Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:Here is some pure speculation on my part. I've noticed that in several recent attacks, the perpetrators were fairly important members of the terrorist cells. I believe one of the Brussels bombers was described as an important bomb maker and one of the Istanbul attackers was a high-level recruiter. I could be mistake because I'm going by memory and I haven't memorized all the details of these attacks, but I think this is correct. The truck today is said to contain bomb-making material and weapons. Maybe that was a sort of headquarters/weapons cache and, instead of using an apartment, the cell was working out of a truck? In that scenario, the bomb-making material and weapons were not intended to be used in today's attack. Rather, for whatever reason, the attacker decided it was no longer useful to maintain the weapons cache.

If I am correct about all of this -- and I admit I am likely wrong -- it would mean that ISIS is running out of cannon fodder and is being forced to rely on more valuable assets for attacks. If that is the case, I suspect the organization has almost depleted its resources. You don't have your bomb-maker blow himself up if you are hoping for him to make more bombs. Similarly, you don't destroy your weapons cache unless that cache is no longer needed.

doubtful

There are far too many cells scattered about to make this hopeful statement.

Killing pedestrians on a national holiday is symbolic - not any different from destroying the towers on 9-11. Destroying symbols hits the psyche. Furthermore, whether the truck was a Trojan Horse or not, it was a twisted (yet brilliant) move to drive through a crowd of happy people b/c it's an extremely RAW way to physically damage a body. Imagine the damage to the the psyche at this point.

There are trucks all over the place. Remember the Beltway Sniper? We were on high alert after that, fearing every white van that drove by.

What should France do now? have police check points for every truck now?

How much militarization is necessary? curfews, restricted freedoms, living in fear

And if France heads toward a police state, don't you think the "terrorists" (however they are defined) will have won?

Agreed.

9-11 made us afraid of planes.

Now we will do a double take on big trucks. Candidly, I already had been during my commute to/from dc everyday. So many opportunities for a big truck to do damage. I hate being stuck near one, but typically feel a sense of relief if I can see the driver and reassure myself that he doesn't look like a crazy terrorist.

What does a crazy terrorist look like?

I knew you would ask!

In my head, this is what allays my fear when stuck in traffic next to a big (obviously rented/not commercial) box truck on a bridge:

-a Latino, black or Asian driver immediately puts my mind at ease
-most white drivers out my mind at ease (unless they look crazy, twitchy or drive erratically...google white serial killers or American mass shooters...that will give you an idea of the crazy eyes white shooters have)

And I'll take the bait: you want me to say that I'm fearful of middle eastern looking men driving big (obviously rented/not commercial) box trucks when stuck in traffic on a bridge. Here you go: yes I am. I was before the incident in Nice, and I most certainly am now.

I'm not paralyzed with fear. I still drive to my job in the heart of DC everyday. But it's definitely something that crosses my mind when stuck in traffic on a bridge...just like when getting gas during the sniper attacks (which happened in my area). For the record, I was certain the sniper was a crazy white guy (but I was wrong).

I'm not a racist. I don't think Muslims are violent. But I do have an issue with radical Islam and the people who promote it. I can't interview the guy in the box truck next to me so I can't make a rational decision about the odds of him being a terrorist, so I'm limited to making an assessment purely based on impression. Flame away.

For the record, I'm a big supporter of see something, say something...and that's based purely on appearance and circumstance. Guess what? I've called the dc non emergency line a few times since 9-11, and twice I discovered that two situations I called about were connected to people who were apprehended. One was a Muslim immigrant from the south who was photographing landmarks and streets in dc. I called him in for taking pics near 15th and h. He was apprehended near the White House. His apartment contained tons of recon photos. The other related to a car with three middle eastern guys driving slowly up 16th with the guys in the passenger seat and backseat filming with camcorders discreetly out the window (I was in a higher SUV so I could see down in their car). What prompted me to call? Middle eastern guys doing something that I deemed sketchy. And it turns out (based on my contact at DHS) that I was right. Turns out other people called in, too.

Flame away. I couldn't care less.

