Lessons from the sniper case

The continuing sniper case deserves in-depth analysis, but don't expect most of the press or their leftist counterparts to get the story right.\nFor instance, what was all this expert speculation that the sniper was a lone, angry white male? White or black, what did color have to do with this picture? Turns out, two black men are the suspects in the case. Undoubtedly, history is tinged with the damage left by white males Ted Kazincsky and Timothy McVeigh, but there are other villains still fresh in our memory too like the Middle Eastern hijackers who took thousands of American lives last year or the Islamic extremists who bombed Bali this month. The snipers' ethnicity is irrelevant to the devastation they caused. \nFurther, media will probably not point out how leftists continue to chip away at our criminal justice system. Maryland's governor, Parris Glendening, instated a moratorium on executions last May, claiming the black population was unfairly targeted by law enforcement and was thus disproportionately occupying the state's prisons. What Glendening and the media didn't tell us is how many black officers patrol the urban areas where blacks are thought to be unfairly targeted. That number makes a difference. Nevertheless, suspected sniper Muhammad, who is in Maryland's custody, would be cushioned by the death penalty moratorium unless the state lifts the ban. \nThough the U.S.' worst terrorists have lately been aspiring jihad Islamic terrorists, FBI director Louis Freeh, under direction of former President Clinton, has for past few years been investigating the "vast right-wing Christian conspiracy," as suspected terrorists. The sniper Muhammad wasn't a Christian extremist, though. Muhammad was an Islamic extremist whom Louis Farrakhan, the outspoken leader of the black separatist group, admits belonging to the Nation of Islam (www.newsday.com) and others say he was also sympathetic to the Sept. 11 hijackers. \nThe U.S. should not be profiling religious members but should be concerned instead with those who threaten the security of our nation. Not all Muslims or Christians are conspiring extremists, and shouldn't be investigated. But those who sympathize with terrorists such as the jihadis should be investigated and dissuaded before their sympathies carry them away. The snipers and John Walker Lindh are great examples of what happens when we don't investigate those who align themselves with violent terrorist extremists.\nPerhaps, though, some of our national officials themselves sympathize with Islamic extremists. According to an Oct. 18 State department cable, Ms. Mary Ryan, the former State department head of consular service, recently received a $15,000 bonus for "outstanding performance," after April 16, 2001. Ryan, though, was forced to resign after the GAO disclosed that her office allowed 13 of the 19 hijackers to enter the U.S. without even meeting with a consular official. Maybe Ryan was sympathetic to these extremists or maybe she was just lazy. Either way, it is a disgrace she received a monetary reward despite her failure to enforce national security. \nFinally, don't expect media to admit that the sniper is a prime example of failed gun control. But John Allen Muhammad was under a restraining order at the time of his arrest, so the guns he obtained and used were illegal. Gun control failed to prevent him from killing 10 innocent people.\nSo the nefarious "sniper" turned out to be two black Muslims using illegal guns. Left media probably won't go too deep with this story.