[Northpaw]

I may be the lone voice of dissent here, but I don't think this is terrorist related. If it were, these 'hits' wouldn't be confined to Virginia, given the reported widespread distribution of Islamic terrorist cells. Given their penchant for maximum effect, this just doesn't fit the M.O. of typical Islamic terror.

[twntaipan]

Objection noted. I respectfully disagree. Terror is asymetrical--it doesn't have to make sense.

[NittanyLion]

If it were, these 'hits' wouldn't be confined to Virginia, given the reported widespread distribution of Islamic terrorist cells.

Unless the idea is to keep Americans uncertain regarding the origin of the attacks. If there were widespread sniper attacks it would be obvious to all that terrorists are the culprits; as it is the media is going to great lengths to avoid even bringing up the possibility.

The way I see it, terror cells could continue to switch modes (anthrax, sniper attacks, etc) but remain on a fairly small scale in order to continue killing Americans without getting caught. The calculation on their part may be that they can't expend operatives on suicide killings.

[Mamzelle]

not terror-related

And it may well not be. But Al Qaeda hasn't honored us with their claims of responsibility in other situations, either. This does not make complete sense, given that terror is supposedly a mind game. But perhaps they pursue a whole new mind game.

[Dog Gone]

I may be the lone voice of dissent here, but I don't think this is terrorist related. If it were, these 'hits' wouldn't be confined to Virginia, given the reported widespread distribution of Islamic terrorist cells. Given their penchant for maximum effect, this just doesn't fit the M.O. of typical Islamic terror.

I don't either. If the tarot card had read "I am Allah", I might have a different take on it, but I just can't see al-Qaida taking affirmative steps to blame someone else for this.

[HoosierFather]

The recent "hits" are not confined to Virginia, as you claimed. They have been documented in Washington, DC, suburban Maryland, as well as suburban Virgina. But, they are all localised around the Washington metropolitan area.

Let's suppose that this sniper or sniper team is in reality an islamic terrorist cell. If they wanted to achieve the maximum terror effect and the maximum national media coverage with their sniper operation, what would be a logical place to start? Memphis? Toledo? Omaha?

Washington, D.C. is the symbol of American freedom and strength around the world and was a target for the Bin Laden bunch on 9/11. Launching an organized sniper attack in the suburban Washington area would likely be their first choice.

Randomly shooting innocent Americans of diverse ages, gender, and race fits with a person or persons whose single-minded goal is terror. Just because similar sniper shootings are not occuring in other cities and locations in the US should not lead us to conclude that these events are not related to Islamic terror.

This sniper (or snipers) is very well trained. He is a good shot (one bullet, one kill in 9 out of 11 shootings), and has carefully planned out the locations and the escape routes for each hit. This guy (or team) is extremely skilled in blending in with his environment before making his kills and in evading law enforcement after the event. Thus, one may conclude that this guy (or team) has had some organized sniper training. But, how can we rule out that such training occurred in one of Bin Laden's camp around the world? We cannot!

And, since the DC sniper killings do not seem to fit any logical pattern that would overlay with a "normal" profile for either serial or spree killers, it seems logical to at least consider the possibility that these events could be organized by a foreign terrorist cell.