It occurs to me that they may have been arming themselves in preparation for some sort of attack on Muslims, something similar to those prepping for the “race war” or the federal government sending in troops to take their guns. What they may have been prepared for was the coming “war on Islam”, particularly in response to ISIS and the fallout after the Paris attacks. Whatever happened at the Christmas party may have only served as some sort of opening salvo to a sick, twisted mind convinced that war against his family was imminent. They may have seen their actions as defending themselves against those who meant to do them harm. Almost like Randy Weaver, Timothy McVeigh, David Koresh, etc.
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I think they were hoping to kill all the party’s attendees, so no one would be left to identify them–one did.
They still have to volunteer and qualify for them. More of a news story when that happens.
It’s still early and s lot we don’t know, but another appearance by Saudi Arabia. At some point, we’re going to have to deal with them on the issue of terrorism.
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Huh, as many bombs as GOP presidential candidates…
Thinking they mighta’ started with the wrong target(s) first?
Which may have more to do with the disgruntled employee angle.
Perhaps with recent workplace aggravation changing the plans-- or at the least the order of planned attacks.
Having other plans-- might also explain the casual manner in which they fled.
As this attack might originally have been expected as the be-all-end-all?
jw1
Sorry, Plucky, but I don’t buy it. If your goal is defense in a war against Islam, you don’t abandon your baby to go kill a bunch of random government workers. They were planning an attack and the holiday party gathering gave them an opportunity where they knew a large number of people would be gathered and they knew what entrance security would be like.
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In the second news conference last night, Bowdich WANTED to call it terrorism and he did everything but say it was in fact terrorism. You could see it. Now it’s irresponsible to call it terrorism.
That makes sense too. I just think there’s much more to it than it seems. I don’t think this is the standard, extremist terrorism. There are so many elements that I think do make it appear as though something more was at work.
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Actually, this tells me they weren’t planning to die yesterday.
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I don’t think many folks make 12 pipe bombs just in case they get pissed off. It takes time and you have to have a purpose. This mess is starting to look like a home grown terrorist thing.
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My understanding is that they went back to their house, left once they realize they were being watched/followed, and then headed back to San Bernardino where they got into a shootout. If that’s the case, I agree that it doesn’t seem like they were planning on some sort of mass killing/suicide scenario. Then again they may have gone back for the pipe bombs.
… investigators found 3 pipe bombs combined into one unit at the Inland Regional Center with a remote control detonation device that “appears not to have worked.”
Yeah, right, gun control is totally the answer. Not.
So many assumptions. In your run-of the mill mass killing (yes being sarcastic) how often does the killer plan for a much more extended series of attacks? The guy who shot up the aurora movie theater wore a ballistic vest. he intended to survive. He had plenty of ammo and weapons to move on to other targets. All these crazy guys who get arrested with one gun after jumping the fence are found to have tons of weapons at home or in the car. These things turn in to one-off affairs because the police tend to respond pretty overwhelmingly and because the murderers are actually not very good at planning. They are full of rage and crazy. The idea that you can go someplace and shoot up an entire office, then go home and do it again next week somewhere else is insane. Unless you have a very large amount of organized help.
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A witness tipped off authorities to Farook, who officials learned had days before rented a black Ford Expedition, which was scheduled to be returned on the day of the shooting.
To me, this indicates they did indeed plan this slaughter in advance. The masks suggest they did not want to be identified. That says they wanted to get away with it and who knows what after that. No one can be sure if they planned anything else until after much more digging.
On a side note, the Republican ass-wipe Dickey who drafted the bill to prevent the CDC from collecting data on gun violence now says he made a mistake. Link: http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/02/politics/jay-dickey-gun-violence-research/index.html
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Perhaps not home grown. He reportedly traveled to Saudi Arabia and has had contact with other folks the FBI is watching for terrorism. The woman involved was reportedly here on a fiancee Visa from Pakistan. She came with him when he returned from Saudi Arabia.
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What kind of terrorism have you been observing for the last few decades? Random killing is an essential element of it as I’ve observed it as is a disregard for your own life or those around you. Perhaps they did not plan on dying but it mattered not. The kid will be cared for. They knew that.
It’s almost as sickening to read these TPM threads trying to avoid calling what really looks like home grown Islamic terrorism what it is as it is to read the wingnut blogs that try to make domestic terror an Islamic thing.
The NSRA and it’s Queen Wayne are salivating at the profits that will come from increased sales! They love it when this happens so close to the greatest gun-giving day of the year-the anniversary of the birth of the Prince of Peace.
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What @PluckyInKY is saying, and correct me if I’m wrong, is that the Dept of Health Christmas party isn’t exactly a political message. He had his own personal vendetta going on here and so it’s not ‘terrorism’ as it is commonly called. We need to refer to more things as domestic terrorism, but we don’t in this country. Hopefully now it will change.
EDIT: And actually, it does matter if they had no plans to die, then the idea this was some sort of Islamic terrorist attack is less likely.
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You are quoting me but under Plucky’s name, and you seem to misunderstand what I am saying. Read Plucky’s original comment that I am responding to suggesting that these people were stocking up all these weapons to DEFEND in a war against Islam. My point was that it is pretty clear to me that this is NOT defense motivated. If your goal was to defend, you wouldn’t abandon your child. The goal was to attack, plain and simple. And a group of random government workers at a holiday party is prime target for a terrorist attack.
EDIT: but yes, I agree with you that the efforts to avoid calling this what it really appears to be strikes me as a little disturbing as well.
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