D.C. KILLERS: TERRORIST CELL?

New York Post ^ | 10/18/02 | CALEB CARR

[kattracks]

October 18, 2002 -- A NON-STOP frenzy of psychological profiling has been gushing out of televisions, newspapers, and magazines since the start of the "Sniper Killings" in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., earlier this month, producing in almost every case a rather too pat portrait of a killer (or perhaps two) who are white, in their 20s or early 30s, have military experience, enjoy exercising the god-like power of life and death, and are alienated from society.

[antivenom]

It isn't like that the majority of people living in the DC area aren't FEDERAL AGENTS of some sort...you will eventually kill a federal agent if you keep shooting people in the DC area...she was NOT targeted for her profession...she was targeted because she was out shopping that night and happened to be in his sight.

[antivenom]

Talk now on the news is that the police are LIVID since they belived the lying black guy's account of a close range shooting...they ALLOWED the media to trample the school property therefore possible evidence....

[swarthyguy]

Well, could cut both ways. Putting Iraq in the background doesn't hurt the USA either. Don't get me wrong, i'm not saying the sniper is USG - but preparations for Iraq continue regardless of the level of media exposure the debate has.

[GirlShortstop]

There was a report this morning that a "tip" was called in and police responded to a neighhood of the Home Depot on Sunday night where a box truck was parked that had never been there before. The police apparently didn't follow up on it. Then Monday night came the shooting.

Just heard on FOX that the police now have in their possession a white box truck which had a shell casing inside. Coincidence??

[nicmarlo]

Agreed, but still possible. I'm leaning toward a terrorist in this, however, there are lots of possibilities, and until this person or people are caught, nothing, however remote, should be discounted. And one thing we have learned, terrorists value anniversary dates and times.

[nicmarlo]

Who is Mr. Carr implicating?

Good question. Who would want the focus of an impending Iraqi war off the airwaves and on to terrorism....who would this benefit?

Initial thought....Steely Tom said: "it seems to me clear that AQ is in a de facto alliance with the Democrats. The Democrats are in many practical ways carrying AQ's water; I'm not arguing here that the Dems are actually in an alliance with AQ, mearly that the goals of of the Democrats are in many practical ways . . . aligned with those of the AQ.

IMO, Steely Tom is right on in his assessment, frighteningly so. The Dems would want the focus on the terrorists, not on war. Why? Because it makes it seem like Bush cannot protect us, he is failing as Commander-in-Chief, on his watch. If the American public begins to believe this, then, at the polls, the Dems will retain the Senate. They gain from this. (These are my initial thoughts, only.)

[El Gato]

Although the Washington murderer scouts his ground like a typical serial killer

Pure supposition. No one has seen the sniper or snipers doing this, and even if they had, how would they know it was the sniper(s), since aparently no one knows what he/they look(s) like. He/they could just as well be using MapBlast, MapQuest and/or Yahoo to "scout" the area.

[El Gato]

we're going back to '76 baby (1776, that is)

I'll settle for 15 December 1791, the day the Bill of Rights was adopted.

[El Gato]

It wouldn't be the possibilty of war with Iraq that the AQ would be trying to suppresse, but all the discussion about the good reasons for going to war against Saddam Hussein. Even Oprah and ABC's nightline have been running anti-Saddam episodes of late. Cant' have that.

[El Gato]

Anyway, this is only one of the reasons I think it would be stupid.

Attacking the one Western country on the Security Council that is on your side doesn't seem too bright either, but their is a big, inward bent, hole in a French tanker that says that they did it anyway. I think they are a bit like Larry Niven's ratcats, or the Star Trek Klingons. Always screaming and leaping before they are fully prepared, and not much caring about the longer term effects of their actions as long as they kill the "enemy" that is front of them at the moment.

[WestCoastGal]

I hope it's a lead. I wondered why they had not checked out all the truck rental places before this. (maybe they have) Or, it's possible someone planted the casing in the truck to send them on another wild goose chase. Moose chasing the goose! : )

[bjfinney]

I am sick and tired of hearing the radical left-wing media talk about these shootings as instigated by some psycho going off the deep-end. These are terrorists from the middle-east. Let's face the truth. Americans can handle the truth but not this bumbling talk on the newsmedia that this is only a lone shooter who was fired from a job, etc.

[SwampFoxOfVa]

Heh, heh. I got to Freep the Gov when he attended a rah rah thing at Wash Gas in Springfield. He wasn't amused although some of the Wash Gas employees gave me a big thumbs-up.

[bjfinney]

The moose needs to be fired immediately ! M. Savage said he came from Oregon.....fired I think. Very liberal.

[SwampFoxOfVa]

This is very interesting. I live 1 1/2 miles from the Fredericksburg Exxon and am very familiar with this area. There seems to be a pattern in these shootings in that there is a dense network of available routes at each shooting site. This might help explain why there have been no shootings close to 95 north of Rt 3 in fredericksburg. The dense road network isn't there for the Perp(s) to use.

[Alamo-Girl]

Good question, Destro! I would imagine Iraq (and al Queda via Iraq) would want themselves off the front page - to give them more time. It kinda reminds me of their funding the Palestinian terrorists - that also delayed the confrontation by keeping the Israel issue on the front burner.

[cgbg]

dense road network

exactly--leading to safe houses in a nearby Arab community as well.

I don't know your area at all, but I would bet that within two or three hundred yards you can find a hilly, wooded area that has a clear line of sight to the shooting area. Behind that wooded area you will find at least one residential street...

Think like an AQ sniper and you will catch one.

[MortMan]

If the AQ and the brains behind the AQ understood history, they would have learned from the British example during the Nazi air attacks against London that this sort of psychological attack -- trying to "demoralize" a population by inflicting painful tragedy on some subset of the population -- only serves to stiffen the resolve of the population by unifying it and focusing its attention and will. ...

Another is that it is, in effect, walking up to a heavily armed professional killer and peeing on his shoes, or spitting in his face, whatever. ...

Your points are also well made, Steely.

Two things, though: (1) AQ's view of history is islamocentric. Their understanding of history is not what many historians would consider even remotely accurate. (2) I don't think AQ sees the US as a heavily armed killer - they have been indoctrinated with a vision of America as a weak and corrupt society. Not since WWII has the US really turned out for a long, protracted fight, whereas the islamofascists think in terms of years, decades, and centuries. They are wrong, of course, but that's another story.

Thanks for sharing your viewpoint.

[MortMan]

Carr is looking at this as an American would, not as a terrorist would. Instilling terror is a goal unto itself. The media becomes accomplices to the campaign by publicizing the shootings, but that's a side issue, really. The purpose of the sniper, if he's a terrorist, would be to demoralize ordinary Americans and to make them believe that the government, including law enforcement, cannot protect them.

In other words, the goal is to disrupt. Assigning Americanized political motives to a terrorist isn't valid, IMO.

[ellery]

I don't think their goal is to demoralize us (at least not their main goal). I think their goal is to incite a world war. This is based on the continual escalation over the past decade, culminating in 9/11. With that in mind, it makes a ton of sense that they would stir up the hive again when they saw that we might have been losing our war momentum.

Why they want to start a war is more mysterious -- my husband's hypothesis is that it would concentrate a whole bunch of American troops/materiel in one place, allowing for a potentially devastating attack with a nuke or smallpox.