The Analyst Blog

OU Suicide Bomber Meets the Profile of a Terrorist Suicide Bomber

I was extremely reluctant at first to latch onto the notion that Joel Hinrichs, the 21-year old OU student who blem himself up last week outside of the packed OU football stadium, was a terrorist who blew himself up in part of a terrorist plot.

Now though, the evidence (and here) seems to indicate that the bloggers have been precisely on point, while the mainstream media has been severly lacking in what is supposed to be its trade-craft - bringing Americans the most accurate and up-to-date news from around the country and the world.

Not only does all of the evidence presented in numerous blogs make it clear that this was not your average suicide, the accounts given of Joel Hinrichs mirror those of other terrorist suicide bombers. In other words, Joel Hinrichs appears to meet the "profile" of a terrorist. The numerous "indicators", taken alone (or even collectively in small amounts), do not necessarily indicate subversive or criminal activity. However, Joel Hinrichs appears to meet the vast majority of indicators that constitutes the general profile of a terrorist.

Commonalities Among Terrorists Met By Joel Hinrichs:
- Male between the ages of 18-24 (or 18-35)
- Apparently a 2nd or 3rd generation American at least (terrorist groups prefer actual citizens of the target country becuase they naturally blend into their surroundings)
- Middle class
- College educated
- Living in an apartment with one or more males of "foreign" origin
- In close proximity to (and probably frequented) a mosque, Muslim community center, or university (these are the most common places for terrorist recruiting, coordinating, and socializing in Western nations - Update: The Dallas Morning News says he frequented the community center, the same one frequented by the "20th hijacker")
- Had recently grown a (probably new) beard according to sources (this is a common indicator of newly found or already held devout religious belief amongst Muslims)
- He appears to have already been known to police in the area, possibly for commiting minor crimes in the past (this is common, as terrorists often must resort to illegal activities to fund or supply their operations - UPDATE: Mark Tapscott says he has a juvenille record, bringing a piece of metal to school to settle a score with a bully)
- There is also the possibility that Hinrichs registered his car for only nine months because he knew he would soon kill himself

These life-style indicators, in combination with what else we know from numerous law enforcement sources - that Hinrichs tried to aquire amonium nitrate (the same substance used to blow up the federal building in Oklahoma City), the he used the same type of explosives ("Mother of Satan") as the "Shoe Bomber", that he blew himself up in a heavily trafficed public place, and so on - make it a virtual CERTAINTY that Joel Hinrichs was in fact a terrorist suicide bomber, rather than just some distrubed kid trying to solve his problems by blowing himself up, as the President of the University of Oklahoma (a former Senator who served on the Senate Intelligence Committee) would have us believe.

I only say "virtual certainty" because, as an intelligence analyst, I am (perhaps overly) accustomed to "nuancing" and "qualifying" my assessments.

There are numerous other indicators that will likely be revealed in the on-going investigation if this does indeed turn out to be a case of terrorism, which it most certainly seems to be. We may likely learn that Joel Hinrichs indeed made financial arrangements for his departure from this earth; that he and those he lived with were "quiet and polite and always paid their bills on time"; that one or more of the individuals may have had a prior criminal history or were in the country illegally; and so on.

Time will tell.

(Resources: Mark Tapscott, Accuracy in Media, and Generation Why)

posted by The Analyst @ 5:06 PM