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Old-School Academy in Post-9/11 World

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The recruits also learn about the techniques used in several terrorism investigations, including "Operation Smokescreen," a cigarette-smuggling case that led to the breakup of a financing ring for Hezbollah.

'Learn . . . Read'

After Loose finished his class, D. Vincent Sullivan, another longtime agent, gave a quick lecture on building relationships with Arabs. Like the class Loose teaches in the history of Islam, it was limited to an hour.

Sullivan held up three recommended books, beginning with "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Islam."

The trainees laughed, but Sullivan was serious.

"Don't wait for the bureau to give you the information and understanding you think you need to do your job," he said. "Don't assume that if you need to know, we're going to tell you about it. Take courses outside the bureau, learn another language and read."

"When the next boom goes off -- and it will go off -- we will all be terrorism agents, so it behooves us all to have a minimum knowledge of the culture and history."

Tomorrow: Scrapping a $170 million computer system.

Staff writer Dana Priest and researchers Julie Tate and Bobbye Pratt contributed to this report.

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