The DC Sniper Nest: None Dare Call it Terrorism

Sierra Times ^ | Oct 7, 02 | Analysis by J.J. Johnson

[SLB]

This will be one of those articles our enemies will try to pick apart in order to make the accusation that the author actually condones what is happening around the nation's capital. It's expected, since it's one of the few ways the left knows how to deal with such a dilemma. Fact is: There have been at least 11 shootings, with 5 confirmed fatalities so far in the Washington DC area. Since despite all the police chest pounding, they probably won't find a suspect by the time this is article is published, there will probably be more.

In our new War on Terrorism, none dare call it that. So let's call it what it really is - war, and deal with it on those terms.

This of course, will make the spin meisters even more upset, since nothing - absolutely nothing since September 11, 2001 will be called terrorism. Not the American Airlines flight over New York City a year ago, not the string of oil refinery explosions, unexplained train derailments, not the nutcases attacking Greyhound bus drivers, and heaven forbid - that Anthrax thing was an anomaly, just like the West Nile Virus and the new cases of malaria popping up in the same area of the shooting. Just individual crazed lunatics mind you, not terrorism.

Meanwhile, the war continues.

If it hasn't dawned on you that this is an actual war in progress on our own soil (don't worry - it's not terrorism unless we tell you), take a look at the affect one lone sniper has had on the social infrastructure of the DC suburbs:

MARYLAND: Anne Arundel County Schools: . All schools locked . After-school activities canceled . After-school childcare will be provided . No evening high school classes . Indoor recess and activities

Baltimore City Schools: . No afternoon pre-kindergarten . No outdoor after-school athletic events; indoor events will be held

Calvert County Schools: . Students being kept inside schools . No after-school activities

Charles County Schools: . Heightened security . Students kept indoors . After-school activities canceled . Tuesday field trips canceled

Frederick County Schools: . Lockdown status . No students allowed outside

Howard County Schools: . Modified lockdown status . No afternoon kindergarten or special education . No outdoor recess or activities

Montgomery County Schools: . Code Blue status . No afternoon pre-k or kindergarten . Extra security in schools . All field trips canceled . Indoor recess and lunch . All after-school activities canceled

Prince George's County Schools: . Code Blue status . All outdoor activities canceled . Indoor recess and lunch . No outdoor after-school activities . No afternoon pre-kindergarten . All school doors monitored by security . Increased police presence in schools

Queen Anne's County Schools: . No after-school activities

DISTRICT: D.C. Schools: . No outdoor lunch or recess . No outdoor after-school activities . All field trips canceled

Archdiocese of Washington Schools: . No outdoor lunch or recess . No afternoon kindergarten or activities . Aftercare will be provided

VIRGINIA: Alexandria City Schools: . No outdoor recess or physical education classes . After-school activities canceled . Increased police presence for dismissals

Arlington County Schools: . All outdoor after-school activities canceled . Indoor after-school activities will be held

Caroline County Schools: . Outdoor activities canceled

Fairfax County Schools: . No outdoor activities

Falls Church City Schools: . Outdoor activities canceled . Police officers at each school

Fredericksburg City Schools: . Lockdown status . No after-school activities

King George County Schools: . Lockdown status

Loudoun County Schools: . Heightened state of alert . Outdoor activities at each principal's discretion

Manassas City Schools: . Limited lockdown status . No outdoor recess or activities

Prince William County Schools: . No outdoor after-school activities Monday or Tuesday

Spotsylvania County Schools: . Outdoor activities canceled

Stafford County Schools: . Outdoor activities canceled

Not bad for eleven rounds. Anyone want to take a guess how many of these students are children of federal employees? Now, let your brain spin. Here's a federal government planning for war, importing and exporting no goods on its western flank, and with a market in a steady freefall, and yet to even submit a budget this fiscal year. But none of that will be on their minds when they wake up - only: who's next?