Sure you picked a bad day to give up meth. Contacts at DHS LOL

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:Here is some pure speculation on my part. I've noticed that in several recent attacks, the perpetrators were fairly important members of the terrorist cells. I believe one of the Brussels bombers was described as an important bomb maker and one of the Istanbul attackers was a high-level recruiter. I could be mistake because I'm going by memory and I haven't memorized all the details of these attacks, but I think this is correct. The truck today is said to contain bomb-making material and weapons. Maybe that was a sort of headquarters/weapons cache and, instead of using an apartment, the cell was working out of a truck? In that scenario, the bomb-making material and weapons were not intended to be used in today's attack. Rather, for whatever reason, the attacker decided it was no longer useful to maintain the weapons cache.

If I am correct about all of this -- and I admit I am likely wrong -- it would mean that ISIS is running out of cannon fodder and is being forced to rely on more valuable assets for attacks. If that is the case, I suspect the organization has almost depleted its resources. You don't have your bomb-maker blow himself up if you are hoping for him to make more bombs. Similarly, you don't destroy your weapons cache unless that cache is no longer needed.

doubtful

There are far too many cells scattered about to make this hopeful statement.

Killing pedestrians on a national holiday is symbolic - not any different from destroying the towers on 9-11. Destroying symbols hits the psyche. Furthermore, whether the truck was a Trojan Horse or not, it was a twisted (yet brilliant) move to drive through a crowd of happy people b/c it's an extremely RAW way to physically damage a body. Imagine the damage to the the psyche at this point.

There are trucks all over the place. Remember the Beltway Sniper? We were on high alert after that, fearing every white van that drove by.

What should France do now? have police check points for every truck now?

How much militarization is necessary? curfews, restricted freedoms, living in fear

And if France heads toward a police state, don't you think the "terrorists" (however they are defined) will have won?

Agreed.

9-11 made us afraid of planes.

Now we will do a double take on big trucks. Candidly, I already had been during my commute to/from dc everyday. So many opportunities for a big truck to do damage. I hate being stuck near one, but typically feel a sense of relief if I can see the driver and reassure myself that he doesn't look like a crazy terrorist.

What does a crazy terrorist look like?

I knew you would ask!

In my head, this is what allays my fear when stuck in traffic next to a big (obviously rented/not commercial) box truck on a bridge:

-a Latino, black or Asian driver immediately puts my mind at ease
-most white drivers out my mind at ease (unless they look crazy, twitchy or drive erratically...google white serial killers or American mass shooters...that will give you an idea of the crazy eyes white shooters have)

And I'll take the bait: you want me to say that I'm fearful of middle eastern looking men driving big (obviously rented/not commercial) box trucks when stuck in traffic on a bridge. Here you go: yes I am. I was before the incident in Nice, and I most certainly am now.

I'm not paralyzed with fear. I still drive to my job in the heart of DC everyday. But it's definitely something that crosses my mind when stuck in traffic on a bridge...just like when getting gas during the sniper attacks (which happened in my area). For the record, I was certain the sniper was a crazy white guy (but I was wrong).

I'm not a racist. I don't think Muslims are violent. But I do have an issue with radical Islam and the people who promote it. I can't interview the guy in the box truck next to me so I can't make a rational decision about the odds of him being a terrorist, so I'm limited to making an assessment purely based on impression. Flame away.

For the record, I'm a big supporter of see something, say something...and that's based purely on appearance and circumstance. Guess what? I've called the dc non emergency line a few times since 9-11, and twice I discovered that two situations I called about were connected to people who were apprehended. One was a Muslim immigrant from the south who was photographing landmarks and streets in dc. I called him in for taking pics near 15th and h. He was apprehended near the White House. His apartment contained tons of recon photos. The other related to a car with three middle eastern guys driving slowly up 16th with the guys in the passenger seat and backseat filming with camcorders discreetly out the window (I was in a higher SUV so I could see down in their car). What prompted me to call? Middle eastern guys doing something that I deemed sketchy. And it turns out (based on my contact at DHS) that I was right. Turns out other people called in, too.

Flame away. I couldn't care less.

So if you saw the same actions by white, black or Asians, you wouldn't call in? ISIS only recruits middle-eastern looking people?

Nope, I'd still call in.

The guy taking pics near 15th and H was literally jumping in the middle of h to take pics of the street and intersection in both directions. Then he wandered down H towards 14 and took pics of storm grates and manhole covers, then wrote something down each time he took a pic of a manhole cover. Tourists don't do that, so I would have called it in regardless of the person's appearance. Ditto for the guys in the camcorder.

