D.C. KILLERS: TERRORIST CELL?

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

[sweetliberty]

"i just don't believe that this guy(s) intended to miss twice ..."

While the 9/11 thing is uncanny, I have thought like you about it. I just don't think the guy is THAT good a shot. Either of the survivors, especially the boy, could have just has easily been fatalities but for the grace of God.

[sweetliberty]

Here's an interesting thought along the 9/11 line though. If this is the work of terrorists, and I believe it probably is, the of 9 out of 11 just might be a fortunate coincidence that they would take advantage of.

[sweetliberty]

"So why is LE not telling the public to "Keep an eye open for suspicious vehicles parking in darkened areas across from malls and gas stations"?"

Very logical question, however, keep in mind that the cops don't think regular people are as smart as them or capable of handling the truth. They KNOW the media isn't, and you and I both know that neither the cops nor the media are as smart as the average FReeper. ;-)

[sweetliberty]

"why did the shooter not take out her husband; a far bigger target? And easier if he was targeting at random."

Perhaps, but keep in mind that the shooter seems to be reacting many times to what is being said in the news and there had recently been raised the question of his marksmanship capability. He may have been trying to prove himself capable of hitting the smaller target.

[swarthyguy]

OK but if she had been a target all along and this was the opportunity. More i think about it, more i think of jihadis. Too expert in making their getaways for one -
maybe mercs, hired per kill, who're now comfortably enjoying their loot in a mediterranean resort.

Tinfoil me , but an FBI Cyber expert would make warning bells go off for me if i was an investigator.

[justshutupandtakeit]

I don't know what to make of this passage. If this were the Washington Poat I would assume that the author was implying that Bush was behind the killings. But is hard to think that he is implying the RATS are behind them.

Now if you assume AQ works in tandem with Saddam then he may be implying that it is them. Or that Saddam is behind the killings. Snipers from Saddam. Saddam's Snipers.

But he does not seem to imply that this would change any real events only "news." Terror has been used by the Palestinians to take Iraq out of the news.

[muawiyah]

For whatever reason many Afghan people will not purchase a home where someone has died on the premises. (Living here in the middle of the largest aggregation of Afghani people in North America you kind of pick up this stuff over the years).

They believe this is or should be a problem for other folks as well since its manifestly such an obvious response to the problem of people dieing in a house (hunh?!).

The Taliban shared in the Islamist belief that most of the world's problems are caused by Jews who are in league with the United States.

So, simply assume the killer in the DC area is an Afghan Taliban, and you have the answer to the patterns he has made.

One pattern is that he has been killing people on or near property owned by Jewish people - to wit: Shoppers Food Warehouse, Michael's, Hillandale Beer and Wine, and quite possibly some of the gas stations. I was unable to find data on the ownership of the stations since some are franchise operations and others are owned by the companies.

In the eyes of our hypothetical Taliban shooter, that "ruins the property"!~ This is kind of like blowing up the Buddha statues.

Then, he shoots folks at places with a name from the list of the Hebrew 12 Tribes of Israel - Manassas and Benjamin so far, and maybe a couple of the others.

He also managed to kill someone in front of a synagogue that isn't even in the phone book. It's located inside the Washington Ethical Society on Kalmia street. The only reference at www.google.com is a news article in the Washington Blade (a gay oriented newspaper around here.) You can find it at their website. This one leads me to believe the shooter is a cab driver in the Silver Spring area.

There are several other shootings that occurred within a block or two of yet other synagogues.

If as many as three Methodist churches had been this close to this many killings in this period of time he would be called the Weslyan Killer. The proximities to these sites is important, and I would imagine by now the Montgomery County P&P squad have figured it all out and are on their way to the kabob joint/bakery at this moment to pick up a couple of white trucks to check out.

[muawiyah]

So far AlQaida hs been staying away from the neighborhoods with lots of Arabs and Afghans.

[muawiyah]

I'm guessing your "really" is the operative word, but WWII was a short one, as was WWI, Spanish American, Civil War, 1812, and Revolution.

Our longest war was the Viet Nam War. It runs from 1959 to 1975, which is longer than the combined total of Civil War, WWI and WWII!

True enough, the rest of the country didn't really turn out, unless it was for the other side. I turned out for it, and lots of other Freepers turned out for it. Not likely we will forget.

