No, I don't know for certain what this is or what the Islamic Terrorists really have in mind.
But, they are at war with us whether we accept it or not. One thing that is useful in a war is intelligence on your enemies strengths, weaknesses and how they will respond. They may be crazy but they are not all stupid.
A false attack like this gains them many useful pieces of information. What we know about them, how, when and where we will respond and most important of all, who among them are traitors, spies or leaks. And, accomplishes this with little loss of materials or resources.
I hope I am wrong but I believe their target and timing is not our elections. It is the coming Christmas holiday. This was just a test to measure our response and maximize their results next time while also cleaning up "loose ends" in their organization.
Then again, maybe it is just an eleventh hour, political stunt of desperation from a certain political party.
One thing I have gathered is that the islamic groups have been getting schooled in strategy. They realize there are much “softer” targets in the US and on our supply line.
/s