A Small Victory: connecting the dots

connecting the dots

Let's see what we have so far:

John Allen Muhammad, 42 years old. Born John Allen Williamsm but changed his name and religion 17 years ago. He is a former member of the U.S. Military, a Gulf War veteran with combat training. He has declared his sympathy towards al-Queda and the Septmember 11 hijackers. He has links to an Islamic militant training camp in Alabama. A rifle, a scope and a tripod has been recovered from his car.

Now, let's go to Russia. The Chechen rebels, who have reportedly killed at least one hostage already, let all the Muslims in the theater go, in addition to children. Chechyna is a mainly muslim Republic. According to news sources, the hostage takers called themselves "smertniki," a word that in Russian refers to fighters who die for a cause.

*update* found on a comment at Cold Fury: The Chechens are backed up by Saudi Wahhabis, the same sect that organized the attacks on Bali and probably the WTC.... by Ralf Goergens

Connect the dots. The big picture says we are in deep trouble here.

And...Am I the only person out here that thinks these two guys they arrested are not the actual shooters, just the fall guys for a larger contingent?

*clarification* I didn't mean to imply that the two incidents are related in any way, I was just saying that the world is in deep shit.

Comments

I'm not buying it. If this guy was part of an al queda agenda. I gaurantee you, that there would be more than just a guy and his step son. This is his own agenda not that of a terrorist regime. Plus, he would have been trained a little better and known not to leave behind his shell casings. via led This would be better titled "Stretching to connect the dots"

Posted by: Edgar | October 24, 2002 12:46 PM

They most likely are not part of al Queda, per se, but whatever group they are in, in their own way, are furthering the agenda of al Queda, just as bin Laden suggested that "good muslims" everywhere do.

Posted by: michele | October 24, 2002 12:55 PM

Sadly, you are not alone in your thinking, but I believe it's a stretch. Sorry.

Posted by: Solonor | October 24, 2002 01:23 PM

The key word is "sympathizer". These guys are doing what they think is "their part" in the larger agenda.

Posted by: Leigh Sahsee | October 24, 2002 01:40 PM

The fact is you don't know that. We don't know what his agenda was yet. We really don't even know if he is the guy. (he's the guy) Oh, anti government sentiment from ex government. I never would have guessed. In fact I've been watching the news for the last 2 hours, and I haven't heard amy mention of his possible connection to any terrorist faction. I highly doubt this is terrorism motivated. He is still a loan serial killer in my book.

Posted by: Edgar | October 24, 2002 01:45 PM

Loan serial killer? He kills bank officers, or what?

Obviously we are reading two different books as well as watching different news, because I heard the word "terrorism" bandied about this morning no less than twenty times in half an hour.

Posted by: michele | October 24, 2002 01:47 PM

Posted by: michele | October 24, 2002 01:48 PM

So the repeated mention of his "sympathy for the 9/11 hijackers" means nothing?

Posted by: Sekimori | October 24, 2002 01:48 PM

I think he is sympathetic to the cause of Al qaeda, but not actually one of them. Kind of a terrorist wanna be. A fine line and to the victims and their families I doubt it matters what message he thought he was sending.

Posted by: domino | October 24, 2002 02:13 PM

I'm with you on this one, Michele. There's an eerie amount of concentration on the "sympathy for the 9/11 hijackers" statement. Feels like there's a big fog about this, like there's a piece missing, a calm before the storm, if you will.

Posted by: Jenna | October 24, 2002 02:27 PM

I suspect that no matter what the motive really was, that the shooter will claim to have been pursuing jihad (there's a big ego in there, and that will make him a "hero" to some sickos).

The government, of course, will insist it's not terrorism unless they are actually memebers of a terrorist group. I don't agree.

Posted by: Kathy K | October 24, 2002 02:42 PM

members even...

Posted by: Kathy K | October 24, 2002 02:49 PM

I'm with Kathy... To me, by claiming sympathy with the terrorists, he is one. Period.

Posted by: Sekimori | October 24, 2002 03:28 PM

Al-Qaeda is probably not even an organization in the western-civilization sense, but rather an idea, a goal, a movement.
Like zionism, except zionists aren't as fond of killing.

Posted by: Tomas | October 24, 2002 04:48 PM

Al-Qaeda is an umbrella/manegement company, of sorts. It offers management training, personnel recruitment, and resources not available to the average terrorist. The name means, "The Base," if I recall correctly. Hence its ties to so many terrorist groups around the world.

Posted by: Scott | October 24, 2002 04:57 PM

Even if these snipers aren't "officially" connected with Al-Qaeda - whatever that really means (employee ID card?) - if they acted completely on their own, this is a more dangerous situation than if they were commanded to carry out the attacks.

The FBI had better update its definition of terrorism quickly or their credibility, if there is any left, will be less than zero. They are just now deciding that the LAX murders in July might be terrorism. NO SHIT! The degree of idiocy we are seeing from that organization just boggles my brain, and the CIA is not far behind. Time for President Bush to show some of his leadership skills here. Clean house!

Posted by: Jeff B | October 24, 2002 06:05 PM

Someone really needs to look at his Nation of Islam connections, and Louis Farrakan in particular.

Remember Louie's summer visit to Saddam where he said that �Muslim American people are praying to the almighty God to grant victory to Iraq.�

Posted by: Just Lurking | October 24, 2002 06:13 PM

IMHO, the whole Muslim thing sounds like sensationalised spin. If he is the shooter, he's a nutjob who's dangerous, good thing they found him. The fact that he's a Muslim convert is being bandied around because it makes great headlines.

(Pedantic point: he changed his name only a year ago, although he converted to Islam 17 years prior.)

Posted by: andrea | October 24, 2002 10:30 PM

Andrea, the fact that he only recently changed his name to an Islamic one makes me more nervous, not less...

I'm moved to ask, why did he change his name, and then within a relatively short time start shooting people? And did he change his name before or after he licensed the car?

This whole affair is too damned bizarre for all the information to be out already; my .02 is that it will go places we're not even guessing yet.

Posted by: Troy | October 25, 2002 03:08 AM

Andrea,

He allegedly celebrated mass murder committed by foreigners against our citizenry. That is not spin. Anybody who investigates this objectively would have to check out the Islamic fanaticism angle.

You should apply at the FBI, you'd fit right in.

Posted by: Jeff B | October 25, 2002 11:02 AM

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