Posted on 10/17/2002 8:08:13 AM PDT by FatherTorque
Sooner or later, American paranoia about terrorists had to bring the conspiracy theorists out of the closet to claim the sniper who has killed nine ordinary people in the Washington suburbs the past two weeks is part of a giant al Qaeda plot.
“Yeah and he could be a little green man from Mars,” laughs Jonathan Burlingame, a former intelligence agent who tracked terrorists for 30 years. “Suggesting this is part of some al Qaeda plot only shows how little most people know about how international terrorism works.”
Homeland Security officials say publicly they are “not ruling out” international terrorism as a motive behind the string of killings that have left Washington area residents afraid to go to their local Home Depot or gas station, but privately they say such a possibility is “remote at best.”
“Under these horrific circumstances, you don’t want to draw any premature conclusions,” says Homeland Security director Tom Ridge. Translation: It’s possible but not probable.
“What happened is that somebody said they saw someone who may have been dark-skinned or olive-skinned and that set off the alarmists who now want to scream that ‘Oh my God it’s bin Laden’s army, shooting people right here on American soil,'” Burlingame says. “Consider this: the report of a dark or olive skinned man came from people who saw the van at night. Those who saw a van in daytime said the driver was white. The truth is, we still don’t know all that much about the shooter, but we do know that this is not the way these people wage war.”
Burlingame points to a number of red flags which he says rules out a Muslim terrorist plot behind the shootings:
--Single shot deaths are not the terrorist way. “Success is measured in body count, in shock value and in an ability to spread fear over the widest possible area,” Burlingame says. “If this were part of an al Qaeda plan, we would see multiple sniper attacks in several cities, not just the Washington suburbs.”
--Neither are single shot weapons. “The weapon of choice is a fully-automatic AK, spreading many shots in a wide angle and taking as many lives as possible. Squeezing off a single shot and killing only one person when so many targets are available runs counter to their philosophy. Again, body count is important.”
--The Tarot card proclaiming “I am God,” is a clear signal. “No Muslim will lie about such a thing. They will lie about their name, their nationality or their intentions, but claiming to the God would be blasphemy. It would deny the shooter an afterlife.”
--The sniper didn’t take out a law enforcement officer when he had the chance. “A Virginia State Trooper was working a traffic accident during last week’s shooting in Fredricksburg. He was clearly in the line of fire yet the shooter chose to fire over the trooper’s head to hit his primary target. An al Qaeda operative would never have passed up an opportunity to take out someone in uniform.”
So, who is the shooter?
“Probably someone with military or law enforcement training,” Burlingame says. “Someone who craves the media attention and the power he has from this situation. I agree fully with the profilers who say this is a homegrown shooter.”
Of course, Burlingame could be wrong. So could the profilers, at least those who say the shooter is a young, white male. Even the experts can’t agree on who the guy might be or what drives him to kill. About they only thing they can agree on is that the shooter is probably not a 45-year-old soccer mom with an anger-management problem.
But the rush to claim the shooter is a Middle Eastern terrorist simply because a witness said he thought he saw someone who was “olive skinned” or “dark skinned” is a frightening trend.
It goes beyond paranoia and becomes racism.
Even in a time when unknown killers disrupt our lives and terrorism threatens our freedoms, such attitudes have no place in America. © Copyright 2002 by Capitol Hill Blue
Please define racism and explain how this is racism.
“Consider this: the report of a dark or olive skinned man came from people who saw the van at night. Those who saw a van in daytime said the driver was white. The truth is, we still don’t know all that much about the shooter, but we do know that this is not the way these people wage war.”
Who are "these people"? We do know that:
(a) The AQ cell in the Northwest was training to shoot rifles in that quarry pit.
(b) We know from captured AQ training videos that they have trained for sniping "assassination" attacks in urban environments.
(c)Are we going to say that a terrorist group is only going to stick to one methodology - i.e. bombings? Or can they use whatever methodologies work to spread terror?
Burlingame points to a number of red flags which he says rules out a Muslim terrorist plot behind the shootings:
--Single shot deaths are not the terrorist way. “Success is measured in body count, in shock value and in an ability to spread fear over the widest possible area,” Burlingame says. “If this were part of an al Qaeda plan, we would see multiple sniper attacks in several cities, not just the Washington suburbs.”
This statement is foolish for several reasons.
1st, these killers are spreading terror over "a wide area", e.g. the DC area, with only a small number of resources (maybe as few as 2 individuals, a single rifle, and a single vehicle.)