The point is this: pre-9-11 I wasn't proactively scanning my surroundings downtown in broad daylight. Now I do. And thanks to the recent events in Europe, I'm even more aware of potential threats---real or imagined---during my commute and when walking outside in DC.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:Here is some pure speculation on my part. I've noticed that in several recent attacks, the perpetrators were fairly important members of the terrorist cells. I believe one of the Brussels bombers was described as an important bomb maker and one of the Istanbul attackers was a high-level recruiter. I could be mistake because I'm going by memory and I haven't memorized all the details of these attacks, but I think this is correct. The truck today is said to contain bomb-making material and weapons. Maybe that was a sort of headquarters/weapons cache and, instead of using an apartment, the cell was working out of a truck? In that scenario, the bomb-making material and weapons were not intended to be used in today's attack. Rather, for whatever reason, the attacker decided it was no longer useful to maintain the weapons cache.

If I am correct about all of this -- and I admit I am likely wrong -- it would mean that ISIS is running out of cannon fodder and is being forced to rely on more valuable assets for attacks. If that is the case, I suspect the organization has almost depleted its resources. You don't have your bomb-maker blow himself up if you are hoping for him to make more bombs. Similarly, you don't destroy your weapons cache unless that cache is no longer needed.

doubtful

There are far too many cells scattered about to make this hopeful statement.

Killing pedestrians on a national holiday is symbolic - not any different from destroying the towers on 9-11. Destroying symbols hits the psyche. Furthermore, whether the truck was a Trojan Horse or not, it was a twisted (yet brilliant) move to drive through a crowd of happy people b/c it's an extremely RAW way to physically damage a body. Imagine the damage to the the psyche at this point.

There are trucks all over the place. Remember the Beltway Sniper? We were on high alert after that, fearing every white van that drove by.

What should France do now? have police check points for every truck now?

How much militarization is necessary? curfews, restricted freedoms, living in fear

And if France heads toward a police state, don't you think the "terrorists" (however they are defined) will have won?

Agreed.

9-11 made us afraid of planes.

Now we will do a double take on big trucks. Candidly, I already had been during my commute to/from dc everyday. So many opportunities for a big truck to do damage. I hate being stuck near one, but typically feel a sense of relief if I can see the driver and reassure myself that he doesn't look like a crazy terrorist.

What does a crazy terrorist look like?

I knew you would ask!

In my head, this is what allays my fear when stuck in traffic next to a big (obviously rented/not commercial) box truck on a bridge:

-a Latino, black or Asian driver immediately puts my mind at ease
-most white drivers out my mind at ease (unless they look crazy, twitchy or drive erratically...google white serial killers or American mass shooters...that will give you an idea of the crazy eyes white shooters have)

And I'll take the bait: you want me to say that I'm fearful of middle eastern looking men driving big (obviously rented/not commercial) box trucks when stuck in traffic on a bridge. Here you go: yes I am. I was before the incident in Nice, and I most certainly am now.

I'm not paralyzed with fear. I still drive to my job in the heart of DC everyday. But it's definitely something that crosses my mind when stuck in traffic on a bridge...just like when getting gas during the sniper attacks (which happened in my area). For the record, I was certain the sniper was a crazy white guy (but I was wrong).

I'm not a racist. I don't think Muslims are violent. But I do have an issue with radical Islam and the people who promote it. I can't interview the guy in the box truck next to me so I can't make a rational decision about the odds of him being a terrorist, so I'm limited to making an assessment purely based on impression. Flame away.

For the record, I'm a big supporter of see something, say something...and that's based purely on appearance and circumstance. Guess what? I've called the dc non emergency line a few times since 9-11, and twice I discovered that two situations I called about were connected to people who were apprehended. One was a Muslim immigrant from the south who was photographing landmarks and streets in dc. I called him in for taking pics near 15th and h. He was apprehended near the White House. His apartment contained tons of recon photos. The other related to a car with three middle eastern guys driving slowly up 16th with the guys in the passenger seat and backseat filming with camcorders discreetly out the window (I was in a higher SUV so I could see down in their car). What prompted me to call? Middle eastern guys doing something that I deemed sketchy. And it turns out (based on my contact at DHS) that I was right. Turns out other people called in, too.

Flame away. I couldn't care less.

So if you saw the same actions by white, black or Asians, you wouldn't call in? ISIS only recruits middle-eastern looking people?

