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Many people then began to wonder -- "Well, what type of Asian? Could this mean Middle Eastern? Is this the media's way of hiding this fact?" Though a bit of a stretch...

Not a stretch at all. Sulejman Talovic was identified as an "Asian" in the press before his identity was known. And the BBC has been using the "Asian" shield to cover for Muslim perps since the WOT begin.

Now, hours later, we learn the name, we see his picture, we realize more details of his life. The Islam factor now seems extremely unlikely ... though actual proof may come about later.

That's one area where we differ. While it's not the slam dunk it would have been if it were a swarthy-looking ME named Mohammed Jihadi, no name or picture makes any perp "extremely unlikely" for such an attack. Jose Padilla, John Walker Lindh, Richard Reid and Christopher Paul aren't exactly typical names for Islamist operatives, either. The fact that this guy was South Korean means very little. Islam happens to be the fastest growing religion in South Korea (and America, where he's lived for 14 years). And terror groups have been actively recruiting non-ME Muslims for operations in America and the UK for years.

Suddenly, a reference on his arm to "Ismail Ax" (sp?) means that he was making an Islamic reference.

It was written on his arm because it was intended to be a message to the world he was leaving behind. So what did it mean? There's no reason to be incurious about it, it's a question worth asking. And attempting to answer the question doesn't necessarily mean anyone is saying anything is absolutely true. I've seen a number of people on this thread suggest it was a reference to "Moby Dick", none of them were ridiculed. Yet the people who suggest its origin is Islamic are called paranoid, conspiracy nuts and the usual nonsense. I can't figure out why that is. Everybody should be interested in finding out what the message was. And no ideas should be taken off the table. Ismail is a central figure in Islam. Second only to Allah himself. That doesn't mean that was absolutely the killer's intended message, but it's certainly worth exploring given what's going on in the world right now. We'd be foolish to dismiss it out of hand.

...rather than seeing the "in-your-face" evidence that there was undoubtedly something else wrong with the guy -- as can be seen in the play he wrote -- is just plain ludicrous.

Islam preys upon lost souls... people with things wrong with them. Normal, well-balanced, healthy and loving people don't covert to Islam. Warped, lost, damaged, demented people do. Like Scientology. The fact that there's evidence of things wrong with him doesn't diminish the possibility that he might be a Muslim convert one iota.

And "Ismail" isn't the crux of any argument of religious motivation. It's merely one sign of possible Islamic influence. If you have other ideas as to what the "Ismail" reference meant, feel free to share them. That's what forums like this are for.