terrorists' profiles.

This shifting profile should not have come as much of a surprise as it did to experts. As early as 1999 some experts noted, regarding terrorists in general (as opposed to Islamic terrorists) that all "terrorist groups are recruiting members who possess a high degree of intellectualism and idealism, are highly educated, and are well trained in a legitimate profession...More than two-thirds of the terrorists surveyed came from middle-class or even upper-class backgrounds" (Hudson 1999: 46; 49)