WASHINGTON — This week’s coordinated terror attacks on commercial and governmental sites in New York and Washington stunned terrorism experts by their scope and sophistication — and prompted warnings that more could be in store for American citizens.
“I was aghast at the scale and horror of this — it is orders of magnitude beyond any other terrorist attack,” said Phil Wilcox, who retired three years ago from the State Department, where he was a coordinator for counter-terrorism and an ambassador-at-large.
Daniel Pipes, a pundit who has written frequently on terrorism, speculated that Tuesday’s attacks are only “Phase 1” of a massive assault against the United States.
“There’s an incredible amount of venom in the air against the United States,” said Pipes, who is director of the Middle East Forum, a conservative think tank based in Philadelphia.
Wilcox warned of the risk of copycat attacks, with this week’s inauguration of a new form of terrorism.
“When there is major terrorism of this kind, it sometimes inspires others,” he said. “And that’s a reason for greater vigilance now.”
As for a U.S. military response, Rabbi Arnold Resnicoff, who recently retired as chaplain at the Pentagon, said the military’s “first actions around the scene of a terrorist attack would be, one, set up forces to guard against other attacks which might be part of the coordinated operation; two, almost simultaneously, tend to the wounded, including those who may be trapped; and three, start trying to identify those responsible, and began planning responses — short and long term.”
Suspicion has focused largely on Osama bin Laden, the Saudi Arabian billionaire who is believed to have masterminded the 1998 attacks on U.S. embassies in Africa and other terrorist incidents around the world. He is also thought to be behind Sunday’s assassination, or grievous injury, of Afghan guerilla leader Ahmed Shah Massoud, the most formidable foe of the ruling Taliban movement, which has given shelter to bin Laden.
A Taliban official in Afghanistan released a statement condemning Tuesday’s attacks.
While his people celebrated and distributed candy in the streets, Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat condemned the attacks and sent condolences to President Bush.
Pipes said the United States was “deeply unprepared” for this type of terrorist assault.
He argued that it would be easy to determine which group is responsible for the attacks, because few have the capability. He said he hoped this would be an educational lesson for the United States, but was more cautious than some who believed it would be a turning point for U.S. counterterrorism efforts.
“If today’s [attack] doesn’t have a chemical or biological component, that’s what we have to look for in the future,” Pipes said.
Terrorism expert Steve Emerson called the series of attacks on Tuesday “unfathomable.” In a 1997 article, he said he believed Muslim fundamentalist groups were preparing for a wide-scale attack against the United States.
“In fact, I would say that the infrastructure now exists to carry off 20 simultaneous World Trade Center-type bombings across the United States,” Emerson warned in the interview with Middle East Quarterly, published by Pipes’ group. “And as chemical, biological and even nuclear weapons become available to them, the threat becomes ever more ominous.”
David Makovsky, senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said the United States should be humble about making predictions regarding who is responsible.
“If indeed this is some sort of Islamic terrorism, the short-term impact may be giving the Israeli government more space in its fight against the threats that it faces daily,” said Makovsky, former editor of the Jerusalem Post.
“There is no doubt that, at least in the short term, Americans will have a greater appreciation for what Israel has been going through on a daily basis for the last year,” he said.