An Attempt to Explain Terrorism

Last week’s terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon have left many people asking: Why?

“Behind the Terror: Understanding the Enemy,” a two-hour special being shown simultaneously tonight on the Discovery Channel, seven of its sister networks and BBC America, will attempt to provide some answers.

Rather than focus on the latest developments, the show uses primarily archival material to explain the terrorists’ motivations and how future violence might be stopped. It also traces the life of Osama bin Laden, who is viewed by U.S. officials as the prime suspect in the attacks.

“We’re not a breaking-news organization, so we tried to find documentary ways to get this story to our viewers,” said Johnathan Rodgers, president of Discovery Networks. “This offers a different view of what has happened.”

It also represents a different pace of production for the network. A typical Discovery Channel documentary takes eight to 24 months to complete, Rodgers said.

Producers have been gathering footage from BBC and Discovery Channel archives since late last week and interviewing subjects ranging from Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage and former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to David Ivry, Israel’s ambassador to the United States. They plan to work on the show, hosted by Forrest Sawyer, up until the 11th hour (thus the program was unavailable for preview).

The commercial-free program will be preceded by an edition of “Deadline Discovery” focusing on the attacks and the aftermath.

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“Behind the Terror: Understanding the Enemy” will be shown at 9 and midnight tonight on the Discovery Channel, TLC, the Travel Channel, five other Discovery networks and BBC America. It will be preceded at 8 and 11 p.m. by “Deadline Discovery.”