Hey, some of the guys who really were at the battle shown in "We Were Soldiers" ran my basic training company and served as training cadre. We all swore to leave no one behind. Can't forget it.

[copycat]

My previous thinking on this was dictated by the purported "witness acounts". Having now looked at the scene, and with at least one account being entirely dismissed, I'd say that they're all quite suspect if not entirely wrong.

What if a terror cell had 6 members...they perform the sniping in three teams of two. Two cars are decoys...a box truck and a white ladder van. The shooters car, (across the street in this case) if they are smart, is a plain dark sedan.

The vans are in the light, drawing the attention of the witnesses, and perhaps playing lookout. If they are stopped...they are unarmed. Meanwhile the sniper escapes with a quick jog unto a nearby highway.

This scenario could cover your revelations AND the eyewitness testimony. Witness attention would be drawn to the vans while the sniper car escaped. Testimony from eyewitnesses would be inconsistent and deemed unreliable.

[PatrioticAmerican]

Listen, just because our law enforcement, today, are nitwits doesn't mean that their inability to catch these nuts concludes that they are an organized terror cell.

[Wolfstar]

Destro: I noticed the paragraph you highlighted, but chose not to comment on it. Why? Although I understand what is being implied, it makes no sense to me. I have read three novels by Caleb Carr, including 'The Alienist' and its sequel. I don't know Mr. Carr's politics, but particularly in the third book of his that I read, I got the strong impression he is a Leftist.

In any case, Mr. Carr is very precise in the use of words. He made the point of this paragraph very clear: that whoever is behind the shootings wants "terror" back on the front burner of this nation's news reporting. Like many on the Left, he seems to separate the war on terror from taking down Saddam, whereas the President and many others on the right see them as two sides of the same coin. The notion that taking down Saddam is not part of the war on terror is what leads Mr. Carr to the, in my view, incorrect conclusion stated in the paragraph you highlighted.

[browardchad]

Muawiyah, I've read most of your posts and realize you have some first-hand knowledge of the area. Do you remember the fleeting media mentions of a man who had come forward to confess early in the killing? Well the Washington Post printed his name this morning (the first mention I've seen) and he is apparently an Afghani. What do make of this: random crazy? someone so in sympathy with the killer that he wanted to take credit? someone intentionally muddying the waters? All (or none) of the above?

From the WP:

"A 30-year-old Woodbridge man, Atiqullah Qazei, was charged by Arlington police on Oct. 3 with filing a false police report after he claimed that he was the sniper."

[muawiyah]

Latest report (6:35 PM) was that the shell casing was kind of old and it is highly probable it could not have been connected to this series of shootings.

[muawiyah]

There has been little news about this but I do recall this guy walking in and confessing.

He didn't have the gun, or the ammuniton, or a white truck so they didn't believe him.

Still, I suspect there's something to this - maybe he has OTHER EVIDENCE that might implicate someone he knows and respects - or fears!

Actual slavery is still common in the Tribal Territories in Pakistan, and in their equivalents across the line in Afghanistan. Not all the people we have gotten as refugees are "free in the mind". Then there are tribal loyalties and medieval attitudes.

I would have this fellow locked up and would be bringing in all his kin to talk to him. The first guy who wasn't kin who showed up, I think I'd toss him in the clink for some questioning as well.

If we have an Afghan Taliban or AlQaida fire team at work, we can break them! This guy ought to be considered nothing more than the first in line.

[browardchad]

Still, I suspect there's something to this

I agree, it's too bizarre.

I wonder if October 3 is the date the Secret Service got involved in the case....

[MortMan]

"Really" is indeed the operative word. I didn't indicate Vietnam or Korea because they weren't politically acceptable here at home (much, much worse for Vietnam).

I'd like to add a "God Bless You" for your Vietnam service. I'm a Desert Storm vet, myself. (Which might explain why I actually know a little about military history).

I was reading an article last night that drew an interesting parallel - between Truman's recognition of the cold war and W's recognition of the war on terror. The main point of the article was that both of these instances required the president to (a) recognize, (b) publicly identify, and (c) make major strategic changes to fight a 'new kind of war'. The article also pointed out that Truman's administrative shake-up (DoD) wasn't an overnight success - it actually suffered from some of the same problems W's Homeland Security department is facing, politically.

I hope and pray the war on terror is eventually just as successful as the cold war.