Anonymous wrote:No, I dont. We live in policed/police states in the west. Monitoring hate speech from imams and deporting them? Monitoring hate web sites and those who subscribe to them and echo them? Shutting them down? Good policing. Cooperating with Muslim communities and asking them to self monitor and focus the message to supporting civil society? Makes sense. No I dont think the terrorists have won when we take action to protect our cherished insititutins and our lives . I'm actually glad Gingrich has fired a shot across the bow on this. Is it uncomfortable sure. But who IS comfortable these days? Is it comfortable to be a westerner, or a Muslim westerner whose way of life is under full on attack?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:Here is some pure speculation on my part. I've noticed that in several recent attacks, the perpetrators were fairly important members of the terrorist cells. I believe one of the Brussels bombers was described as an important bomb maker and one of the Istanbul attackers was a high-level recruiter. I could be mistake because I'm going by memory and I haven't memorized all the details of these attacks, but I think this is correct. The truck today is said to contain bomb-making material and weapons. Maybe that was a sort of headquarters/weapons cache and, instead of using an apartment, the cell was working out of a truck? In that scenario, the bomb-making material and weapons were not intended to be used in today's attack. Rather, for whatever reason, the attacker decided it was no longer useful to maintain the weapons cache.

If I am correct about all of this -- and I admit I am likely wrong -- it would mean that ISIS is running out of cannon fodder and is being forced to rely on more valuable assets for attacks. If that is the case, I suspect the organization has almost depleted its resources. You don't have your bomb-maker blow himself up if you are hoping for him to make more bombs. Similarly, you don't destroy your weapons cache unless that cache is no longer needed.

doubtful

There are far too many cells scattered about to make this hopeful statement.

Killing pedestrians on a national holiday is symbolic - not any different from destroying the towers on 9-11. Destroying symbols hits the psyche. Furthermore, whether the truck was a Trojan Horse or not, it was a twisted (yet brilliant) move to drive through a crowd of happy people b/c it's an extremely RAW way to physically damage a body. Imagine the damage to the the psyche at this point.

There are trucks all over the place. Remember the Beltway Sniper? We were on high alert after that, fearing every white van that drove by.

What should France do now? have police check points for every truck now?

How much militarization is necessary? curfews, restricted freedoms, living in fear

And if France heads toward a police state, don't you think the "terrorists" (however they are defined) will have won?

Agreed.

9-11 made us afraid of planes.

Now we will do a double take on big trucks. Candidly, I already had been during my commute to/from dc everyday. So many opportunities for a big truck to do damage. I hate being stuck near one, but typically feel a sense of relief if I can see the driver and reassure myself that he doesn't look like a crazy terrorist.

What does a crazy terrorist look like?

I knew you would ask!

In my head, this is what allays my fear when stuck in traffic next to a big (obviously rented/not commercial) box truck on a bridge:

-a Latino, black or Asian driver immediately puts my mind at ease
-most white drivers out my mind at ease (unless they look crazy, twitchy or drive erratically...google white serial killers or American mass shooters...that will give you an idea of the crazy eyes white shooters have)

And I'll take the bait: you want me to say that I'm fearful of middle eastern looking men driving big (obviously rented/not commercial) box trucks when stuck in traffic on a bridge. Here you go: yes I am. I was before the incident in Nice, and I most certainly am now.

I'm not paralyzed with fear. I still drive to my job in the heart of DC everyday. But it's definitely something that crosses my mind when stuck in traffic on a bridge...just like when getting gas during the sniper attacks (which happened in my area). For the record, I was certain the sniper was a crazy white guy (but I was wrong).

I'm not a racist. I don't think Muslims are violent. But I do have an issue with radical Islam and the people who promote it. I can't interview the guy in the box truck next to me so I can't make a rational decision about the odds of him being a terrorist, so I'm limited to making an assessment purely based on impression. Flame away.

For the record, I'm a big supporter of see something, say something...and that's based purely on appearance and circumstance. Guess what? I've called the dc non emergency line a few times since 9-11, and twice I discovered that two situations I called about were connected to people who were apprehended. One was a Muslim immigrant from the south who was photographing landmarks and streets in dc. I called him in for taking pics near 15th and h. He was apprehended near the White House. His apartment contained tons of recon photos. The other related to a car with three middle eastern guys driving slowly up 16th with the guys in the passenger seat and backseat filming with camcorders discreetly out the window (I was in a higher SUV so I could see down in their car). What prompted me to call? Middle eastern guys doing something that I deemed sketchy. And it turns out (based on my contact at DHS) that I was right. Turns out other people called in, too.

