Syed Rizwan Farook was in touch with international terrorism subjects

[cigsandcoffee]

Source: CNN

San Bernardino, California (CNN)[Breaking news update at 12:13 p.m. ET]

San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook was in touch over the phone and via social media with more than one international terrorism subject who the FBI were already investigating, law enforcement officials said.

It appears that Farook was radicalized, which contributed to his motive, though other things -- like workplace grievances -- may have also played a role, other law enforcement sources said.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/03/us/san-bernardino-shooting/index.html

[Fast Walker 52]

1. Lovely... once again, the authorities fall down on the job

Isn't the NSA supposed to catch shit like this?

[leftynyc]

4. Oh, please

if they were yanking in every person who had contact with those viewed as bad buys, this board would fucking explode in outrage. Damned if they do, damned if the don't.

[blackspade]

27. No. It's the pointless domestic spying that is the issue.

Wasn't the whole point of monitoring international terrorist communications to prevent this kind of shit?
Apparently not. More like to fill the coffers of 'security' corporations.

[Fast Walker 52]

35. exactly

also to help US corporations for economic ends

[leftynyc]

37. So because it didn't stop

THIS one attack, throw out the whole program? Wow - one person drowned because they were wearing a seat belt. Let's all stop wearing seatbelts as they're obviously worthless. That's the argument you're making.

[blackspade]

66. Most definitely not the argument I'm making.

[leftynyc]

67. Then what makes you think

the program hasn't worked as intended? I've already posted somewhere here today 4 different terrorist indictments in NY from the last 6 months alone (and that was just from the first page of a google search). Do you think the terrorists announced their plans to the NY Times?

[blackspade]

69. Monitoring International communications with known terrorists and

dragnet domestic spying are two different programs.
Conflating the two, too be charitable, is nonsensical.

[leftynyc]

74. You don't think we have

American terrorists?

[blackspade]

97. Squirrel!

Now you're obfuscating.

Feel free to have the last word since you obviously have no intention of having a constructive conversation.

[leftynyc]

99. I have no idea

what you're babbling about. Perhaps instead of whining that I'm obfuscating, you could be clearer so I could tell what you're talking about. Just a helpful hint.

[redstateblues]

83. Sorry - They need to double down even if it costs more.

These animals need to be tracked and watched. What kind of people would leave their 6 month old to go kill 14 people because they believe that they will curry favor with God?

[blackspade]

98. Per the article, they were being tracked....

Due to their overseas communications with known terrorists.
So, no need to double down, just act on the info that they already had.

[applegrove]

87. Wasn't the NSA stopped from collecting metadata?

[Fast Walker 52]

88. yeah, the bulk program was just stopped

what a coinky-dink

[Renew Deal]

2. You have to wonder if he would have been identified if it wasn't for Snowden.

[christx30]

21. Snowden doesn't have anything to do with this.

They weren't avoiding being tracked because they knew about the tracking. They were being tracked. If the headline was "Farook was talking to terrorist subjects via walkie talkie and passenger pigeon to avoid Carnivore and NSA surveillance", then Snowden would be a factor.

[Fast Walker 52]

32. puh-leeeze, what a tired and false complaint that is

[valerief]

3. So horny religious guys go on a dating site, go to Saudi Arabia, and come back

with a wife. One catch. They must massacre Americans. But Farook was getting laid.

What men won't do for sex.

[90-percent]

5. The Bill Maher hypothesis

As it applies to white American male mass murderers;

THEY ARE NOT GETTING LAID and they're sexually frustrated and socially retarded.

Talk about young people falling into the wrong crowd, which I actually think is part of the reasons these perfectly normal teens fly off to the ME and become apprentice terrorists. We all yearn for some form of acceptance from the cool kids.

-90% Jimmy

[valerief]

6. Yep, sex is a real motivator. That's why the Reich Wing is so much against it.

They get their recruits from frustrated men.

[flamingdem]

22. Maher just stole this from you for his act

[DCBob]

24. I think what you stated is a very plausible explanation.

Sad and sickening.

[muriel_volestrangler]

33. Are you saying she forced him to kill in return for sex?

That's how your post reads. Which is bizarre.

[DonCoquixote]

53. it sounds ugly

But religious orders of all sorts, from the large ones to the cults all use the promise of sex. It is usually not "kill and I will have sex" but more like "you can be the sort of alpha male the girls want!" and then sadly coercing those girls into playing the role for the beniift of the swine clergy.

[valerief]

89. Women can't force men to do anything, especially in the Middle East/Pakistan.

Whatever man/men arranged for Farook to marry Malik probably made the deal.

