What was unique about the tools used in the September 11 terrorist attacks?
HOFFMAN: The advent of what is considered modern, international terrorism occurred on July 22, 1968, when three armed Palestinian terrorists, belonging to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), one of the six groups then comprising the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), hijacked an Israeli El Al commercial flight en route from Rome to Tel Aviv. While airplane hijackings have long been a preferred terrorist tactic, one that ushered in this period of modern, international terrorism, the September 11 terrorist attacks were different. What was unique was that the terrorists used this old, long-preferred terrorist tactic, thought about the ways authorities typically respond to hijackings, and utilized the predicted response to identify and then exploit what proved to be an inherent weakness in the air security systems. The authorities had thought through their responses to airplanes terrorized by bombs, for example, secreted in luggage or hijacked by terrorists for