Flame away. I couldn't care less.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:Here is some pure speculation on my part. I've noticed that in several recent attacks, the perpetrators were fairly important members of the terrorist cells. I believe one of the Brussels bombers was described as an important bomb maker and one of the Istanbul attackers was a high-level recruiter. I could be mistake because I'm going by memory and I haven't memorized all the details of these attacks, but I think this is correct. The truck today is said to contain bomb-making material and weapons. Maybe that was a sort of headquarters/weapons cache and, instead of using an apartment, the cell was working out of a truck? In that scenario, the bomb-making material and weapons were not intended to be used in today's attack. Rather, for whatever reason, the attacker decided it was no longer useful to maintain the weapons cache.

If I am correct about all of this -- and I admit I am likely wrong -- it would mean that ISIS is running out of cannon fodder and is being forced to rely on more valuable assets for attacks. If that is the case, I suspect the organization has almost depleted its resources. You don't have your bomb-maker blow himself up if you are hoping for him to make more bombs. Similarly, you don't destroy your weapons cache unless that cache is no longer needed.

doubtful

There are far too many cells scattered about to make this hopeful statement.

Killing pedestrians on a national holiday is symbolic - not any different from destroying the towers on 9-11. Destroying symbols hits the psyche. Furthermore, whether the truck was a Trojan Horse or not, it was a twisted (yet brilliant) move to drive through a crowd of happy people b/c it's an extremely RAW way to physically damage a body. Imagine the damage to the the psyche at this point.

There are trucks all over the place. Remember the Beltway Sniper? We were on high alert after that, fearing every white van that drove by.

What should France do now? have police check points for every truck now?

How much militarization is necessary? curfews, restricted freedoms, living in fear

And if France heads toward a police state, don't you think the "terrorists" (however they are defined) will have won?

Agreed.

9-11 made us afraid of planes.

Now we will do a double take on big trucks. Candidly, I already had been during my commute to/from dc everyday. So many opportunities for a big truck to do damage. I hate being stuck near one, but typically feel a sense of relief if I can see the driver and reassure myself that he doesn't look like a crazy terrorist.

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:Here is some pure speculation on my part. I've noticed that in several recent attacks, the perpetrators were fairly important members of the terrorist cells. I believe one of the Brussels bombers was described as an important bomb maker and one of the Istanbul attackers was a high-level recruiter. I could be mistake because I'm going by memory and I haven't memorized all the details of these attacks, but I think this is correct. The truck today is said to contain bomb-making material and weapons. Maybe that was a sort of headquarters/weapons cache and, instead of using an apartment, the cell was working out of a truck? In that scenario, the bomb-making material and weapons were not intended to be used in today's attack. Rather, for whatever reason, the attacker decided it was no longer useful to maintain the weapons cache.

If I am correct about all of this -- and I admit I am likely wrong -- it would mean that ISIS is running out of cannon fodder and is being forced to rely on more valuable assets for attacks. If that is the case, I suspect the organization has almost depleted its resources. You don't have your bomb-maker blow himself up if you are hoping for him to make more bombs. Similarly, you don't destroy your weapons cache unless that cache is no longer needed.

Jeff that is a very interesting and clever thought indeed. I hope so.

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Of course it matters if it is an ongoing pattern. They are Sunni Muslim extremists that want to wipe out all Shias as well. All the Muslims they attack are Shias.

That's not true. They kill plenty of Sunnis as well. Some of the ISIS guys aren't even very religious -- or at least don't know very much about Islam. To the extent that ISIS has a religious ideology -- they tend to be very flexible rather than doctrinaire -- they are Wahhabist.

ISIS is proving very adept at exploiting underlying resentments. They aren't simply reading Quran verses and convincing people to launch attacks. Rather, they find someone who is pissed off at everything and provide an outlet for that anger. Right now we are in a vicious circle in which attacks like this increase anti-Islamism in the West and that, in turn, increases alienation among Muslims. I fear that none of our leaders have the foresight to break the cycle and most Americans wouldn't support such a strategy if one did. So, things will only get worse.

I see what you are saying. I hate being afraid and having to doubt people. The thing is though the LA shooter and Orlando were not alienated. That's what scary. They both had jobs etc... And still turned. Same with Brussels terrorists. Something is happening. I have Muslim friends and they are probably one of the nicest families in DC and have been here for a long time.