2nd, it is possible this is a test. Do it, see how the LEO's respond, learn from it, and then move on. That's how you do it in business!
3rd, who the heck is he to say "this is how they would do it"? So far, they have: blown up embassies, blown holes in the side of both warships and oil tankers, crashed airliners into buildings, tried a "shoe bomb" on an airliner, blown up a nightclub, and run training camps that covered sniping, bombing, and poison gas. I would say the main thing they demonstrate is flexibility. And each time they did something new, it was always the first time (DUH) and before doing it someone could say -oh, they don't do that, we haven't seen them do that before.
--Neither are single shot weapons. “The weapon of choice is a fully-automatic AK, spreading many shots in a wide angle and taking as many lives as possible. Squeezing off a single shot and killing only one person when so many targets are available runs counter to their philosophy. Again, body count is important.”
Depends. If they want to stay covert, escape, and continue, they would do it this way. Someone hacking off 30 rounds on full auto is going to attract way more attention, and get witness descriptions much faster than the way it is being done now.
--The Tarot card proclaiming “I am God,” is a clear signal. “No Muslim will lie about such a thing. They will lie about their name, their nationality or their intentions, but claiming to the God would be blasphemy. It would deny the shooter an afterlife.”
Again, BS. This assumes that all AQ terrorists are equally devout, or that they don't have some mullah who will give them a faqih ruling that says "this is okay to do".
--The sniper didn’t take out a law enforcement officer when he had the chance. “A Virginia State Trooper was working a traffic accident during last week’s shooting in Fredricksburg. He was clearly in the line of fire yet the shooter chose to fire over the trooper’s head to hit his primary target. An al Qaeda operative would never have passed up an opportunity to take out someone in uniform.”
So who is this guy to say "never", or "always"? Shooting down that victim under the LEO's nose gave a much better message to the LEO community than just shooting the LEO. Plus if they are operating under a strict "one shot, scoot and hide" discipline then it makes perfect sense.
So, who is the shooter? “Probably someone with military or law enforcement training,” Burlingame says. “Someone who craves the media attention and the power he has from this situation. I agree fully with the profilers who say this is a homegrown shooter.”
So he only agrees with the profilers who agree with him. But claiming military or LEO training - heck, these shots could be made by almost anyone with a little range time. The interesting factors here are not the shooting skill (only moderate, considering the distances), but the clear planning and successful escape execution.
But the rush to claim the shooter is a Middle Eastern terrorist simply because a witness said he thought he saw someone who was “olive skinned” or “dark skinned” is a frightening trend. It goes beyond paranoia and becomes racism.
Well, lets see. What are the traditional suspect criteria for murders? Motive, opportunity, weapon? Well, AQ has all of them. So why is it paranoia and racism?
This guy is a total lamer.
I don’t think you can determine yet if it is or isn’t a terrorist, but it’s foolish to rule it out. Based on Israel’s experience, ruling it out based on three of his four flags are complete nonsense.
--Single shot deaths are not the terrorist way Nonsense. Check the newswire from Israel and you will find single shot attacks (fortunately not deaths, a function of the terrorists ability, not intent) virtually on a daily basis. Sniping at civilians is common.
--The Tarot card proclaiming “I am God,” is a clear signal….
Don’t know it this is a disqualifier.
--Neither are single shot weapons
While this would be a function of availability (I’m not aware of any significant demand for sporting or hunting weapons in the mideast), we don't know what he's using, and the press and law enforcement aren't pointing to single shot weapons but "assault rifles". We don’t know what the sniper who killed ten in Israel a few months ago (single shots) used, he got away.
--The sniper didn’t take out a law enforcement officer when he had the chance.
Aside from the fact that we don’t know he saw this option, leo’s and soldiers are bypassed (and targeted, bypassing civilians) frequently.
Suggesting you know everything about how international terrorism works indicates you are a pompous, arrogant fool.
Plus, dropping the "race card" because people are able to put 2 and 2 together when many witnesses say they saw darker-complected people at the scene belies your true agenda. And that agenda is "political correctness."
In case this dimwit didn't notice, it was Muslims who have vowed "Death to America" and have produced the Al Qaeda (sp?) training tapes, seized in Afghanistan, which reportedly have random shootings as part of the plan.
Nice try, dimwit.
