First, I hope no one finds this insensitive as what I'm gonna post has little to do with tragedy, and is more pertinent to the topic of Muslim terrorism in the US.
As news started trickling out that the couple were radicalized Muslims and had some contact with suspected terrorists, I started wondering "If this is a true pre-planned operation, coordinated/recruited through Saudi Arabia and a legit terrorist organization, is this really what we have to worry about?"
Forget the news for a second. If truly a Muslism terror attack, the only effects (aside from the casualties; I'll touch on in a second), will be a few months of political grandstanding on gun control, racial profiling and possibly refugee harboring.
Isn't the entire goal of terrorism to make everyone feel like they could be a victim of violence, anywhere, anytime? If so, I feel these two pieces of garbage fell short on every strategic goal random attacks like this are intended to achieve.
1. The targeted individuals were co-workers of the man. That's not very random. Okay, maybe I'm an extra 1% more vigilant about my coworkers behavior for the next couple weeks till I forget all about it.
2. Casualties; while sad, especially for those directly involved, we've seen far worse domestically. I researched, and this is only the 2nd Muslim perpetrated attack to take more than 10 lives post 9/11. We quadrupled that number in corn-fed American kids shutting up schools. The other was Fort Hood.
3. Post Attack Behavior; maybe they expected to die in that community center, because they had no clue what to do after they drove away. Was the last sheet of the plan left on the countertop. Why drive around, go home, do no more damage and end up dead on the pavement... This baffles me
As much of the garbage we've seen with the police corruption recently, I've gotta say they get an A+ here. Limiting the situation to the initial event, identifying, engaging and taking out the perpetrators in 3-4 hours without any additional casualties, against a "prepared terrorist couple armed to the teeth and fleeing is impressive.
IMO this changes nothing; aside from political leanings. If one of the ####ers straps a bomb vest on, walks into an NFL game or NASCAR race, sits in a crowded section and pushes the button, I might start thinking twice about certain things, but in a tragic way, I almost feel like this was a total strategic failure if terrorism was the motive.