The reports coming out here in Seattle seem to indicate that the gunman in the shooting at the Jewish Center was likely just someone suffering from mental illness. He was awaiting trial for yelling at women and flashing in a public mall, and friends and relatives of the suspect report that his behavior had become increasingly disturbing and paranoid in recent months. He was also apparently not a practicing Muslim. The Muslim community here has come out in force condemning the attacks, one spokesperson saying something to the effect that "a nutcase is a nutcase". While it's true that he did identify as a Muslim who was angry at Israel just before the shootings, had he had a weapon while acting out in the mall he might just as easily have said that he was a man mad at women (he evidently was frustrated at his inability to get a date).

Not really. The attack itself was shocking, and the fact that there aren't more attacks is not really surprising, especially when you consider how in-check our civil society is. I certainly don't want to paint all Muslims in America with broad brushstrokes and say that we are ALL freedom-loving patriots, but even those who despise Israel aren't about to go out and just randomly start shooting Jews. It takes a special kind of nutjob to think that that is an appropriate response. And even Muslims who don't like Israel hardly see AlQaida as an organization worth emulating.

Muslims and Jews in Seattle have a traditionally good relationship, and I hope that continues to stregthen in the face of this terrible incident.

Who is going to pay to clean this up?

Who is going to extend the funds to rebuild Lebanon?

You know, Lebanon, that emerging Democracy? Just what BushCo wanted? The country that BushCo is now subjecting to destruction and misery?

And I thougt that the U.S. wanted to spread democracy in the Middle East? So, why is it helping to destroy a fledging democracy?

The demented denizen of the White House, egged on, aided, and abetted by psychopathic Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Rice, is spoiling for a war with Syria and Iran. In other words, these criminally insane creatures want a widespread war in the Middle East.

The 20th century had Hitler. The 21st century has Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Rice. I hope that I'll see the day when these abominable creatures are shipped to The Hague to be held accountable for their crimes.

Based on the fumfumming I see here with people trying to, well, you know, those Israelis, sort of, you know brought it on themselves, like. The point is not that a shooting was an intentionally planned political event it's that it happened. What does it matter that the 'muslim leadship' condemned it? Isn't that their job? So being human gives them a pass? Wow.

It was the single worst environmental disaster, ever. Ho hum. I'm sure everyone here clucked their condemnations about that.

Ah, yes. I remember the Salon of 1990 when everyone here was cheering for Mr Hussein.

Having now followed this tit-for-tat war during the past two months (under the assumption that its origins sprung from the June 9th Israeli howitzer shelling of a Gaza public beach by the IDF, killing 9 members of a Palestinian family), could it possibly be that the real motivation behind Israel’s attack on Lebanon is Lebanon’s booming tourist economy?

Historically, Palestinians, Hezbollah followers and Israeli military have been routinely captured, held and repatriated over the past 20+ years without much of a second thought. This time, Israel decided to eliminate all Lebanese competition to their #1 industry - tourism. As the Israeli Defense Minister, Shaul Mofaz, mentioned a few days ago on CNN, “this summer, Lebanon was having the best tourist season in the past 25 years”

If nothing else, food for thought?

Not so sure a nutjob plots his crime so specifically. Remember went employees went "postal"?Those postal workers were not attacking at random. My understanding is that this guy was hiding out in the Jewish center entrance area and shot at the first people he saw...he also quickly surrendered according to news reports. This just doesn't sound like a nutjob...and I don't think it should be dismissed.

The Article in Der Spiegel also stated that after hitting the oiltank another rocket was aimed and hit the berm protecting the tank in case of leakage. The volume of the thusly enclosed area was sufficient to contain the total quantity of oil from this tank.Probably just another accident like the killing of women and children, oil and tar covered beaches surely deter hizbollah attacks,and with the prevailing winds and currents there is no chance that this oilslick will reach the beaches of Israel. Well done Ehud, time to appologize and say I'm soooo sorry!

The nutjob who shot up the Jewish Federation here in Seattle was a Christian, not a Muslim. He converted about a year ago. He's been under mental health care for a decade. A while back he was arrested for waggling his weenie at women in a shopping mall. He lived in an apartment completely bare of furnishings.

Glass.Parking.Lot.

Thanks for your comments, Zaynab D., and I share your hope about interfaith relations. A brief clarification: I didn't mean to suggest there could be lots of Muslims lurking around who would start randomly shooting Jews in response to what's unfolding in the Middle East. (Also, as "lauri jst" pointed out per updated news reports, the accused gunman may have been mentally ill rather than acting out of political rage, that's still not clear.) Rather, I was thinking about Haykel's analysis, and how al-Qaida -- or other terrorist groups, copycats, etc. -- might seek to respond to what's unfolding. And while this incident occurred in Seattle, something like it, or even worse, could just as easily happen in, say, London or Paris. That one hadn't happened until Friday (or maybe still hasn't, if the gunman was indeed mentally ill) is to some degree surprising, weeks into the Israel-Hezbollah conflict. The war there has taken the incendiary politics of the Middle East to another level, and I fear we can expect violent acts elsewhere as a result. The U.S., especially considering its current relationship with Israel, is hardly exempt; sometimes I wonder if there's a false sense of security settling here again, since no serious attack has occurred in the five years since 9/11. (Why one hasn't occurred is a knotty discussion all its own.) I wrote a couple of related pieces last year:

http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2005/07/19/london_attacks/index.html

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2005/05/26/hezbollah/index.html

The latter looked at substantial support for Hezbollah inside the U.S., centered around criminal activity in Los Angeles. So with the war raging between Israel and Hezbollah today, a violent response elsewhere, including inside the U.S., seems to me a distinct possibility and worth considering.

[Editor's note: Due to a system glitch, this letter was reposted from Aug. 3 to clarify the author's name. The content of the letter is the same.]