To me the above statement makes a fairly big assumption that Islam is actually taken seriously by those who purport to be devout followers of the religion engaged in a Jihad. I really believe that Islam for these people is nothing more than a tool. They use the Quran, insert "Praise be to Allah" into every other sentence, even indulge in regular prayer as would be expected by a devout Muslim. I doubt they actually truly give a rat's ass about the Muslim faith, but see the use of the religion as an excellent means to move people. Saddam Hussein is an example of this. He is not by any means religious nor a devout Muslim, but made a point during the Gulf War of being seen taking part in regular prayer to try to curry favor with Arab / Muslim countries. The 911 terrorists clearly had no regard for the Muslim faith when they made their way to strip clubs, getting themselves drunk in the process, all the while inserting "Praise be to Allah" into their speech.
Is this stuff Islamic terrorism? Maybe, maybe not, but to exclude it specifically in favor of domestic terrorism or the workings of a loon seems to display a distinct narrowness of thinking.
--Neither are single shot weapons.
--The Tarot card proclaiming "I am God," is a clear signal.
--The sniper didn't take out a law enforcement officer when he had the chance.
Against this "evidence" we have a declared war with an international terrorist organization, who has known cells in the area of the shooting, terrorist training videos that promote this exact form of violence, and six eye witnesses who say the shooter is what appears to be middle eastern.
You be the judge.
--The Tarot card proclaiming “I am God,” is a clear signal. “No Muslim will lie about such a thing. They will lie about their name, their nationality or their intentions, but claiming to the God would be blasphemy. It would deny the shooter an afterlife.”Since the intended recipient is an 'infidel', there is no requirement on a muslim to be truthful, rather there is strong encouragement to deceit. Therefore, leaving a clue which seems superfically to indicate that the sender is not muslim could be considered well in line with qu'ranic teachings.
Just once I would like to see some major media outlets spin the story as, "Authorities are still seeking a person who is compensating for his sexual inadquecies by shooting random bystanders in the DC area. Investigators are asking local physicians and psyciatrists to look for people who fit the profile: extremely small and/or malformed penis, probably impotent, perhaps expressing signs of repressed desire for sexual intercourse with farm animals...".
Me or your own eyes and ears?
Moron.
Useful Idiots... they are everywhere...
Such an open mind his brains fell out.
It's a religion of compassion and peace.
Not necessarily. First terrorism is used to bring about political change (in this case U.S. foreign policy) using fear. This does not always mean a high body count, it means striking fear into the population.
--Neither are single shot weapons. "The weapon of choice is a fully-automatic AK, spreading many shots in a wide angle and taking as many lives as possible. Squeezing off a single shot and killing only one person when so many targets are available runs counter to their philosophy. Again, body count is important."
You use the weapon that does the job. Saying a terrorist only uses the AK series is a bit naive.
--The sniper didn’t take out a law enforcement officer when he had the chance. "A Virginia State Trooper was working a traffic accident during last week’s shooting in Fredricksburg. He was clearly in the line of fire yet the shooter chose to fire over the trooper’s head to hit his primary target. An al Qaeda operative would never have passed up an opportunity to take out someone in uniform."
Terrorists strike at the soft under-belly of society. A law enforcement officer is expected to be at risk and could be condidered a legitimate combatant and therefore killing such a person would not strike as much fear as killing a civilian.
--The Tarot card proclaiming "I am God," is a clear signal. "No Muslim will lie about such a thing. They will lie about their name, their nationality or their intentions, but claiming to the God would be blasphemy. It would deny the shooter an afterlife."
Then again, the hijackers living it up drinking and partying before 9-11 were not exactly following the word of the Koran either.
I don't necessarily think this is terrorism as Burlingame did get one thing right and that is this would have to start to happen in many other locales before it could be considered an effective form of terrorism.
Yeah, but there is enough evidence to voice the theory that at least one of the shooters could be Middle Eastern without being racist.
Some of us have called this "Islamic terrorist related" from the first shot, mostly because this is exactly what they trained for, and videotaped, and promised to do.
Maybe each shooter was handed one single round of ammo. The missed shots would have surely been followed by another, if it had been available. What if all these shootings were just tests to pick the line-up for later exercises? Or tests of loyalty of some sort? Or simply tests for accuracy?
There are many possible explanations for "why didn't they shoot everybody?", but the fact remains that the Capitol region is experiencing some great degree of terror and its subsidiary effects.
It would also be reasonable to expect, now that so many assets are in the DC area, the same thing in other areas. Or something bigger.
We've seen those dogs bite. We've been told they're vicious. We've even seen it on tape, live from New York. Yet for some insane reason we're still reaching out saying "nice doggie, good doggie".
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