Sam Skinner, former transportation secretary under George Bush Sr., directed a "security enhancement task force" after Pan Am flight 103 was shot down in 1988 over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people.
I'm looking back on my experience after Pan Am flight 103. We created offices for security in several departments and we enhanced the methods at every airport, so I'm very, very surprised that they were able to accomplish this. The fact that they could get through three airports on four flights without anyone picking it up, shows that this was a very well-organized attack -- probably with some inside help.
We've concentrated most of our time and energy on international aircraft. We focused on that threat because they may have been coming in from international airports where security was lax, or going to international locations, in which it would be easier to hide people who would profile as terrorists.
So the fact that four domestic flights were hijacked is entirely shocking. I don't know of any scenario that allowed for this. This is not an amateur performance. It must have had support from strong organizations or governments.
You would have had to have at least four inside people, at airports with access to planes with full fuel loads. You'd have to have them plant weapons at the same moment without being detected. And I find it hard to believe that any American pilot would deliberately fly into the building, so I also have to assume that they managed to get an experienced pilot on board.
The timing of it is also amazing. All the planes were close to their targets, but the crashes occurred at around the same time.
This was very well-executed, and as a result, security measures as we know them today will be enhanced substantially. What that will be is too early to tell. But there will be a lot of money spent on devices; I also think there will be a higher scrutiny of employees and of cargo. You can get pretty draconian, and I think we'll see that whole new level of scrutiny. This is different from what we've ever seen in the past. This isn't just blowing up airplanes; this is using airplanes as a tool of death.
Tony Grasha, grief expert and psychology professor, University of Cincinnati
There are a couple of things that will be happening: First people will feel shock and confusion. They'll feel afraid because of the uncertainties. What's going to happen next? Is this the only attack? Can I step on a plane and be safe?
Then they're going to get angry because of the way it affects their lives, their country. These are understandable and normal reactions and healthy. It would be more of a problem if they had no feelings.
But at the same time, people should try to continue with their lives. What terrorists actively do is disrupt people, and part of their strategy is to affect not just victims but also people generally. People shouldn't let that happen. They shouldn't become secondary victims or tertiary victims.
Also, everyone has to ask about what can be done in the future. We need to find out how to make sure this doesn't happen again, and I don't mean just in terms of the military. I also mean in a sociological sense. The real tough issue is going to be how do we deal with poverty, displaced people, people feeling as if they have no control over their lives, that they are under the thumbs of big powerful nations.
This is no small order, but we need to ask these questions. We've learned a lesson throughout the 20th century that the ethnic and nationalistic problems -- the feelings of being betrayed by neighbors, different religions, countries -- can lay underground for a while, but not forever. They will surface and because they do, we need to do more than just offer military might and social band-aids.
James Zogby, president of the Arab-American Institute
The fact that we're getting so many media calls is a symptom of the problem. [Arab-Americans] don't get time to mourn, we keep looking over our backs to see if people are pointing fingers. The fact is, we have no idea who did this. And we ourselves are more gripped on mourning families and friends we have who work in the World Trade Center and we still don't know where they are, or who work in the Pentagon. We obviously, like everyone, are horrified by and gripped by how unimaginable this is.
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