Who Becomes a Terrorist and Why: The 1999 Government Report on Profiling Terrorists [Paperback]

Rex Hudson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2002

The U.S. government's official profile of terrorists, who they are, why they hate America, and how they might attack.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"One of the most alarming indicators and warning signs of the terroist plot of September 11."--Senator Charles Grassley, R-Iowa

From the Back Cover

Who Becomes a Terrorist and Why is the shocking landmark 1999 government study that predicted who would terrorize the United States and how they would do it. In an attempt to profile what members of society join terrorist groups and commit acts of violence, the report drew on readily available, non-classified "open source" material that profiled current and past terrorist cults and their leaders. The study also shows what means terrorists have used thus far to bring their vision into reality, means ranging from kidnapping, hijacking, and sabotage, to the use of nerve gas.The evidence clearly pointed to the escalation of hostilities, and the report even speculated that Al-Qaeda could use suicide bombers to crash-land aircraft into government buildings and other landmarks.This government study, using readily available materials, predicted the events that changed our lives forever. Here, for the first time, the public can read what the government knew before September 11,2001: Who wants to harm the United States, why they hate us, and how they will strike us. (4 1/4 x 7, 256 pages)

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: The Lyons Press; 1 edition (June 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585747548
• ISBN-13: 978-1585747542
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,278,019 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Knowledge is Power, July 30, 2002

By 

Richard M. Marshall "rick_marshall" (Silicon Valley, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Who Becomes a Terrorist and Why: The 1999 Government Report on Profiling Terrorists (Paperback)

Anyone who wants to get a glimpse of just how much is "knowable" should read this book.

Though many will find the academic style of this book somewhat daunting, it provides an incredible vantage on just how much our government discovered about international terrorism BEFORE September 11th. If you read this book bearing in mind that its contents are not classified, you can begin to imagine how much specific intelligence the FBI, CIA, and NSA must have -- and now we're creating an Office of Homeland Security?

This book will convince you wholly and completely that tragedies like 9/11 are avoidable -- it's not the information that's the problem, it's wether or not that information informs policy. I sure hope this is required reading for our Congress.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Who Becomes A Terrorist and Why, March 22, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Who Becomes a Terrorist and Why: The 1999 Government Report on Profiling Terrorists (Paperback)

I found this book to be incredibly insightful. This book not only explores al-queda, but several other terrorist organizations around the world. This book is based on numerous studies, spanned over 3-4 decades, and gives psychological, sociological, economical, and educational profiles of people who choose this lifestyle. The Appendix of the book lists many major terrorist groups, their leaders, and what each particular groups ideals and goals are.

I do not suggest buying this book if you find reports or statistics boring, as this book has plenty of them. (This was a report published by the U.S. government in 1999) However, if you are very interested in psycholog and what it entails, it is still worth a read as the percentages and stats are relevant to the information in the book.

This book also includes an excellent study on female terrorists, which I found to be particularly startling. I was quite unaware of the number of female terrorists formerly or currently involved with these groups, as the most known terrorists in the Western world are male.

Some of the statistics in this book were quite surprising to me, such as the education level of these people. This book shows the growing trends in terrorism, and shows how terrorism has evolved over many decades. This book was very helpful in understanding why people commit acts of terrorism and how it may be possible in the future to deal with such people.