Who Is the Sniper? Behind the Evil.

NRO ^ | October 15, 2002, 9:00 a.m. | James S. Robbins

[fight_truth_decay]

"An FBI agent is the latest victim of the Washington-area sniper, and investigators said Tuesday they were confident that detailed witness accounts from the scene will lead them to the person who has now killed nine people. Linda Franklin, 47, of Arlington, was shot in the head Monday night outside a Home Depot in Falls Church, Va."
http://www.dallasnews.com

[Maceman]

It could go either way; we really don't have enough information yet. The killings are calculated to produce a terror effect. That's obvious. But it also doesn't fit the Al Qaeda m.o. It fits a lunatic m.o. (the whole "I am god" thing..). That doesn't mean it isn't AQ--they are criminally creative--but it makes me wonder.

What if there are three two-man al Qaeda cells operting in concert? Not only would they be able to stay local, but they would utterly confound the police -- sending them on a wild goose chase of trying to identify a non-existent profiled perp through contradictory eye witness reports.

It is brilliant, and it doesn't even require immediate suicide.

[newzhawk]

Isn't it interesting to note that journalists always give the Al Quaeda connected criminals more intelligence and cunning yet we see evidence of dumbass inMassoui and Richard Reid - the sniper must be a redneck American(in spite of the fact he is getting away with it) and of course dumber than these low life Muslim terrorists.
Does this guy have civil war club roots? Many of these towns are famous civil war battlefield sites . I knew many sharp shooters in these clubs and maybe they know one that has kooked out lately over an issue. some of the towns didn't exist then but the first ones in Va read like a history lesson.

[Fixit]

For some reason, officials and the media seem loath to tie these types of things together.

That reason: The coming national elections.

The media loathes tying this to terrorism because they fear it will drive voters to pull the lever for Republicans as a show of support for President Bush.

I have no doubt that their tune will change after election day.

[dennisw]

My bet is 60-40 it's Al-Qaeda or similar Islamics. Al-Qaeda showed that it can plan for 2 years, spend only $500,000, hijack 4 airplanes, have 3 of them hit serious targets and impact US life and our economy. There are many incompetent/idiot Jihadists. I'm worried about the very clever ones. Such as this sniper or snipers. He is creating much chaos and fear on a low budget.

Asymmetrical warfare

[Shermy]

This profile makes sense if you look only at historical patterns of recent domestic terrorism. Limiting the profile seems to take for granted that these events are the work of one or more people who are self-motivated and have no ties to any external organization, movement or cause.

I've been kinda sayin' the same thing about the Anthrax profile - I doubt that the experiential "data" in the profile includes non-American psychologies, rather probably just includes domestic instances of similar events, like the hoax anti-abortion anthrax mailers of the recent past.

[swarthyguy]

Bang on! Terror is the goal. Everything is subservient to that.

[browardchad]

FWIW, some posters have mused, if this is a terrorist attack, about the significance of the dates (knowing how anal-retentive Islamists tend to be). We all know about the Yom Kippur War, but what I didn't realize is that it is referred to as "the October war" in Islamic circles.

Tuesday, October 15, 2002

"Islam is the religion of tolerance...but also jihad" Syrian Friday sermon 11 October 2002

"Islam is the religion of tolerance...but also jihad" Syrian Friday sermon
11 October 2002
[FBIS (U.S. government agency) Report]

Damascus Syria Arab Republic Radio in Arabic, official station of the Syrian Government, carries on 11 October 2002 at 0944 GMT a live sermon from
Al-Zahra Mosque in Damascus.

Shaykh Dr. Muhammad al-Habash delivers the sermon....

Dealing with the subject of jihad, the imam says: "There is a need
today to speak about jihad. Islam is the religion of tolerance, mercy, and
love. But, it is also the religion of justice and jihad, and peace and
power. It is not sound to imagine that the arrogant on earth have suddenly
turned meek and that we could stop Zionist designs against Palestine with
wisdom and good word. The tyranny that the Zionists practice daily on the
land of Palestine, calls upon us to resurrect the message of jihad." God
ordained jihad so this nation would repulse oppression, establish justice,
and deal with life with realism and rationalism, he says, adding: There must
be force to protect justice and deter oppression.

"But, this jihad, which God has ordained as a means to achieve justice
on earth," the imam says, "is being distorted in Western circles. They
confuse terrorism with the right to legitimate resistance. The arrogant on
earth are vying with one another in describing jihad as a form of
aggression. Unfortunately, some erroneous Muslim concepts contribute to
spreading this wrong image of jihad."

The imam addresses President Bashar al-Asad, saying Arabs and Muslims
"await a new October." This is the people's hope, he says, while they
witness Zionist atrocities in Khan Yunus, Ramallah, Rafah, and Janin. "The
only language that can change the attitude of this arrogant tyrant and war
criminal, who is committing murder daily, is jihad as ordained by Allah and
offered to us by the October War," he adds.

The imam says: "The Zionist lobby today is leading the United States,
the master of the world, to an all-out confrontation with the Islamic World.
The United States speaks like a great power to the world, but turns into a
lowly agent for the Zionists when the matter concerns the designs of the
Zionist lobby. The US Congress approved a law recognizing Jerusalem as the
capital of the Hebrew state thereby flouting all international laws."

[Revolutionary]

One posibility is that this person(s) is a terrorist wantabe. They are islamic, been in this country for some time, never assimulated, not totally stupid, a little crazy, goes frequently to a mosque and hears praise for the terrorists. Feeling the need for praise and glory, but too chicken to go the suicide route, he goes the random acts of violence route. He finds that it is difficult to catch him and he becomes emboldened to kill frequently.

Get eyes in the sky and let the tapes roll. Follow suspicious vehicles for a while and hope we get lucky.

Be systematic and check out every white van owner (including businesses). Yes there are a lot, but we have a lot of people on the case and it rappidly shrinks the pool down.

If I were a liberal, I would ban all white vans from the road. So what's up K.K.T.

[aristeides]

That cab driver had two American flags prominently displayed on his cab.

[aristeides]

Would wannabes do such a good job? These guys are pros.

[fight_truth_decay]

but he has been Americanized..and a traitor in the "killer's" eyes?