What if an alQaeda Cell is working in teams? (Vanity)

[Maceman]

The more I think about it, the more it seems to me that an alQaeda cell is conducting a sniper operation carried our by two or three two-man teams. Such as strategy would have many advantage for alQaeda:

* It would confound the police, and make their job geometrically more difficult.

* Conflicting witness reports (since the witnesses are seeing different teams) would keep law enforcement scrambling and chasing false leads for a long time.

* It would create a climate of terror in the population.

* It would cause economic dislocation as people curtail their activities to the greatest extent possible.

* The teams could stay local, thereby remaining in their comfort zones.

* The team could operate for a long time -- operating at any pace it wants including going dormant for a time.

* It would be a great percursor to a larger attack, in terms of softening up the public and diverting law enforcement resources.

* From all accounts, the shooter(s) need not have a lot of training to operate at their current skill levels.

* The odds of not getting caught appear high, which means that you don't need to recruit suicide bombers. I have read reports that al Qaedas suicide bombers are mostly dim bulbs. Moreover, telling someone they probably won't die HAS to be an easier recruitment pitch.

[Maceman]

What do all of you think?

[sharktrager]

One question, why would the teams share one rifle? Meeting with one another for the exchange would virtually eliminate the advantage of seperate teams.

[Destructor]

Exactly! You nailed it. Get a gun if you don't already own one.

[iranger]

Doah!!!....there goes that theory...

[Maceman]

I am not a gun owner. But my understanding is that they have merely identified the type of bullet, not the actual firearm.

Am I wrong.

[Quix]

I've wondered about that.

Sharing one rifle would not be that difficult.

[LouD]

Might be one shooter, with a team to provide the logistical and operational support (casing locations, procuring vehicles, spotting, etc)

[Ciexyz]

I also thought these attacks are a team effort. The police are stopping white vans and the drivers are clean. Maybe the snipers are switching vehicles after the killings to facilitate their getaway. Or maybe a second team drives away at a great speed from the crime scene, but this is a diversion vehicle that gets the attention of spectators.

[Rivothead]

Every firearm leaves it own fingerprint on ever bullet fired thru it. The rifling makes distinct marks in the laed of every round fired. They know it's the same gun.

[Rivothead]

Every firearm leaves it own fingerprint on ever bullet fired thru it. The rifling makes distinct marks in the lead of every round fired. They know it's the same gun.

[Rivothead]

Every firearm leaves it own fingerprint on ever bullet fired thru it. The rifling makes distinct marks in the lead of every round fired. They know it's the same gun.

[Ciexyz]

Fox News last nite reported an eyewitness as identifying the van driver as an olive-skinned male. But this info isn't being repeated today.

[Rivothead]

Sorry about that it's been awhile

[Maceman]

Sharing one rifle would not be that difficult.

It would confuse the police and the courts for a long time. Imagine being a presecutor trying to make the conspiracy case with one murder weapon.

[Robert_Paulson2]

They did not explicitly SAY it was the same gun. For the first five kills, they thought it might be two, if you remember.

We got a tag team, and they are terrorist militaries. The pentagon has been called in.

It may not even be a rifle. It may be a single shot .223 hand gun... easy to carry and hide. It may be several f them.

we are not being told.
we don't KNOW it's a AR anything...

We will though, and soon.
With military special ops being deployed. This may come to a head real soon.

[Maceman]

Every firearm leaves it own fingerprint on ever bullet fired thru it. The rifling makes distinct marks in the laed of every round fired. They know it's the same gun.

Gun toting freepers tell me that it is easy to alter the weaopn to change the distinctivb fingerprint. Do we know for a fact that they all have the same fingerprint?

[Ciexyz]

Shep Smith on Fox News just reported that an eyewitness reported the shooter as "a man in a blue sweater". Sheesh, don't insult my intelligence. Is this a code word that suggests the shooter is a minority? They're not telling us anything about the person himself.

[bankwalker]

What do all of you think?

I think what you think, and have thought so for several days now.

However, just because great minds like us think alike, it doesn't make it true.

Speculating in a case like this can be dangerous.

[luckystarmom]

I've thought about this also. I think it could be a group of people going out and doing the shooting. A different pair each time would be very confusing.

Time hopefully will tell.

[Robert_Paulson2]

I think you are right on.
I don't think there is one shooter.
I heard two different guns touted from day three or so.
It's a cell. Or a team of two cells.

Somebody is swapping the van at a drop site near the hits. A clean driver, probably a female is taking the hot van... and the hitter could be driving away in a VW... with the piece he used to do the kill.

an occasional drop of a spent cartridge or two from another .223 gun, would be typical use of "misdirection" as is the van. this is coordinated, this is concise, there are collaborators. they are trained... it's a cell, of six, or two of twelve...

and they are shutting us down, right in DC...
and the citizen soldiers in the region, are clearly not prepared and unarmed in any way for the conflict.

the battlefield for the war on terror is HERE.