Just like September 11 - brilliant war tactics. Then again, as any sniper can tell you, psychological terror is a bi-product of this time-tested, lethal art. The only thing America has going for it right now is that there is only one. Surely the profilers are trying to figure out some way of saying this lone gunman is some nut - some crazy white guy that gets a monthly high from reading Soldier of Fortune, probably hates the New World Order, and is of course, a believer in the Second Amendment, Turner Diaries, etc.. This profile (soon to come, I'm sure) will give some antigun nuts a second wind, attempting to get more gun legislation passed.

C'mon - you know this is coming, don't you?

Lest we forget that the state of Maryland already has some of the most draconian gun laws in the nation. And no gun law will slow down this sniper. In fact, only the opposite is true.

We're dealing with a professional, someone who is becoming pretty good at one shot - one kill. This person is not firing several shots at random, and is deadly accurate. Our shooter knows how to take the shot, then relocate. Some amateur could not be this skilled working behind enemy lines, if you will and, knowing there is a dragnet out there, still hit his mark at least 10 times. According to authorities, there is no common pattern with the victims that are being chosen. So if we said the only thing the victims do have in common is that none are Muslim, that would be a stretch, wouldn't it?

If what many people fear turns out to be the case ("sniper jihad"), catching this critter may be difficult, and a few more may have to die to get a bead on this SOB. Not being a sniper expert, I'd say it will take all we have inside us if and when the next round is fired. But I recall something about hitting the ground, and get a good look in the direction where you heard the sound. If it were a war zone, the next line would be lay down cover fire, and fire teams should keep their 'field of fire' in mind, but we don't want to turn the Washington Suburbs into Washington, DC, now would we?

Our little sniper is operating in an enemy environment, but he is also operating in a relatively 'safe' environment. You see, the fact that we really are at war is a concept too many people haven't taken seriously yet, especially in east coast, antigun bastions such as suburban DC. Hence, only time will tell when suddenly concealed carry laws are lifted (or simply not enforced), so that the soldiers in this new war (the citizens), may have the means of neuturalizing such threats upon discovery.

Go ahead. Call me extreme. But attending all those funerals will get old real fast. Legislators can pass all the laws they want, but no police chief or sheriff wants to spend the rest of is time in office counting innocent bodies. I'd suggest the local police make a few inquires to the Pentagon on how to deal with this problem, not the FBI or ATF. No, I'm not calling for military intervention, but gathering background information on someone that clearly has a military background.

To put it bluntly, we've have a region of the country on the verge of societal shut down. The pundits prefer calling this a lone nut than dealing with the obvious.

This person is not a 'right-wing' lunatic. This person is not a terrorist. This is a solider - waging war on our own soil.

[nygoose]

If I remember correctly, I think I made a "posting mistake" once. However, it was not my fault.

[SLB]

You have fallen into the trap of thinking in the box of what is normal. This guy is not normal. Not necessarily using a bolt action, not a larger caliber, I will be really interested in seeing exactly what he uses and a profile of him when they catch him

[wardaddy]

There are "unaverage" ME snipers occasionally such as the Pali terr who pegged a number of IDF troopers from concealment and vanished a few months ago.

There was speculation that he was a Provo "on loan" as I recall.

[wcbtinman]

",,,the selection of .223 is idiotic..."

Not necessarily. Aftermarket accessories and ammunition have made the .223 caliber rifle a very effective weapon inside of 500 meters. They are accurate at greater ranges, but lack the knockdown power of larger calibers, such as the .308.

However, the .223 due to the light weight of both the ammo and the weapon system(the M-16 or the civilian AR-15) make an ideal urban weapon, and one particularly suited to the tactics of this shooter.

[monday]

"There are "unaverage" ME snipers occasionally such as the Pali terr who pegged a number of IDF troopers from concealment and vanished a few months ago. "

As I said I could be wrong but I hope not. I would worry a lot more about terrorists if they somehow develope the ability to think logically. Of course if they could do that they wouldn't be terrorists.

[Travis McGee]

You got that right!

[Sender]

Soldiers don't kill women and children. Soldiers kill military targets, not civilians.

True for our team. But you see, the enemy soldier is reading from quite a different book. Cuffs be upon him.

[pray4liberty]

This person is not firing several shots at random, and is deadly accurate.

He must have one hell of a scope.

