Don't tell us the San Bernardino massacre isn't the work of terrorists!

I started writing this about 1 PM yesterday, watching (on CBS-TV) the live coverage of the "incident" in San Bernardino CA. 14 innocent civilians killed, 17 wounded. By whom? By one crazy "lone wolf" with some kind of hatred for "developmentally disabled" people or civil servants? Or???

One eyewitness said that from her office window she saw three (3) attackers, dressed from head to toe in black, carrying "long guns" (the police chief's description) and extra ammunition. She wasn't sure, but had the impression the shooters were white, athletically built, and though that, while two were men, one might have been a man or a woman -- hard to tell, in the heat of the moment.

In the first presser, shortly after 2 PM, the San Berdoo police chief carefully avoided the use of words like "terrorists" or "terrorism" or "Muslims", In response to questions, he would only say that the authorities had no idea of what the motive might have been, and "weren't ruling out" terrorism.

Before we lift the veil from the identity of the two "suspects" (out of three) who have now been killed, let's consider the attacks on innocent civilians perpetrated in Paris not so long ago.

On 7 January 2015, two men dressed in black, carrying assault rifles and other weapons, forced their way into the Paris office of the French satirical weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo They killed 11 people and injured 11 others in the building, then killed a French police officer outside the building as they fled, shouting "Allahu akbar!" Another 5 people were killed and 11 wounded in related attacks in the Île-de-France region around Paris. The gunmen, Saïd and Chérif Kouachi, identified themselves as belonging to Al-Qaeda's branch in Yemen.

On the 13th of last month, masked men dressed in black, carrying assault rifles, IEDs and other weapons, staged a series of coordinated terrorist attacks in Paris and its northern suburbs. Three suicide bombers struck near the Stade de France in Saint-Denis. Cries of "Allahu akbar!" were heard again, as this attack was followed by suicide bombings and mass shootings at cafés, restaurants and the Bataclan music hall in Paris proper.

The Islamic terrorists -- for that's what they were -- killed 130 people, including 89 at the Bataclan, where they took hostages before engaging in a stand-off with police. There were 368 injuries, almost 100 of them serious. Seven of the jihadists also died. The ringleader is still at large, believed to be with ISIS in Syria.

ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying it was in retaliation for the French airstrikes on IS targets in Syria and Iraq. French President François Hollande said the attacks were an act of war, and called for swift and terrible retaliation. See "War begets terrorism begets war begets terrorism... etc" (WWW 3/12/15)

Now, let's examine again the mass shooting perpetrated in San Bernardino yesterday. Three attackers, dressed in black, carrying "long guns" (= assault rifles), burst into a crowded conference hall where the San Bernardino County Public Health Department was holding its annual Christmas party. According to witnesses, they didn't say or yell anything, just opened fire on all and sundry, killing 14, wounding 17.

Who could or would do such a thing? Would it be
(a) crazy people
(b) a disgruntled civil servant who "went postal"
(c) Muslims
(d) terrorists
(e) some of the above
(e) all of the above
While Ed. is tabulating your response, Walt will tell you what we now know.

Around 4 PM yesterday, two bodies were pulled out of a black SUV which had been riddled with gunfire in a scene reminiscent of the finale to Bonnie and Clyde. They were clothed in black, and were wearing body armor. They were Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik. The late Mr. Farook was born in Illinois, of parents who had immigrated from Pakistan.

According to Canadian Press, Mr. Farook went to Saudi Arabia for about a month this past spring. About a month after he returned to the USA, he was joined by Ms Malik, whom he described as a pharmacist and introduced as his wife.

Why did Mr. Farook and his wife do it? We can't ask them because the police, in time-honoured American fashion, decided to exterminate them first and ask questions... well, not at all. All we know is that Mr. Farook joined his colleagues -- he worked for the County Public Health Dept. -- at the party, but, after staying only a short while, stormed out following some kind of dispute. He returned with his wife, both dressed in tactical gear and carrying assault rifles. You know the rest of the story.

The level of preparation -- they brought extra ammunition and also had pipe bombs in the SUB -- is one of the factors investigators are weighing as they examine a motive for the attack. San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan told an evening news conference that the attack did not seem to be "a spur-of-the-moment thing". Great police work there, chief!

Also unanswered is the question of what happened to the third shooter... if there was a third shooter. If the police (and the sheriff, TSA, FBI, CIA, and dogcatcher) can identify and locate him (or her), will they kill him (or her) too? Why would they do that? Surely it wouldn't be to keep us from knowing that the attack had something to do with the jihad being waged against us. As the Prez sez, there's no such thing as Islamic terrorism... is there?

Footnote: The correct answer to our quiz is (e).