I think you are mistaking the appearance of normality with a lack of alienation. I don't know enough about either the LA or Orlando shootings, but I can guess a lot of what they experienced. They lived in a country in which anti-Muslim remarks are common, in which a major Presidential candidate has proposed banning the entry of Muslims, in which another Presidential candidate proposed specific surveillance of Muslim communities, whose government is bombing Muslims over over the place, whose Congress is relentlessly pro-Israel and where even supporting a boycott is considered anti-Semitic. We know that lots middle and lower class white folks are feeling tremendous amounts of resentment due to an array of issues that appear to be undermining their way of life. Imagine overlying all of that resentment with the additional issues of being Muslim? In this country we have Trump telling the white guys that he will look out for them. These alienated Muslims have some guy on the Internet telling them he has a way to address their anger.

Stop making excuses for these animals who, incidentally, just killed a bunch of children in Nice. Plenty of immigrants have felt resentment and alienation and have received far less in terms of monetary support and they haven't resorted to killing innocent people. If they have problem with living in the West and in the 21st century, maybe they should just stay in their own backwards countries. Nobody is begging them to come here.

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Of course it matters if it is an ongoing pattern. They are Sunni Muslim extremists that want to wipe out all Shias as well. All the Muslims they attack are Shias.

That's not true. They kill plenty of Sunnis as well. Some of the ISIS guys aren't even very religious -- or at least don't know very much about Islam. To the extent that ISIS has a religious ideology -- they tend to be very flexible rather than doctrinaire -- they are Wahhabist.

ISIS is proving very adept at exploiting underlying resentments. They aren't simply reading Quran verses and convincing people to launch attacks. Rather, they find someone who is pissed off at everything and provide an outlet for that anger. Right now we are in a vicious circle in which attacks like this increase anti-Islamism in the West and that, in turn, increases alienation among Muslims. I fear that none of our leaders have the foresight to break the cycle and most Americans wouldn't support such a strategy if one did. So, things will only get worse.

I see what you are saying. I hate being afraid and having to doubt people. The thing is though the LA shooter and Orlando were not alienated. That's what scary. They both had jobs etc... And still turned. Same with Brussels terrorists. Something is happening. I have Muslim friends and they are probably one of the nicest families in DC and have been here for a long time.

I think you are mistaking the appearance of normality with a lack of alienation. I don't know enough about either the LA or Orlando shootings, but I can guess a lot of what they experienced. They lived in a country in which anti-Muslim remarks are common, in which a major Presidential candidate has proposed banning the entry of Muslims, in which another Presidential candidate proposed specific surveillance of Muslim communities, whose government is bombing Muslims over over the place, whose Congress is relentlessly pro-Israel and where even supporting a boycott is considered anti-Semitic. We know that lots middle and lower class white folks are feeling tremendous amounts of resentment due to an array of issues that appear to be undermining their way of life. Imagine overlying all of that resentment with the additional issues of being Muslim? In this country we have Trump telling the white guys that he will look out for them. These alienated Muslims have some guy on the Internet telling them he has a way to address their anger.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:Here is some pure speculation on my part. I've noticed that in several recent attacks, the perpetrators were fairly important members of the terrorist cells. I believe one of the Brussels bombers was described as an important bomb maker and one of the Istanbul attackers was a high-level recruiter. I could be mistake because I'm going by memory and I haven't memorized all the details of these attacks, but I think this is correct. The truck today is said to contain bomb-making material and weapons. Maybe that was a sort of headquarters/weapons cache and, instead of using an apartment, the cell was working out of a truck? In that scenario, the bomb-making material and weapons were not intended to be used in today's attack. Rather, for whatever reason, the attacker decided it was no longer useful to maintain the weapons cache.

If I am correct about all of this -- and I admit I am likely wrong -- it would mean that ISIS is running out of cannon fodder and is being forced to rely on more valuable assets for attacks. If that is the case, I suspect the organization has almost depleted its resources. You don't have your bomb-maker blow himself up if you are hoping for him to make more bombs. Similarly, you don't destroy your weapons cache unless that cache is no longer needed.

doubtful

There are far too many cells scattered about to make this hopeful statement.

