few of us in here have any 'inside info';
just a couple hundred (mostly) logical minds trying to work a two week old puzzle.
what there is absolutely no doubt about is that our nation has sworn enemies, promising death to all us infidels
who choose not to think that their child molesting, thieving, camelf****r of a 'prophet' was much of a human, let alone 'god',
and who has operated training camps in several countries to teach their delusional converts various methods to strike us hard and on the cheap.
so pardon me if i tend to think that, having invested all those years and dollars in their preparation for 'jihad',
the bastards might just someday decide to put some of the investment into practice ...
Familiarity with the area and routines (such as the bus staging area)
Anger and name taking of those who ignored him on the tip line
Desire to withhold the writings from the public
Ransom demand
Demand for wire transfer, indicating he understands the hazards of a money drop
Things that indicate a foreign terrorist:
Odd phrasology in some of the writings that have been leaked to the press
Disciplined shooting and well-planned escape
Use of multiple escape vehicles and/or methods
Avoidance of cell phones
Tightwad tendencies (give me an 800 number....toll free) consistant with other terrorist behavior
Heavy involvement of the federal government, indicating they may have picked up "chatter" that indicates terrorism
Threat against children coincident with AQ's big threat a couple weeks ago
Ransom demand goes on this list as well, because it is consistant with Abu Sayef
I believe these are the most telling things on both sides of the argument. I have deliberately left out Chief Moose's comments about groups of people and his demeanor, because he sometimes seems to me to use awkward phrases and is emotional, so I choose not to use his words or appearance as evidence.
I wrote this down to illustrate how difficult it is for me to come down on one side or the other.
The practice of cursing is widespread in certain cultures. It thrives on the willingness of people to attribute power to it. Someone lays a curse on a person. It's necessary that the person be aware that he has been cursed so that he will tend to attribute every thing that goes wrong in his life to the curse. His old car finally dies...it's the curse. He can no longer get to work so he is fired, it's th curse. He has no income so his wife leaves him, it's the curse. And so on.
Do you see the similarities? By attributing these murders to AQ, or AT, without any real, factual evidence that they are responsible, you are empowering them, just as the 'cursed' man empowers the concept of the curse by blaming his woes on the curse.
AQ and it's alligned terrorist are determined enough. They don't need us stoking their reputations by giving them "credit" for that which they may not be responsible for.