[muriel_volestrangler]

90. So you say there's a man who arranged a marriage 2 years ago

and Farook killed multiple people yesterday, just because he agreed to do that as a condition of the marriage?

Do you really think that American men with steady jobs are such a bad marriage prospect that they have to agree to carrying out mass murder, almost certinaly leaving any future children as orphans, or with them in jail for life, just to get someone to arrange a marriage for them with a non-American?

I'm really trying to understand the world you imagine, but it just doesn't sound like reality. Wouldn't it be more likely that Farook made the decision to kill himself, rather than seeing it as something he couldn't avoid because he married 2 years ago?

[valerief]

91. He was religious. Just like Robert Lewis Dear, another radicalized terrorist. nt

[muriel_volestrangler]

92. So it's not about getting sex 2 years ago. Fine.

I'm not sure why you posted #3 then, but I'm glad it wasn't meant seriously.

[valerief]

93. Yes, it was about sex. He needed marriage for sex. Religion, you see.

But he had to pay the price for that sex.

Of course, none of this could be true. But it could be. I've been questioning other people for their speculation and have decided to speculate myself.

Good luck with the scenarios you can imagine.

[muriel_volestrangler]

94. Dear god, you have a bizarre imagination

You really think that this man killed because he had been having sex with his wife for 2 years?

Why, in your theory of sexuality and murder, did she kill? Why is having sex with your spouse not a factor for everyone else in the world?

[valerief]

95. Good luck with your speculation. nt

[redstateblues]

80. not funny at all

[DCBob]

7. The Republicans will jump all over this.

I am afraid this election is going to be more and more focused on security, terror and war... which benefits the GOP.

[yeoman6987]

77. Well does help that these things keep happening

Thank goodness the election is still a year away. If it was next month it could go GOP but we have a long time to go.

[Democat]

8. Can DU accept that this might be religious terrorism?

The last twenty four hours have been quite a contrast to last week's "White Christian Terrorist" marathon.

[LannyDeVaney]

11. Admit it ... you WANT it to be religious terrorism ...

You want your fear justified. You enjoy cowering under a desk and being told what is right and wrong.

Admit it.

[Democat]

17. Listening to facts that don't match your world view doesn't make you a coward

Many here are willing to condemn Christians without any evidence. But when it comes to other groups, no evidence will ever be enough.

[LannyDeVaney]

40. So suddenly your question about "considering" something has turned that something into a "fact" ...

You have a real future in cable news.

We'll call your segment "SpeculationZone - where we only deal with facts"

[christx30]

44. How can this be anything BUT terrorism?

He's a newly religious Muslim that travelled to Saudi Arabia. This couple was in contact with other terrorist subjects. They attacked where they worked, but it was just a target to them. Authorities found 12 pipe bombs in their home. They found a radio controlled car with explosives attached to them. This wasn't 'workplace violence' any more than Ft. Hood was workplace violence.
It wasn't because Jeff from accounting didn't clean out the coffee filter.

[randome]

49. His father said he'd been deeply religious all his life.

[hr][font color="blue"][center]"The whole world is a circus if you know how to look at it."
Tony Randall, 7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964)[/center][/font][hr]

[ck4829]

56. What makes terrorism and workplace violence mutually exclusive?

[christx30]

62. You're absolutely right.

Terrorism is definitely a factor. And, since they can't fight "The West", they chose a target that they knew, hoping their familiarity with it could help ensure a successful attack.

[blm]

61. I condemn ALL violent extremists, including those who claim Christianity and Islam

as they are actually blaspheming those religions.

When has there EVER been a lack of evidence against extreme christian terrorists or extreme islamic terrorists?

Perhaps YOU are the one willing to condemn without evidence the many here at DU who condemn all violent religious extremes, including those most popular in the US.

[ck4829]

13. When mass media and the politicians suggest mental illness

I have no doubt religious fundamentalism played a role but I find it interesting that we also seem to think violent Muslims are apparently immune from mental illness.

[840high]

18. i can. Let's wait though.

[Marrah_G]

42. I think it is- I did not think so until this morning

I did not want it to. I do not want this to be our new normal. But it is. We have to deal with it.

[ck4829]

9. Seems like a perfect storm of factors, I'm willing to bet the PP attack played a role too

These guys don't like losing the limelight.

[flamingdem]

23. Ha, that did knock Paris out media-wise

The photo alone of the PP nut grabbed all eyeballs.

