Instinct
By Michael A. Smerconish with Kurt A. Schreyer
Reviewed by Allen Appel, HSO Contributor
Political commentator, talk show host, television personality and author, Smerconish has written a nifty little book about, primarily, immigration inspector Jose Melendez-Perez, the man who refused to admit Mohamed al-Kahtani into the US one month before 9/11. Kahtani is thought to be the 20th hijacker, and it is Smerconish's contention that because the man was not on United Airlines Flight 93 to provide more muscle to the other terrorists, it was possible for the passengers to battle their way into the cockpit and divert the plane from its probable target, the US capitol. While one could never be sure if this was true, the author makes the possibility a reasonable assumption.
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Smerconish has produced a book that at 165 pages is less a definitive look into the business of border patrol agents than it is an interesting talk-show-style discussion. His purpose is to entertain as well as inform. Like the best talk shows, the moderator, Smerconish, knows how to set up his story and then let the subject wander and digress into compelling areas.
Jose Melendez-Perez started his shift at Orlando International Airport on August 4, 2001 with no expectations of anything out of the ordinary. He was acting as a secondary inspection officer, which meant if the primary inspector found anything unusual with an incoming traveler, the secondary would be called in to do a one-on-one interview. It is important to remember that this event took place before 9/11, so at this time INS inspectors were not particularly searching for terrorists but were primarily attempting to ferret out visitors who were trying to gain entry into the US without intentions of ever leaving. "To be truthful," Melendez-Perez said, "I had no awareness of al-Qaeda, or bin Laden before September 11... If the Hell's Angels were due in town for Bike Week, we would have known about it, but not al-Qaeda."
The interview with Kahtani did not begin well. The Saudi acted arrogant and the look of hatred he gave Melendez-Perez made the inspector's "blood run cold." "If central casting had been auditioning actors to play Middle Eastern terrorists that day, then a scowling Mohamed al-Kahtani would have gotten the role." Because Kahtani did not speak English, a translator worked with the men over the telephone.
Kahtani had no return ticket, didn't know where he was going from the airport and refused to divulge the name of the man who was supposedly waiting for him. The reason he refused to divulge the name, quite probably, was because that man, it turned out, was Mohamed Atta, the hijacker who flew American Airlines Flight 11 into the North Tower on 9/11.
The interview ran for ninety minutes, and it became clear to Melendez-Perez that he could not allow Kahtani into the United States. It wasn't just the man's evasiveness and the strange story he was telling, but a basic unease on Melendez-Perez's part, an instinct, coupled with years of experience, that told him something was very wrong with this individual. Kahtani was sent back to Saudi Arabia. How accurate was Melendez-Perez's instinct? Kahtani was later captured at the Pakistani border after having participated in the battle of Tora Bora with Osama bin Laden. He is currently being held in Guantanamo Bay.
The author continues with an account of Canadian custom inspector Diana Dean. On the evening of December 14, 1999, Dean stopped 33-year-old Algerian, Ahmed Ressam, who was trying to enter the US at the Port Angeles, Washington, border station. He was trying to enter with all the makings of a large bomb hidden inside his vehicle. Because of Dean's quick thinking, and relying on her experience and instinct, Ressam was captured and eventually convicted of attempting what has become known as "the millennium bomb plot." Ressam's target was the Los Angeles International Airport, and he is currently serving a 22-year prison sentence.
Smerconish continues with other stories of officials foiling terrorist attempts, each recounted in an easy going interesting manner. Again, the writing sounds like a talk show host speaking with an intriguing guest. He discusses the techniques of behavior-pattern recognition and how today's immigration agents are trained to spot problematic passengers. Every year around four to five hundred travelers to the US are turned away from our airports and shores. One has to wonder, how many Mohamed Attas were among them?
In a riveting chapter, the author returns to the man turned away by Jose Melendez-Perez in 2001, Mohamed al-Kahtani. Kahtani had been held at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay for four months before his identity was established and the link to his rejection from the US in August, 2001, confirmed. This chapter chillingly details the extreme methods used to try to break Kahtani, methods that, depending on your point of view, are either "enhanced interrogation" techniques or out-and-out torture.
Smerconish ends his book with an inspirational recounting of Flight 93 and the efforts to build a monument to the men and women who died in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
The HSO takeaway: Lots of good general information presented in a reader-friendly format. A book to be enjoyed by homeland security professionals and the general reader alike. Buy it and pass it around to friends and co-workers.
Note: The review copy of his book will be sent to the first person who leaves a comment about the review. This offer extends to those other books that have already been reviewed and not claimed. Comments should be sent to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Allen Appel is a book and media reviewer who lives and works in Washington, DC. He specializes in reviewing thriller fiction and homeland security and terrorism issues. See his book blog at The Thriller Guy.
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