October 26, 2001: Open Lines - Out of the Box Thinking About Terrorism

Art Bell devotes the entire program to an open lines challenge, asking listeners to think outside the box and propose unconventional strategies for winning the war on terrorism. The concept gains unexpected validation when Reuters reports just days later that the Pentagon itself is soliciting creative ideas from inventors and citizens. Callers respond with proposals ranging from the extreme to the inventive, including nuclear options, religious summits between major faiths, and deploying HAARP technology to locate underground cave networks.

Among the more creative suggestions, one caller proposes using CGI technology to fabricate a convincing video of bin Laden ordering his followers to lay down their arms, which would force the real bin Laden to break cover. Another suggests projecting holographic images of Allah in the Afghan sky to lure Taliban fighters to a specific location. A caller from Houston advocates convening a summit of the world's top religious leaders to address the root causes of the conflict, an idea Art calls the first truly outstanding suggestion of the night.

Other proposals include genetic targeting using DNA from bin Laden's children, defoliating Afghanistan's opium fields to cut off funding, and making the country uninhabitable to flush out combatants. Art maintains a mostly non-judgmental stance throughout, though he admits his own instinct leans toward direct military retribution.