FBI Profilers to Probe Guantanamo Suspects

ByABC News
April 29, 2002, 11:09 PM

— -- Getting into the Minds of Al Qaeda Suspects

W A S H I N G T O N, Aug. 9 The FBI has sent a team of behavioralscientists to create psychological profiles of suspected al Qaedaimprisoned at the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, seniorU.S. counterterrorism officials say.

The effort is aimed at helping agency directors and field agentsunderstand the new generation of young terrorists who have beenrecruited by the group blamed for the Sept. 11 attacks.

"We are trying to get more cultural knowledge and get into theminds of radical fundamentalists," said one official, speaking oncondition of anonymity.

The results of the interviews will be compiled, analyzed at FBIheadquarters and shared with the CIA and the National SecurityAgency, the official said.

The behavioral scientists have full access to those suspected ofbeing al Qaeda members and are asking questions designed to uncoverthe detainees' personal histories, why they joined forces with theterrorist group and how they view the United States.

Another law enforcement official, also speaking on condition ofanonymity, said several detainees already have been profiled. The profiling is still under way and the results have not beenused in any law enforcement effort.

U.S. intelligence efforts initiated after Sept. 11 indicateal Qaeda stepped up its recruiting efforts during the past decade.The profiles would be used for developing ways to disruptrecruitment and in hunting terrorists within the United States.

"This is an important piece of our plan to look beyond todayand tomorrow and think about preventing attacks even further downthe line," the official said.

The United States is holding 564 people at the base inGuantanamo Bay, most of whom were captured in Afghanistan. How muchvaluable information has been gleaned from them is unclear.

It's not the first time the United States has attempted toprofile prisoners of war. Government contractors conducted similarinterviews with Viet Cong prisoners during the Vietnam War andenemy soldiers in the Korean War.

That data was used for propaganda pamphlets dropped over enemycities aimed at undermining support, according to severalresearchers.

Some experts who study terrorism say the government must developa better understanding of young Islamic extremists. They say thepopulation is growing because of an ongoing backlash againstglobalization and Western culture.

"We've seen an enormous rise in Islamic extremism in theyoung," said Emilio Viano, a terrorism expert and professor atAmerican University. "We are seeing the rejection of the Westernworld an attempt to find an identity in a world that has beendenied to them. Al Qaeda offers religion, nationalism and a way tostrike back against feeling powerless against the United States."

The law enforcement official also said the profiling effort wasaimed at fostering a better understanding of what the "Sunni sideof radical fundamentalism is about."

The two major factions of Islam are Sunni and Shia. Al Qaeda isled by Sunni Muslims.

U.S. counterterrorism has its roots in combatting Shiitefundamentalism in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Al Qeida leader Osama bin Laden is credited with giving rise toanti-U.S. extremism among Sunnis in the early 1990s, gainingallegiance from groups in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.