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Volume CCXXXVI, Number 136 August 10, 2006 

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Who is the bomber?
Who can he be?

PROFILES IN
TERRORISM

By Douglas MacArthur, War Correspondent
and Richard Herrnstein, Science Editor with
Allvin T. Fuller in Boston

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – As America reels from the news that home-grown English terrorists were planning to bomb planes out of the sky with Gatorade bottles, anti-terrorism experts have created a psychological profile that attempts to explain the type of sick, twisted personality that would engage in such horrific behavior.

Experts at the Lieberman Center for Abnormal Psychology at New Haven's world-famous Yale University have come up with a checklist or composite of personality traits that they believe can be used to weed out potential terrorists.

"We believe that persons who are susceptible of becoming terrorists are basically weak, insecure individuals who entertain serious doubts about their self-worth, even as they attempt to conceal those doubts with bluster and bonhomie," said Psychology Professor Shaw Vellingit.

Prof. Vellingit's research comes none too soon for weary travelers subjected to harsh new security measures. "They even took away my Slurpee," complained Mrs. Kathleen T. Burke of Old Sludgebury, Mass., waiting in a security line at Boston's Logan Airport.

The security restrictions at London's Heathrow are even tighter.  Thousands, including the lissome Ms. Allova pictured above, endured all-day waits, only to be told they had to surrender their books before boarding.  "Take an ordinary cigarette lighter to a book and it'll go up in flames," explained UK Home Office Deputy Minister James Hacker.

"Fortunately, I'm not that much of a reader," admitted the lovely and talented Ms. Allova, a Poznan-based actress who has appeared in a number of independently produced DVD's.

Even as air travelers fume in long queues, Prof. Vellingit continues to refine his psychological model. "Individuals who become terrorists often can come from very privileged backgrounds and enjoy a comfortable upbringing in luxurious surroundings. Often their own inadequacies can be concealed by family influence, power or money," said Prof. Vellingit.

He speculated that these individuals are drawn to violence as a way to retaliate against what they perceive as an overbearing patriarchal authority figure whom they can never live up to. "By committing egregiously violent acts, these individuals in effect are seeking to show the world that they are bigger and stronger than their fathers. It's really very Freudian."

However, the Professor noted that the same personality traits that result in taking up a life of terrorism show up in earlier life in other forms of antisocial behavior.

"Individuals who are drawn to committing acts of mass violence often have a troubled history of alcohol or substance abuse.  Their failure to conquer their addictive behavior often marginalizes them from mainstream activities. For example, it would be surprising if an individual with this form of psychopathic personality could successfully complete a term of military service without relapsing into a drug- or alcohol-induced stupor."

This substance abuse, and their own feelings of worthlessness make it difficult for such persons to achieve academic success in higher education, said the Professor, although they often compensate for such failings by taking on a "party animal" persona.

"As these pitiable individuals attempt to get on with their lives, we see them desperately attempting to live some sort of normal existence, but failing. For example, we would expect these individuals to have a record of multiple career failures, which may be covered up by well-to-do friends and relatives. Intriguingly, such individuals tend to marry others with similar records of substance abuse and violent crime."

According to the Professor, the final days of these individuals follow a predictable and tragic course. "As these psychopaths feel increasingly overwhelmed by the strains and stresses of daily life that the rest of us cope with, they seek release in obsessional behavior. It would not be surprising for such individuals to have, for example, a rigid exercise routine that takes precedence over all other forms of activity."

Finally, the individual withdraws from all but a select few whom he regards as even weaker and less adequate than himself, and often seeks to inveigle them in his planned rampage of violence. "We also see such individuals acting out in public, by, for example, inappropriately touching women or treating important persons in a peremptory and rude fashion," the Professor noted.

What can be done to protect America from these pitiable yet dangerous individuals? Professor Vellingit suggests that all Americans be on their guards for individuals matching these descriptions. He believes that because these terrorist personalities have been shown to be incapable of rehabilitation or redemption, there is no alternative but to immure them for life in some out of the way place, such as Guantanamo Bay. Asked if New Haven might be a suitably obscure place to sequester antisocial individuals, the professor replied, "Sorry, we're full up here."