[pray4liberty]

I would say this is a serial killer with a gun and he is indiscriminate with his victims--a form of domestic terrorism. Or, for all we know, the killer could be a she. Who knows until this murderer is caught?

[Dead Dog]

/1/ Flat shooting, easy and fast to sight and hit at his max ranges (under 400 yards).

That brings up something. The individual knows they will eventually get busted. The resulting gun fight is not a good place for a bolt gun. There is nothing this guy has done that could not be done with an AR-15/M-16 type of rifle, and it is a much better weapon to fight off LE or anyone else who stumbles on them. This is not a safe game for them to play, they have an advantage, but they are exposing themselves to a risk. Not only can LE respond with force, there is also that odd chance of a confrontation with an armed citizen. This would be a much safer activity in Europe. Sooner of later the numbers will get them.

I think it is safe to assume that they plan on being taken down, and would perfer it be a bloodbath.

[heartwood]

this is rather like the anthrax attacks in some respects - a simple, low-tech plan, only one or two perpetrators needed, hard to trace, no claim of responsibility or boasting, and a number of victims much lower than it might have been, requiring a very expensive response to a very inexpensive attack, making people uneasy about living their daily lives.

[afraidfortherepublic]

Croatian Muslim.

I stand corrected. But Muslim is the operative word. The other poster was full of baloney!

[Delbert]

Excellent Read-These are my thoughts exactly. Its Wabbit Season? No its Muswim Season.

[taxcontrol]

After reading the (once again) exceptional posts on this board, I'd like to amend my previous post.

My first mindset was from the one shot - one kill mentality. From that mindset the objective is to kill and get away. If it takes two shots to acheive a kill, you drasticly reduce your chances of getting away. Thus there is greater emphasis on larger bullets with better cooefficents and longer ranges.

However, let's change our thinking:

The goal is now not to kill but to get as much attention as possible. Attention furthers the cause of terror and creates the panic response desired. Wounding causes police, ambulance, hospital stays, distraught parents / partners / wives on TV, etc. Thus gains the attention that would be desired.

So lets review a .223's advantages

A .223 though not the best round for dropping at long range, is very effective at sub 300 yards and in an Urban environment, a 300 yard shot would be hard to come by due to brush cars, trees, etc.

Low report and in an urban environment, difficult to identify due to sound reflections, background noise, etc.

Rifles are light weight and can be had in some very small packages. Bushmaster produces a .223 bullpup that is only 30" overall. The M4 carbine is only 34". Both are less than a yard stick long! Easy to slip back under a car seat. Then there is the Professional Ordnance Carbon 15. It's a .223 PISTOL with an overall length of 20". That would fit into a backpack (possibly even a briefcase) without even breaking it down.

Another reason for choosing .223 would be it's popularity and thus the difficulty in tracking the ammo back to the shooter.

Training with the weapon would not be expensive (.308 match grade ammo is at least a $1.00 per round) nor would it require long ranges. Many indoor ranges will accept .223 and if zeroed to 100 yards, would be a highly accurate weapon.

Add a 2x scope or passive optical sight flash and/or sound suppressor and you have a small package ideal for the mission. All in all, now that I re-think the goal, the right .223 might be just the ticket.

Not often I change my mind - but when I do, I'll admit it.

[mhking]

This person is not a 'right-wing' lunatic. This person is not a terrorist. This is a solider - waging war on our own soil.

This can't be said enough!

[RaceBannon]

bump

[FreedomPoster]

Black conservative ping. JJ gets it.

It's weird, but I find myself hoping this stuff is the work of a homegrown nutcase killer. But I think JJ is right.

[mhking]

Black conservative ping

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[FreedomPoster]

Is he military trained or just a run of the mill deer hunter type?

I would respond that the average of "run of the mill deer hunter type" is probably a better shot than the average military trained type, especially if you subtract out the Marines. Even in the Army, range time for non-combat arms MOS's is pretty minimal, and even less in the Air Force and Navy.

These shots are nothing special for anyone with the least bit of training, especially if the weapon is scoped. What is special is the cold-bloodedness, the set up in areas where no one is around, but targets are in range, and the effective escape and evasion techniques.