Killing pedestrians on a national holiday is symbolic - not any different from destroying the towers on 9-11. Destroying symbols hits the psyche. Furthermore, whether the truck was a Trojan Horse or not, it was a twisted (yet brilliant) move to drive through a crowd of happy people b/c it's an extremely RAW way to physically damage a body. Imagine the damage to the the psyche at this point.

There are trucks all over the place. Remember the Beltway Sniper? We were on high alert after that, fearing every white van that drove by.

What should France do now? have police check points for every truck now?

How much militarization is necessary? curfews, restricted freedoms, living in fear

And if France heads toward a police state, don't you think the "terrorists" (however they are defined) will have won?

Agreed.

9-11 made us afraid of planes.

Now we will do a double take on big trucks. Candidly, I already had been during my commute to/from dc everyday. So many opportunities for a big truck to do damage. I hate being stuck near one, but typically feel a sense of relief if I can see the driver and reassure myself that he doesn't look like a crazy terrorist.

What does a crazy terrorist look like?

I knew you would ask!

In my head, this is what allays my fear when stuck in traffic next to a big (obviously rented/not commercial) box truck on a bridge:

-a Latino, black or Asian driver immediately puts my mind at ease
-most white drivers out my mind at ease (unless they look crazy, twitchy or drive erratically...google white serial killers or American mass shooters...that will give you an idea of the crazy eyes white shooters have)

And I'll take the bait: you want me to say that I'm fearful of middle eastern looking men driving big (obviously rented/not commercial) box trucks when stuck in traffic on a bridge. Here you go: yes I am. I was before the incident in Nice, and I most certainly am now.

I'm not paralyzed with fear. I still drive to my job in the heart of DC everyday. But it's definitely something that crosses my mind when stuck in traffic on a bridge...just like when getting gas during the sniper attacks (which happened in my area). For the record, I was certain the sniper was a crazy white guy (but I was wrong).

I'm not a racist. I don't think Muslims are violent. But I do have an issue with radical Islam and the people who promote it. I can't interview the guy in the box truck next to me so I can't make a rational decision about the odds of him being a terrorist, so I'm limited to making an assessment purely based on impression. Flame away.

For the record, I'm a big supporter of see something, say something...and that's based purely on appearance and circumstance. Guess what? I've called the dc non emergency line a few times since 9-11, and twice I discovered that two situations I called about were connected to people who were apprehended. One was a Muslim immigrant from the south who was photographing landmarks and streets in dc. I called him in for taking pics near 15th and h. He was apprehended near the White House. His apartment contained tons of recon photos. The other related to a car with three middle eastern guys driving slowly up 16th with the guys in the passenger seat and backseat filming with camcorders discreetly out the window (I was in a higher SUV so I could see down in their car). What prompted me to call? Middle eastern guys doing something that I deemed sketchy. And it turns out (based on my contact at DHS) that I was right. Turns out other people called in, too.

Flame away. I couldn't care less.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:Here is some pure speculation on my part. I've noticed that in several recent attacks, the perpetrators were fairly important members of the terrorist cells. I believe one of the Brussels bombers was described as an important bomb maker and one of the Istanbul attackers was a high-level recruiter. I could be mistake because I'm going by memory and I haven't memorized all the details of these attacks, but I think this is correct. The truck today is said to contain bomb-making material and weapons. Maybe that was a sort of headquarters/weapons cache and, instead of using an apartment, the cell was working out of a truck? In that scenario, the bomb-making material and weapons were not intended to be used in today's attack. Rather, for whatever reason, the attacker decided it was no longer useful to maintain the weapons cache.

If I am correct about all of this -- and I admit I am likely wrong -- it would mean that ISIS is running out of cannon fodder and is being forced to rely on more valuable assets for attacks. If that is the case, I suspect the organization has almost depleted its resources. You don't have your bomb-maker blow himself up if you are hoping for him to make more bombs. Similarly, you don't destroy your weapons cache unless that cache is no longer needed.

doubtful

There are far too many cells scattered about to make this hopeful statement.

Killing pedestrians on a national holiday is symbolic - not any different from destroying the towers on 9-11. Destroying symbols hits the psyche. Furthermore, whether the truck was a Trojan Horse or not, it was a twisted (yet brilliant) move to drive through a crowd of happy people b/c it's an extremely RAW way to physically damage a body. Imagine the damage to the the psyche at this point.

There are trucks all over the place. Remember the Beltway Sniper? We were on high alert after that, fearing every white van that drove by.

