Whether there was a warning of Islamic terrorism before the Oklahoma City bombing? I was going to say no, that it was new to me, but I might have a vague recollection of having seen something like it before. Had you seen it before?
Sounds as if there was every reason to assume a ME connection from the moment the bomb went off. Which explains exactly why the initial LEO reaction pointed in that direction.
I'm sure that was the initial thought of most people in any case -- except that Oklahoma City seemed at the time to be an unlikely location for Middle Eastern terrorists to pick.
In fact, that's an interesting question. Assuming that the 1995 bombing was orchestrated by Muslims, why did they pick Oklahoma City, and why did they pick the Murrah Building? Just to be able to get someone like McVeigh to do it?
No, I had not. Being in North Texas, we got intense news coverage almost from the moment it happened. And being an Okie, I paid very close attention.
I recall the initial speculation and official alerts dealt with ME terrorists, as did my own suspicions. "Who else would've had a reason?", was the natural response. It didn't shift until the composite sketches were released -- identifying an Anglo who turned out to be McVeigh, and a second party, who appeared Hispanic or Mediterranean, rather than Arab.
But, now, for the first time, we discover that there was a real basis for the initial official response, due to prior intelligence. It wasn't just a "Who else?" speculation. That there was, indeed, "good reason" and that we are just now finding it out strikes me as having some significance.
"...why did they pick Oklahoma City, and why did they pick the Murrah Building? Just to be able to get someone like McVeigh to do it?"
I can think of two perfectly logical reasons. First, if you already had the Nichols-McVeigh pair available to do the deed, something within a day's drive of Nichols' base of operations (Herington, KS) would make the most sense. Why drive a load of ammonium nitrate from Kansas to, say, North Carolina or Chicago? Didn't McVeigh reportedly "scout out" several federal buildings in the Colorado-Nebraska-Missouri area? The Murrah Building may well have offered the best target.
Second, isn't there some special propaganda value in striking at an opponent's heartland, rather than periphery? It's a dramatic demonstration that "there is no place to hide/nobody is safe". At the same time, such "deep penetration" has a tactical value -- forcing the opponent to spread his counter-intelligence resources "everywhere" and, thus, more thinly.
Note that the reports being circulated, the "buzz" that our counter-terrorist forces was picking up, apparently identified our "heartland" (as opposed to, say, "midwest").
To me, this report adds even more circumstantial evidence to the proposition that we have been at war with a foreign power, unknowingly (at least publicly), for almost ten years. And the pile of circumstantial evidence is getting pretty high...