I’m sure by now everyone on the planet who cares has heard about today’s flurry of terrorist attacks which converted planes carrying passengers into guided missiles. I’m also sure that you’ve read and heard more about this than you would ever want to. But still, I figured I’d rant a bit about it… not about the massive chaos and destruction and loss of lives, but more so about the people who can be so depraved to do things like this.

All of these attacks, including the ones recently in the middle east have been done by suicide bombers – people who are convinced beyond all odds that their belief in their cause is the only thing that matters; people who are so brainwashed that they are willing to fly a plane into a building knowing that there is no way they will come out of their plan alive.

Recently, I read two books, both of which thankfully fiction, which were based on the premise of mass-destruction of human life by terrorists. One book was based on the threat of bio-terrorism. The other was based on chemical terrorism. (Ironic that just in the past week or so, I not only wrote about terrorism, but also about the Taliban – and what we hear on the news today is a mix of both…) In both cases however, and also in most of the real-life terroristic activities we have witnessed to date, the weakest link in the terrorists’ plans was the fact that they still valued their own life and cared to get themselves out alive. That appreciation for their own life, gives us a a chance. But as we horrifically witnessed today, when a terrorist crosses that line where their own life becomes secondary to the cause and the belief that controls their mind, then things are different. Very different. Frighteningly different.

I’ve always maintained that the greatest position of power is when you have nothing to lose. Because when you have nothing to lose, then you also have nothing to fear. When you are confronted with a hopeless situation, you begin to take chances which you would not otherwise consider. I’ve used that principle before, but I’ve used it to get myself out of bad situations or to improve my situation. But combine that with the level of brainwashing that religious fundamentalists, extremist groups, political organizations and even some organizations and institutions which are part and parcel of the everyday lives of the masses of the world population (in my opinion — which you are not obligated to subscribe to by any means — religion and belief systems are the biggest culprits for some of the major problems that plague the modern world from the middle east, to kashmir, to boznia, to ireland, to indonesia, to burma or any other major crisis area of the world… they all find their roots in religion)

The weapon for todays depraved and reprehensible acts of terrorism in NY and Washington was not just the hijacked airplanes, but as much so the belief in the heads of the terrorists who planned and executed this attack.

On a side note, the news has been reporting that one of the hijacked planes crashed just south of Pittsburgh — I bet the terrorists who masterminded this attack are watching CNN and wondering: “Where is heck is Pittsburgh!??”