[patsimp]

10. hmm - so we keep hearing that someone who seemed normal became

much more muslim and then radicalized and then mass killers. I have heard this story about Boston, England, Spain, France and now California.

Hmmm.

[Elmergantry]

12. Thats why we need to ID the mosques and

Imams who are doing the radicalization and deal with them accordingly. Yes, survellience.

[patsimp]

47. agreed

[MowCowWhoHow III]

14. Twelve pipe bomb-type devices found at US shooting suspects' home, police say

#BREAKING Twelve pipe bomb-type devices found at US shooting suspects' home, police say

https://twitter.com/AFP/status/672472858275221504

[DCBob]

15. Unfortunately this is now clearly linked to terror.

Not good.

[flamingdem]

26. Good for Republicans

Right now I'm glad Hillary is hawkish

[DCBob]

31. Yeah, that's the unfortunate effect of this.

If this shit keeps up it going to be tough for any Democrat.

[AZ Progressive]

16. There goes Sanders campaign...

Hillary and Trump will jump on this for sure. Americans need to feel safe and will feel safe only with a supposedly tough person in the white house.

[840high]

19. Today I'm more concerned

with the dead and their families.

[Elmergantry]

25. Saying terrorism

was caused by GW didn't help his cause.

[Fast Walker 52]

34. he didn't say it caused it, just was a factor-- and it's the truth

[Trajan]

45. Fair weather friends

Be fearless ... There is reason to believe that ANY bump these two receive from this will be minimal and short lived ...

This level of concern is unnecessary ... Bernie IS gonna win this ....

[blackspade]

20. Great, so they knew and did nothing.

[KittyWampus]

29. Um, no. They found out after going through correspondence/computers etc/

It's called "investigating".

[blackspade]

68. Re-read, please.

"San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook was in touch over the phone and via social media with more than one international terrorism subject who the FBI were already investigating, law enforcement officials said."

And this:

Yet Farook himself had talked by phone and on social media with more than one person being investigated for terrorism, law enforcement officials said.

The communications were "soft connections" in that they weren't frequent, one law enforcement official said. It had been a few months since Farook's last back-and-forth with these people, who officials said were not considered high priority.

So, again, they knew. They just didn't consider it a high priority.

[Dont call me Shirley]

50. Of course they knew....

the warmakers must continue to promote their fear and terror agenda, it makes oodles of dollars.

[DCBob]

28. All four guns legally purchased.

https://twitter.com/AFP

[MosheFeingold]

52. Were they CA legal?

I assisted in drafting a law that made it difficult to change magazines without a tool (which occurred).

I am thinking the rifles had to have been illegally modified.

[ozone82]

70. Read That They..

Were bought in Utah, so I doubt they were CA legal...

[MosheFeingold]

72. Then

They were brought into the state illegally.

Not that laws matter much.

[christx30]

81. The law itself doesn't matter. It's enforcing the law that's everything.

If someone is determined to commit a crime like this, and if no cop or state official detects the illegal weapon being brought into the state, they can't do anything about it. All that can be done is clean up the mess afterwards.

How would you feel about state customs stations, like if you drive to Canada, someone's going to stop you and ask if you have weapons or fresh fruit.

[Angel Martin]

85. how can that be ?

"I assisted in drafting a law that made it difficult to change magazines without a tool (which occurred).

I am thinking the rifles had to have been illegally modified."

who could have imagined that people planning mass murder would illegally modify their rifles ?

next you will tell us that they illegally removed the mag limiter...

[Agnosticsherbet]

30. The FBI agent in charge is not yet calling this terrorism.

[DCBob]

36. He will eventually.

I think he is just being cautious and deliberate.

[complain jane]

73. Thousands of rounds of ammo, three bombs left at the massacre,

12+ pipe bombs in the apartment, plenty of tools and ingredients to make new bombs, evidence of contact with known terror suspects around the world, recent ramp-up in Muslim religious ideology, I think it's clear these were terrorists who really, really despised these innocent people celebrating Christmas.

[Agnosticsherbet]

75. Damning evidence, for sure. But I will wait for the official call.

A couple of years back, in El Cajon, CA, they found a house with so many weapons and bombs the only safe thing to do was to burn it down. There was no way they could safely defuse and dispose of the mass of weapons.

The guy was white, of course, so he was labeled an isolated gun nut.

So I will wait.

[complain jane]

78. I read that he left the party possibly agitated.

So who knows, could very well be a mix of motives, but it seems clear that terrorism is definitely an ingredient.

