ASSOCIATED PRESS
Osama bin Laden views America as an enemy
in a global and symbolic war.

Attacks fit bin Laden
pattern, terrorism
expert says

Mark Juergensmeyer says
yesterday's acts are similar to
those of bin Laden
follower Ramzi Yousef

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By Rick Daysog
rdaysog@starbulletin.com

The attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon that killed thousands of people and crippled the worldwide financial markets fit a pattern of terrorism conducted by Osama bin Laden and his militant Islamic followers, according to a former University of Hawaii expert on religious terrorism.

Mark Juergensmeyer, director of Global and International Studies at U.C. Santa Barbara, said yesterday's suicide attacks -- in light of the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center by bin Laden followers -- appear to be part of a complicated and highly secretive plot that few terrorist organizations outside of the bin Laden group could carry out.

"This fits his modus operandi," said Juergensmeyer, who served as dean of the UH School of Hawaiian, Asian and Pacific Studies between 1989 and 1993. "He sees America as an enemy in a global and symbolic war."

Juergensmeyer, who recently authored a book titled "Terror in the Eye of God," said that yesterday's attacks bear resemblance to bin Laden follower Ramzi Yousef's attempt to blow up a series of passenger airlines throughout the Pacific in 1995.

Yousef, who was convicted for his role in the airline incident, also has been identified as the mastermind of the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center.

Juergensmeyer said he interviewed bin Laden follower Mahmud Abouhalima in the mid-1990s. Abouhalima also was convicted for taking part in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

Abouhalima said he was disappointed that the 1993 bombing of the twin-tower complex did not completely topple it as happened yesterday. He compared the 1993 bombing to the U.S. bombing of Hiroshima, saying 200,000 people would have to be killed.

According to Juergensmeyer, bin Laden and his followers are targeting the Trade Center not so much for its strategic value but for its role as a symbol of America's political power. Their goal is to enlist other Islamic nations such as Iran or Afghanistan to wage war against the U.S. and its allies, said Juergensmeyer, who also has studied Hamas suicide bombers.

The biggest mistake that Bush administrators can make is to retaliate harshly against countries such as Afghanistan, provoking other Islamic nations into a global battle, he said.

"That's what bin Laden would want," Juergensmeyer said.