[hotpotato]

It will take at least 3 orders of magnitude more dead Americans before we get serious about winning this war.

so... would that be why AQ would choose forest fires? If they kill a very tiny fraction of "3 orders of magnitude" of Americans, the government won't even look their way?

[harpseal]

I have no idea what AQ thinks or motivates them. I do not claim they defintely started the fires only that it is a possibility.

[Lazamataz]

so... would that be why AQ would choose forest fires?

Not sure why; however, El-Queso ... I mean, Al-Qaeda operatives caught last summer definitively stated that starting fires in the west was in their plans.