What should France do now? have police check points for every truck now?

How much militarization is necessary? curfews, restricted freedoms, living in fear

And if France heads toward a police state, don't you think the "terrorists" (however they are defined) will have won?

Agreed.

9-11 made us afraid of planes.

Now we will do a double take on big trucks. Candidly, I already had been during my commute to/from dc everyday. So many opportunities for a big truck to do damage. I hate being stuck near one, but typically feel a sense of relief if I can see the driver and reassure myself that he doesn't look like a crazy terrorist.

What does a crazy terrorist look like?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:Here is some pure speculation on my part. I've noticed that in several recent attacks, the perpetrators were fairly important members of the terrorist cells. I believe one of the Brussels bombers was described as an important bomb maker and one of the Istanbul attackers was a high-level recruiter. I could be mistake because I'm going by memory and I haven't memorized all the details of these attacks, but I think this is correct. The truck today is said to contain bomb-making material and weapons. Maybe that was a sort of headquarters/weapons cache and, instead of using an apartment, the cell was working out of a truck? In that scenario, the bomb-making material and weapons were not intended to be used in today's attack. Rather, for whatever reason, the attacker decided it was no longer useful to maintain the weapons cache.

If I am correct about all of this -- and I admit I am likely wrong -- it would mean that ISIS is running out of cannon fodder and is being forced to rely on more valuable assets for attacks. If that is the case, I suspect the organization has almost depleted its resources. You don't have your bomb-maker blow himself up if you are hoping for him to make more bombs. Similarly, you don't destroy your weapons cache unless that cache is no longer needed.

doubtful

There are far too many cells scattered about to make this hopeful statement.

Killing pedestrians on a national holiday is symbolic - not any different from destroying the towers on 9-11. Destroying symbols hits the psyche. Furthermore, whether the truck was a Trojan Horse or not, it was a twisted (yet brilliant) move to drive through a crowd of happy people b/c it's an extremely RAW way to physically damage a body. Imagine the damage to the the psyche at this point.

There are trucks all over the place. Remember the Beltway Sniper? We were on high alert after that, fearing every white van that drove by.

What should France do now? have police check points for every truck now?

How much militarization is necessary? curfews, restricted freedoms, living in fear

And if France heads toward a police state, don't you think the "terrorists" (however they are defined) will have won?

Agreed.

9-11 made us afraid of planes.

Now we will do a double take on big trucks. Candidly, I already had been during my commute to/from dc everyday. So many opportunities for a big truck to do damage. I hate being stuck near one, but typically feel a sense of relief if I can see the driver and reassure myself that he doesn't look like a crazy terrorist.

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:Here is some pure speculation on my part. I've noticed that in several recent attacks, the perpetrators were fairly important members of the terrorist cells. I believe one of the Brussels bombers was described as an important bomb maker and one of the Istanbul attackers was a high-level recruiter. I could be mistake because I'm going by memory and I haven't memorized all the details of these attacks, but I think this is correct. The truck today is said to contain bomb-making material and weapons. Maybe that was a sort of headquarters/weapons cache and, instead of using an apartment, the cell was working out of a truck? In that scenario, the bomb-making material and weapons were not intended to be used in today's attack. Rather, for whatever reason, the attacker decided it was no longer useful to maintain the weapons cache.

If I am correct about all of this -- and I admit I am likely wrong -- it would mean that ISIS is running out of cannon fodder and is being forced to rely on more valuable assets for attacks. If that is the case, I suspect the organization has almost depleted its resources. You don't have your bomb-maker blow himself up if you are hoping for him to make more bombs. Similarly, you don't destroy your weapons cache unless that cache is no longer needed.

doubtful

There are far too many cells scattered about to make this hopeful statement.

Killing pedestrians on a national holiday is symbolic - not any different from destroying the towers on 9-11. Destroying symbols hits the psyche. Furthermore, whether the truck was a Trojan Horse or not, it was a twisted (yet brilliant) move to drive through a crowd of happy people b/c it's an extremely RAW way to physically damage a body. Imagine the damage to the the psyche at this point.

There are trucks all over the place. Remember the Beltway Sniper? We were on high alert after that, fearing every white van that drove by.

What should France do now? have police check points for every truck now?

How much militarization is necessary? curfews, restricted freedoms, living in fear

And if France heads toward a police state, don't you think the "terrorists" (however they are defined) will have won?