Please Tell Us More….
Last week, we all saw stories where a man was arrested for planning terrorist activities in the Boston area. The Boston Globe reported that suspect Tarek Mehanna was arrested on charges of planning attacks both inside and outside of the United States. The media reported that the man had tried unsuccessfuly to get into a terrorism school:
“Mehanna, Abousamra and a cooperating witness set out for Yemen in 2004 to find a terror training camp but were unsuccessful. The cooperating witness backed out and saw Mehanna at a party a few weeks later. Mehanna told him “nothing happened in Yemen.” Abousamra was also unsuccessful in signing up with a terror training camp in two trips to Pakistan in 2002″
So, what’s up with that? There was no other information or explanation about this failed attempt to graduate from Bomb Making 101.
How does one get rejected from entry into the College of Terrorism? Did he fail some equivalent of the FCAT? Was the school already full with other more qualified terrorism students? Was he deemed unacceptable on the basis of age, race, national origin or sexual orientation? Or, perhaps the schools assets were frozen and they had to cut back on the number of semesters they can fund.
How does one actually get into Terrorism School? I can only imagine what the application looks like. “Please list prior experience with bombing, killing, and plotting…” Do they ask if you have ever been convicted of a felony? Do they do a background check?
How much does Terrorism School cost? Is this a semester based program? Is there a Bachelors Degree in explosive techniques and a Masters Degree in Poison Gas Logistics?
Can you fail Terrorism school? I am sure it would be frowned on if you accidentally blew up the school during a lab class. Is there a written and practical skills test?
So there are more questions than answers, as is usually the case.