My wild unsubstantiated guess is that he became radicalized after spending a month in Saudi Arabia and his new wife helped the process along. So finally this year's work Christmas party didn't sit as well with him as it had in previous years and he chose it symbolically.

[Agnosticsherbet]

79. I am not disagreeing, I just prefer to wait for the declaration by the FBI.

[complain jane]

84. Oh I get it -

I'm waiting to hear too. Just thinking out loud while I wait.

[Blue_Tires]

38. How can that be?

I thought the NSA was collecting all communications from all Americans 24/7/365?

[hibbing]

39. Ugh

It probably sounds bizarre to say this, but I was hoping it wasn't this type of thing.

Peace

[DCBob]

41. Me too.

I think most can deal with workplace violence "easier" than a terrorist event.

[ellenrr]

43. So, now we have combined factor shootings: workplace grievance plus international jihadism-

double the fun...

[FairWinds]

46. Way past time to confront Saudi support for Wahhabism . .

It need not, and should not, be done militarily . .

Veterans For Peace

[The2ndWheel]

48. Our leverage being what?

[MosheFeingold]

54. Leaving them to reap the whirlwind n/t

Also oil. We could easily make domestic oil so profitable that we don't need to import. We've almost become a net exporter.

[FairWinds]

64. Halt military aid and training to Saudi . .

should have been done long ago. And . .
Economic sanctions - seize assets (which are huge)
Trade embargo
Diplomatic & travel sanctions

People tend to think, very incorrectly, that only military force can solve international problems.

In nearly all cases, soft power is more effective.

Veterans For Peace

And above all, don't play kissy-face with them !!



https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.democraticunderground.com%2F10026097717&psig=AFQjCNEcJZKAR90iqD-abtyVFnBzaRnHjA&ust=1449258598300510

[The2ndWheel]

101. And then what are the consequences of the reaping?

And what is the whirlwind exactly? Are we talking about letting Saudi Arabia fall apart? Because Iraq and Syria aren't big enough problems?

Then with the oil being more profitable, that would help make our environmental issues that much more complicated. I'm just not seeing any leverage there. We even did the whole economic sanctions thing with Russia, and look where Putin is.

[still_one]

51. Some people can try to sugar coat this all they want, but with thousands of rounds of ammunition,

this had been planned for sometime, and looking for an excuse to slaughter innocent people, wasn't due to "being crazy", but to an ideology

I hope him and his girl friend suffered like hell when each bullet hit them

[840high]

58. ...^ that

[redstateblues]

82. They are among us now.

before yesterday I had some confidence that our agencies charged with tracking these types were doing a remarkable job-today I'm not thinking or feeling that.

[MosheFeingold]

55. A mournful prediction

I suspect Seyyid & crew were but one of many cells quietly put in place throughout the USA.

He pulled a Leeroy Jenkins* because he was mad at work and has tipped us off to what is coming during the following holiday shopping season.

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leeroy_Jenkins

[atreides1]

57. Interesting take

Especially without actual evidence of the existence of these "many cells", you speak of!

[MosheFeingold]

63. What has me concerned

Are the reports of buddies coming and going.

And the fact the bombs take some technical know-how.

Am I being pessimistic? Yes.

Do I desire to be proven wrong? Yes.

[Angel Martin]

86. I agree with that

"...the reports of buddies coming and going."

that is why i think this thing is not over.

Farooq in his work was involved with water system monitoring, food contamination... etc.

so what else in addition to shootings and bombings did he plan ?

I suggest the SoCal water authorities start testing for chem and bio agents that normal water treatment will not neutralize.

[LannyDeVaney]

60. He was born in Illinois ...

Not sure how he was "placed" in the USA.

And I assume by "crew" you mean 1 person - his wife.

However, please stay home ... shorter lines and less traffic for me.

[vadermike]

59. Shooting etc

This is horrible but should we just give up and let trump and or Cruz win the election cause we are all scared ??? Ugh we must not let the rW control the conversation. I surprised they have been fairly muted this far

[complain jane]

71. It wouldn't surprise me if

jihadists have taken to dating sites to bait sane people into radicalization.

[billhicks76]

76. So NSA Let This Happen?

Why even bother with wiretaps then? Reassign all drug agents to terrorism.

[SylviaD]

96. It was terrorism. No blinders here. This is horrible, I may need to rethink some things. n/t

[truthisfreedom]

100. law enforcement justifying its existence by playing catch-up?

I don't get it. Years after the fact, they know that a killer who JUST killed was phoning up other killers years ago?

Shit. That's as bad as suggesting that rapists watched Cosby on TV.