Taliban taking credit for New York attack?

[imcarthur]

Just on the BBC One-Minute Report. On BBC page.

Taliban leader Mashoud taking credit for the Immigration Center attack.

Ian

[imcarthur]

Link http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/7875367.stm

[widgeon13]

What can one say? Very sad that 13 people are dead for no logical reason. Senseless tragedy.

[jyl]

Easy to claim when the guy is dead.

The Taliban has no demonstrated reach outside of Afghanistan and part of Pakistan. How likely is it that they had an agent in NY, who just happened to be laid off right before the attack, and was Vietnamese - maybe I missed the close Taliban-Vietnamese connection.

[DasBoot]

No Taliban involvement, just a whack-nut:

Jiverly Voong in a photo from MySpace. The gunman told former co-workers, 'I don't like America. America sucks.'

The Vietnamese immigrant blamed for the upstate massacre of 13 people was depressed over losing his job and angry over taunts about his poor English, the Binghamton police chief said Saturday.

"He spoke very little or no English, and he was upset that people degraded him and disrespected him for that reason," Chief Joe Zikuski said on the "Today" show.

Jiverly Voong, who also used the name Jiverly Wong, slipped into despair after recently losing his job, the chief said - although neither his unemployment or his anger fully explained the cold-blooded rampage inside the American Civic Association.

"At this point, that's really all we have to hang our hat on," Zikuski said. "We spoke to his parents, his sister, and we're really not getting anything more."

Voong, 41, of Johnson City, N.Y., used a borrowed car to block a rear exit before walking wordlessly into the immigrant center and opening fire.

He killed a receptionist and a dozen immigrants studying for a citizenship test before pumping a single bullet into his own head during the Friday morning rampage.

The conditions of four critically injured survivors - including the heroic wounded receptionist who called 911 - were getting better Saturday, according to Binghamton Mayor Matthew Ryan.

"There seems to be some improvement on some of them," Ryan said on the "Today" show.

The receptionist, who feigned death after she was shot in the stomach and then summoned police, was praised by Zikuski for her efforts.

"She's a heroine, and I believe she saved some lives," the chief said. "It is my understanding that as of very early this morning that she is going to make it."

Authorities said 37 hostages escaped unharmed after the bleeding receptionist crawled beneath a desk to dial 911.

Zikuski said there were indications that Voong intended to go down in a blaze of glory by shooting it out with police after his killing spree.

"The suspect may have been ready to confront the police upon our response," the chief said. "We theorize that when he heard the sirens ... he took his own life."

[varmint]

bomb some taliban controlled villages anyway.

[DasBoot]

Originally Posted by varmint

bomb some taliban controlled villages anyway.

+1 - If they want credit for this massacre, then let's retaliate in the name of the massacre.

[m21sniper]

I'm still trying to figure out what makes someone heroic for calling 911. Is it because she was shot? Wouldn't anyone try to call 9-11 if they could anyway?

Strange.

There are some real nutters out there, and the economic crisis is going to bring more and more of them to the surface. Be extra vigilant amigos. Especially if you are a CCW holder and can stop something like this from happening to begin with.

Terrible times we live in.

[RoninLB]