Unfortunately this is not always true. For example, one of the architects of the Tokyo subway sarin attacks[1], Masami Tsuchiya[2], had a masters in physical and organic chemistry.
Yes, a lot of terrorists have engineering degrees also.
But they're also dumb, which is why they think terrorizing random people will positively I prove the world in some direction they care about.
I won't go into details, but I think if I had 19 dudes with a death wish in America, and a few million dollars, I could do something far worse than 9/11.
The goal of an attack like 9/11 isn't really to kill the maximum number of civilians in order to terrorize random people.
The attack had a significant degree of symbolism. The intended audience was twofold: the Western public and leadership, with a durable message that they weren't untouchable (hence the attacks on the Pentagon and attempt on the Capitol), hence targeting large landmarks; the combination of civilian and military targets was to signify that they held the two to he equivalent. Plans were actually presented to attack other targets that would lead to more casualties, notably a nuclear power plant.
The other goal was to incite a religious conflict from the Muslim world against the US, and therefore probably from the US against as many Muslim countries as possible.
So the primary goal really wasn't to kill as many random people as possible (though of course that was a consideration), it was actually to target the tallest buildings possible as well as the most important government institutions.
Unfortunately, it really did move the world in the direction they wanted. Despite being extremely evil, they actually were remarkably successful at causing the social and geopolitical changes they wanted given the resources they had, and that caused yet more damage we shouldn't ignore. It also bears remembering (especially today) that terrorists often and unfortunately aren't as dumb as we think, and we underestimate them and simplify their motives to our peril.
There is a big gap between a master’s and a PhD, and then another between a PhD and a seasoned pro. To do something like a bioweapon, you would need a reasonably sized team of pros w/ a lot of capital intensive infrastructure. It would be virtually impossible to do in secret.
But they're also dumb, which is why they think terrorizing random people will positively I prove the world in some direction they care about.
I won't go into details, but I think if I had 19 dudes with a death wish in America, and a few million dollars, I could do something far worse than 9/11.