Wednesday, January 30, 2002
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Wednesday, January 30, 2002 |
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Chamber speaker: bin Laden repeated historical mistake By CAROLYN
CARY
Terrorist Osama bin Laden made the biggest mistake against Americans since 1941, according to a specialist in terrorism who spoke here Saturday. "In both instances," said Clinton Van Zandt, "neither aggressor truly understood Americans and that they had truly awakened a sleeping giant." Van Zandt, a 25-year veteran special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, spoke at the 35th annual banquet of the Fayette County Chamber of Commerce. A hostage negotiator, he also specializes in threat assessment and behavioral and forensic analysis. He has been acknowledged as the team leader of the analytical team that identified the "Unabomber," and is credited with correctly profiling Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh. In dealing with David Koresh at the Branch Davidian Compound in Waco, Texas, Van Zandt said that Koresh had a Bible and Van Zandt had one, with Koresh flipping through the Bible finding one verse here and one verse there to prove the Davidian theories were correct. Van Zandt told him that his own Bible stated it was important to save even one sheep. "You want to kill your whole flock," Van Zandt told him. Upon retiring from the federal government, Van Zandt created his own consulting company, specializing in investigative support, threat assessment and behavioral and forensic analysis in Fredericksburg, Va. He ended his talk with a reading from the Bible, Isaiah 40: "Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low, the uneven ground shall become level Behold, the Lord God comes with might, He will feed his flock like a shepherd, he will gather the lambs in his arms, he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint." "This is who we are as Americans," he said. "God bless America."
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